San Diego FC’s bold, risk-taking style has taken MLS by storm — but what does it really mean to play the Right to Dream way? Behind the Flow dives into the tactics and culture that have powered SDFC to the top of the Western Conference.
Adrian Garcia Marquez, ESPN’s Katia Castorena, and San Diego Sports 760’s Darren Smith unpack the methods behind this “relentless” football, with insights from Head Coach Mikey Varas, Assistant Coach Frank Hjortebjerg, and captain Jeppe Tverskov.
Plus, the crew looks ahead to a huge showdown with Phil Neville’s Portland Timbers — before next week’s deep dive into fan culture across MLS.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
First, you have to feel this kind of football deep
deep in your bones. You take a lot of risks right,
and you have to believe in it. And if the
coaches don't believe in it, the players won't believe in it.
And if the players don't believe in it, it won't work.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hi there, I'm Adrian Garcia Marquez, and this is Behind
the Flow, the podcast where we dive in deep week
by week to the heart of San Diego FC as
they navigate their inaugural season in Major League Soccer. This week,
we're talking all about San Diego FC's style of play.
It's bold, it's risky, and it comes straight from the
Right to Dream philosophy. We're going to hear how the
(00:37):
coaching staff setting non negotiables from day one, pushing players
out of their comfort zones.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
So we started out with more of a blank pitch
and then we individualize as you would in any tribe
of learning environment.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We're going to talk to Captain Jeppe Devskov about dictating
the temple on the pitch and helping younger players play
with courage.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
For us, it's about everyone contributing and the way you
play it is a lot about everyone being brave and
taking risks. So that's whether you're eighteen or you're thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And of course we're gonna hear from head coach Mikey
Vadas some belief, resilience and what it takes to lead
MLS in possession and build up play.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Every day we show up with the intentions of being
good people, having a growth mindset, and embracing competition and
all of that should be regardless of results or where
you stand in the table or what position you hold.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
All right, let's get it started. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So welcome to this week's edition of Behind the Flow.
I'm Adrian Garcia Marquis and as always I'm joined by
Unpard Kraks, Darren Smith of San Diego Sports seven sixty,
an icon in San Diego, California, one of the finest
broadcasters in the city, and of course the analysts there
for San Diego FC, and the great Gattias, the international
(02:04):
Woman of Mystery, covers everything from coast to coast in
the United States and obviously around the globe. Guys, this
is going to be a lot of fun. This is
a great episode we have loaded up.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Yeah, well, thanks for having us. I would just like
to quickly point out, I know you're not supposed to
mess with a winning streak, but you know Katia and
I are. That's TFC's undfeated since we've been on the podcast.
Speaker 7 (02:21):
Just Sam just saying that we are the lucky Charms
and I'm happy to be here. I had a great
weekend because over the weekend I was in te California
with my family, So that was nice.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
And by the way, you just celebrated a birthday recently. No, yes,
I did, Happy birthday.
Speaker 7 (02:38):
Thank you. Still Leo season Let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
You get some of the best sweetbread on planet Earth
and that got them. Speaking of sweetness, let's get it started.
Coming up in this episode, we're going to dive deep
into San Diego f c's style of play, which mikey
Botis has called.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
In a word, relentless.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
But first let's discuss the match against the San Jose
Earthquakes game where after going a goal down, San Diego
FSI came back late to score a couple of goals
take all three points for the sixth road win in
a row.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Let's hear what it sounded like.
Speaker 8 (03:14):
It's entertaining, does a real good job of thressuring Dosatos grade.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Nifty and then sending it in egg box and bring
San Diego level one. One Pryer might be in to
put San Diego.
Speaker 8 (03:35):
Stars and try all from the team never stops amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
What a win, a resolute come back. You get up
off of the floor the canvas if you will, and
got the CJ trying to play from the back custom
a goal. Mlst's most aggressive team with the ball playing
out of defense risk versus reward style of play.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
They almost got him.
Speaker 7 (04:00):
I mean they did get him, but we know with
the style of play high risk, high reward. And what
I like about the team is the way they come
back mentally, they stay strong even though they're being tested
different scenarios, different fields, different things that they keep throwing
at them, and they find a way to get those
solutions and not only get a point on the road,
(04:23):
but then still win away from home. When you're an
expansion team, that is no easy feat.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Darren Smith for us is that striker position. They needed
a solution, and Tyler Heaps had told us we're going
to get a reinforcement. His name is Marcus Embarks in
negative in on that assist at amount of what a combo,
coming right in and coming in hot.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
Yeah. Really a sight for sore eyes was Marcus checking
into the match, a match where you do not have
Chucky Lozano, who didn't feature at all. It came off
against Sporting Kse. He's your second leading scorer and you
and I are wondering during the broadcast, somebody has got
to help unders out here, and what a site for
sore eyes. Marcus was coming off the bench. We know
(05:05):
he's been working hard, so he's missed twenty games, but
then he checks in and everybody started to ask questions
about what is the Achilles Heel for this SDFC side,
and everybody would point to the lack of production from
the number nine spot, especially post Milan Iloski. Well, Marcus
was kind of that guy at FC Norchland before we
(05:27):
ever heard of Milan Aloski. He's a Golden Boot winner,
so it was a lot expected of him when he
signed here. He's one of the first signings that SDFC had,
So I was throlled for the guy and he gets
to now right the end of this chapter for this
first season, what an asset that might be down the
stretch for the remaining seven.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So With just seven games to go for San Diego FC,
they find themselves at the top of the Western Mountain
by five points are now leading the supporter shield race
as well. So no better time to talk about the
football and the on field strategy that has taken the
MLS by storm. This week, we're diving into one of
the biggest reasons San Diego FC's debut season has stood out.
(06:10):
Their unique style of play. It's a methodology, a vision
even for playing football, and it's baked into the club's
DNA and you see it every single day. It all
comes from their wider organization, the Right to Dreams style
of play, a way of playing the game that, aside
from being exciting to watch, it places technical ability and
(06:33):
youth development at its core. For a deeper dive, check
out episode five of the series. But here's a clip
from an interview with Sir Mohammed Mansour, chairman of Right
to Dream and San Diego FCS. He explains how he
first discovered the project and what inspired him to bring
it to America.
Speaker 9 (06:58):
I was raised in Alexandra, Egypt back in the fifties.
Speaker 10 (07:02):
We were three.
Speaker 9 (07:02):
Brothers and we were all very sportsmanlike and we're very
competitive as a family. Who's going to be the fastest swimmer,
who's going to be the best striker in the football team.
And my mentor at that time was my uncle Mustafa
Kamel Mansour, who's like a legend in football in Egypt
because he was a goalkeeper that played actually in the
World Cup in nineteen thirty four. And this love of
(07:25):
the game grew and we continued to be loving soccer
as it is called in the United States. Then one
of the board members reached out to us and said
he was sponsoring and helping this academy in Sub Saharan Africa,
and he spoke to my son Lutfi and said, you
know that we want you to maybe help build them
(07:45):
a pitch. And when my son Lutfi went and met
with Tom Vernon and other founders, he came back and
said that, I mean, this is an amazing project. I
was so impressed with what I saw of the work
that had been done with young men and women and
Write to Dream to create an opportunity for them to
either be professional footballers or footballers or go the education route.
(08:08):
So as I look at the Right to Dream and
what it has done, it really ticked all the boxes
for me and the Mansur family. So when we came
to acquire Right to Dream back in twenty twenty one,
I met with some of the management of Right to
Dream at the time and said, go to Egypt. He said, well,
Egypt is not an our radar screen. I said, well,
(08:29):
Mosallah has an Egyptian player, and I've seen how Egyptian
players know the technical ability and Egyptian passion for the game.
So they came back and said, we saw a lot
of young men that could be another Mosella, and so
we created this academy in Egypt. We inaugurated it when
I was in Cairol and October twenty twenty three, and
(08:50):
it was built in like eighteen months. And then the
idea of the MLS came and we're so fortunate today
to be given that opportunity. So with both allies in
San Diego, because I believe of the potential for growth
for soccer in America. I believe that we're at the
tip of the iceberg. You have the World Cup coming
in twenty twenty six. I always say, if you have
(09:12):
an NBA star that could be a goalkeeper, oh my god,
you'd have one of the best goalkeepers in the world,
and we always think long term, we don't think short
term at all. Then who knows what will bring next
in Europe or whatever else.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
In the world. So you heard it there.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
It was no accident that Sir Mohammed Monsour and Right
to Dream shows MLS as their.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Next step for world domination.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Now, the market was primed, the opportunity massive, and they
also felt that they might have an advantage coming in
a style of play that would work immediately in this league.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
And we're going to get into it.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So as a primer, we're actually talking about a physical
playbook here, a manual the outlines phases and patterns of
play and presents various solutions for the team to learn
from and draw from. Every coach in the Right to
Dream Academy, the club, any extension of it. They all
use it, each in their own way, but they all
use it. We're talking about a fluid, possession, heavy football
(10:09):
style of play, aggressive off the ball, relentless pressing and
very very entertaining. As you've seen, we've had the popcorn
ready from opening night. So Gatya, let me start with you.
How would you describe it? And as a reporter, somebody
working nationally internationally, and I know in the halls of ESPN,
for example, everybody is always talking about style of play,
(10:29):
especially our guys, the Latino inside of the coverage there
for media like Oh Bettle Gstito Guest, everybody was buzzy
about right to Dream style of play.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
When you're a new team coming into the league, you
want your fans to fall in love with the team.
You want them to go to the stadium. How do
you do that playing exciting football. You give them a style,
you give them goals, and then the crowds will keep
coming back. So even if you're not a big football fan,
even though we know San Diego is a foot town
(11:00):
and the soccer culture is so big, but then you're
also going to have other fans that might not be
that into it or didn't know that much before. But
when they go to the stadium, they see the style,
they see the goals, they see the fans go into it.
That is just going to make it even better. So
I think that was just the perfect fit, a great
idea to build that in MLS, to build that in
(11:21):
San Diego, and then we're seeing the results now and.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
As we dive into the beautiful mind of Darren Smith.
You love breaking down the numbers, Darren.
Speaker 10 (11:29):
Boo boo boooo.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Dude, s DFC leading MLS and build up touches three
hundred and sixty seven a game according to some of
your notes, compared to the league average of about two
hundred and fifty seven.
Speaker 6 (11:42):
Thank you for comparing me to Archidi two there. I
appreciate that, AGM. There are a lot of numbers here,
and I think sometimes you know, you can really sort
of have them go in one ear and out the other.
But a lot of these things matter because you know
they're not coincidental.
Speaker 11 (11:56):
You know they are by design. There was recently a story.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
In The Guardian comparing mikey Vadis's style and what's going
on here to managers like Pep Guardiola and Roberta Deserve, etc. So,
like this is a thing now that all of a
sudden is catching a lot of people's attention all across
the sport because people are noticing that their are influences
in the global game that we're witnessing match in match
out here in San Diego. So you know, it is
(12:21):
a style. Of course, sometimes you have to rely on
your stars. Sporting case great example. Your two designated players
are those two players that scored the goals, but there's
so much more to the story about getting everybody involved,
from the goalkeeper all the way up into the forwards
that's resulted in this kind of success.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And you mentioned it. This is the kicker no pun intended.
Their goalkeepers have attempted fewer long passes than anyone in
Major League Soccer and Katya they go long less often
than Barcelona and Manchester City, but they're committed to building
from the back.
Speaker 7 (12:54):
They're committed as part of the style and we're going
to continue to see that in what I like. And
that's a perfect example because the whole theme around this
style of play as well as long term growth. So
I really like what Mike said that even though some
players are going to make mistakes because it's part of it,
it's not like they're not going to get more opportunities
in the future. You know that when you join San
(13:15):
Diego one, you're going to get minutes. Two, you're going
to get minutes even if you make a mistake, because
that's how you grow, that's how you learn. They also
want to see how a player responds, how they get
back at it after they've made a mistake, and when
we think about what's coming with the academy, it's part
of that development is just so exciting because of what's
to come, not just what we're seeing now, but what
(13:37):
they're building to sustain success in the long run.
Speaker 6 (13:41):
And can I just follow up on Katya's point there,
because I think it's you know, it's really really well
said about the style that sometimes is going to lend
itself to making these kind of mistakes, which I think
everybody can live with. But it is also you know
what Katia reference there, which is the future of the
club right now. Currently by choice, this team has five
teenagers on the roster right and are playing a twenty
(14:04):
year old at center back against some of the most
prolific goal scorers that we've ever seen in Major League
soccer history. So you're going to have mistakes made. It's
what's gonna happen when you learn to live with the
mistakes and move on from the mistakes.
Speaker 11 (14:16):
That's mostly important here.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Darren, we did chat about this other right to Dream model,
and you said that the Dryer goal against Sporting Kansas
City was a perfect exam.
Speaker 5 (14:27):
This takes it off for deflection.
Speaker 11 (14:28):
It's Dryer passing on it, sliding it home.
Speaker 8 (14:33):
The MVP campaign for Anders Dryer continues already.
Speaker 10 (14:38):
It assists tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Now he's had it a goal in double San Diego
twenty past. His patients talk to me about it. Why
was that such a perfect snapshot of San Diego FC
playing right to dream football.
Speaker 6 (14:50):
It was just pass pass pass, coming across the halfway line,
moving into the attacking third, and you're thinking, this is
a really beautiful thing to regardless of however it is
that this possession ends. It ended in a goal, which
made it even more special, right because here you have
Anders Dryer, who's done it all, who runs in on
goal and a beautiful flick from Anni Valacari to set
(15:15):
up the second goal of the match.
Speaker 11 (15:16):
But even just watching.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
It before it resulted in the second goal of the game, like,
it just was beautiful flowing football, and it was great
to see that result in a goal, because that's the
kind of thing you could just take and hold up
and say this is who we are in a nutshell
right here?
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Gotya?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
That kind of execution shows how quickly the players have
learned with this style of play, And what do you
think this says about the staff's ability to coach them,
but players like Andre's Dreyer who come in and show
everybody else this is.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
How you do it.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
It's a great mix of these players that have a
little bit more experience and then the youngsters grasping the
whole idea, embracing the style, embracing the message, and great
job from the coaching staff as well and seeing everybody
and giving them the tools. And I think that that
Galaxy game when the season started show does everything from
the get go, Like after all the planning, the talking,
(16:10):
it was that moment when you wanted to see it
all come to life. And boy did they exceed those
expectations for the game, because one they surprise everyone who
wasn't quite aware of what was coming. But also it
gave within the team that confidence and optimism to the
whole squad to see that the work pays off. And
then that's why you're seeing success now.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
And we've seen it, and Darren and I have felt
it in the broadcast booth all the way down to
the field. San Diegobse have really taken the league by storm,
far beyond anyone's expectations, that's for sure. After the break
you're gonna hear from assistant manager Frank Jorba and also
from Gjepeterskoff.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
Their philosophy.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
This philosophy, our philosophy has come to life. Cooling Break
will be back, and we're back. From day one. The
coaching staff set non negotiables for how San Diego FC
(17:15):
would play, pushing players out of their comfort zones, and
one of the driving forces behind that is assistant coach
Frank Yorbia. Years of experience at Denmark's e FC norseland
he's lived this style before. We sat down with him
last week and asked why the chance to build something
from scratch in a new culture was too good to
(17:38):
turn down.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
My name is Frank Yorbia and I'm an assistant coach
and I'm originally from Denmark, moved in January with my family.
I've been coaching in Denmark full time or at a
professional level for ten to twelve years, fifty percent of
the time at the academy level and fifty percent of
the time with the seniors team. I've been at sinosh
(18:03):
Land for almost four and a half years in total,
so I know the organization and I know the thoughts
behind it and the methodology and the style of play
and the whole view of human beings and human development,
and so that's very appealing to me. Then having a
chance to try to build something completely from scratch, doing
(18:25):
it in a different culture, different continent, a place I
haven't been to before, was just a great, great challenge
and the great opportunity. I'll say that you see the
similarities between FCN and San DIEGOFC, both with and without
the ball, in terms of how you want to build
(18:46):
the game with the ball, how you want to impact
the games with a structured style of play where there's
a lot of decision making and where we try to
take a lot of initiative, where we try to be intense,
try to get the ball back very fast.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
So we wanted it known.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Was there a moment or a match where Frank dot, yes,
this is it right here, this style can work.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I'll say the first game that we had in the season,
because it was such a unique stage against the defending
champions Away. After being together for a little over a month,
bringing this grew together and then everything had to really
be put to the test. So that game especially stands
(19:32):
out for me, winning two zero, keeping a clean sheet,
showing things on both sides of the ball that we
really tried to develop over the few weeks that we.
Speaker 10 (19:42):
Have been together.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
And we tried to convince the players from the beginning, listen,
a lot of this would be.
Speaker 10 (19:46):
New for you, but we can make it work. We'll
be ready for that game.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
And we tried to convince them about that, and obviously,
as a coach, that's the approach you got to take,
and then you know that it can go wrong. But
we had to be very ambitious from the beginning. We
had to convince them that they could do it. And
obviously we played games and had trainings where like their
heads were spinning, like they were getting dizzy from all
the information and all everything. We tried to teach them right,
but we also had a strong belief.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
In them, and they could still have had a.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Great performance and show us and show everyone that was
interested that that style of plays can be done, can
be efficient within a short amount of time, and we
could still have lost the game.
Speaker 10 (20:24):
Of course, no, that's football. That how it happened. But
then we end up winning two zero.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So how did they manage to pick it up so
fast and already perform at the level we're seeing now we.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Have some things style of play wise, that's like non negotiable.
Speaker 10 (20:37):
This is how we want to play.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And we started by pushing the boundaries as far as
we could, pushing them all the way out of the
comfort zone and basically told them this is the ambition
level that we have in terms of defending, for example.
And then as we progressed through the preseason and in season,
then we started to find the balance of things and
started to know a bit more where the limitations are.
(20:59):
And as we got to know the players, as they
got to know the style of play, and we gave
them more and more time within those different scenarios on
the training pitch, that's where you start to make it
more and more individual and telling this guy, isn't you're
very good at doing this specific turn or having.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
This specific position.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So we started out with more of a blank page
and then we individualized as you would in any type
of learning environment.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Then came April. Can we forget April?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
A tricky run of losses had at that period forced
the team to evolve.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
It was clear within that tough period where we had
three losses in a row, that the opponents were not
caught by surprise anymore. They have had some games to
analyze and then they could see what was coming compared
to the first few opponents. Right, So then we had
to adapt and be better in terms of not giving
the ball away in situations where we were too vulnerable,
(21:54):
because we were.
Speaker 10 (21:55):
Especially punished in transitional moments.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Where we were building the game and we became too
open with it our structure. So that was a good
teaching point for us, and it's really about making the
most out of these periods without losing the guys in
terms of believing that this will continue to work.
Speaker 10 (22:10):
We just got to get better at what.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
We're doing and hopefully we used it in a good
way to develop the team.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Frank told us his background at FC Northstone was key
to helping San Diego settle on their playing style right
from the start.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
I was the only one from the coaching staff having
experience with this specific style of play. Of course, the
other guys have, of course recruited because the clubs see
that they can fit in within this, but I was
the only guy who had some experience Fromochlan. But that
helps a lot for all the other guys to also
be introduced to the principles. Knowing that, okay, it is
this direction that we have to go in. This means
(22:46):
that we could from day one be up and running
very fast because we take away a lot of the
noise in terms of decision.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
Making on the pitch. We take away a lot of
the debates and.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Discussions that you and I could have we started at
football club tomorrow.
Speaker 10 (22:58):
Because the game is so complex.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
You can do so many things and there's no right
or wrong, but we just know within us that it's
got to be within our style of play principles. The
organization did a phenomenal job in terms of bringing in
a head coach who was so aligned that, despite coming
from the outside, his own personality and his own view
of the game of football and what makes sense to
him in terms of style of play and coaching a
(23:22):
football team was just a very good match. I think
you cannot underestimate how powerful it is for us as
a group now speaking as a big group, as an organization,
as a locker room, as a coaching staff group, as
a group of players and coaches, that we are standing
on shoulders of so many people that for so many
(23:44):
years has spilt on top of this methodology and there's
THEFC layer is now being built on top of all that.
A bunch of very very good guys and girls and
very clever people that have gone through many, many years
and many defeats in football games, all these things and
kept pushing for this view of the game. And now
we're just very fortunate to be able to try to
(24:05):
build the next layer into that.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
So Frank obviously such a valuable asset for Mikey Badas
on that bench and Staph and Darren. Frank talked about
the non negotiables and principles that define this style. I mean,
you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
That's pretty much what we've seen. Where has it gone
wrong for you at times? And should they compromise a
little bit more And have you perceived any weaknesses because
(24:31):
I mean, Frank did talk about teams adapting and adapting
pretty quickly.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
One of the things that they talked about openly was
worrying about transition, you know, being in transition football and
having too many players that would be caught into the attack.
Speaker 11 (24:47):
Some of that is just.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
Guys getting used to playing with one another. So when
you have two center halves like the mcsmash brothers, who
can learn that if you're going to go forward, I'm
going to stay back, or when you have two fullbacks
like Oscar Varhoven and Luca Bombing. So they've talked about
this that they have nonverbal communication where if you're going
to go up, I'm going to cover you. Should we
end up in a transition situation. The risk of this,
(25:08):
obviously is what we saw most recently. There is the
social media account when playing it out of the back
goes wrong. Nobody wants to be on one of those clips, right,
nobody does, But from the time to time it's going
to happen just based on the style. So they've done
an amazing job of adapting one other thing. You just
see how much they celebrate each other. They celebrate the
(25:30):
guy with the assist almost as much as they celebrate
the guy with the goal. But every once in a while,
I think it does cross our minds, like, you know,
you're really good at scoring a goal here, maybe it
would be better for you to just take the shop.
But man, it it ain't broke, so I don't know
that it needs a lot of fixing.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, and I love the selfless plus relentless culture that
we've seen out of this squad and the style of
play and a player that epitomizes this. Frank mentioned him, Yeah, Peterskov,
not just for his role on the pitch, but the
influence he has a on the training center. We caught
up with him in the last few weeks and started
(26:05):
this chat by asking how he settled in and his
family into life in San Diego.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
We love it.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
One part is, of course the football, but also the
outside of football is very It's very nice here. We've
been talking to a lot of people and I feel
like everybody always says the same, like, once you get here,
it's difficult to leave. So I think we've we felt
the same that yeah, it's a good life here and
we enjoyed very much.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Turns out it wasn't just San Diego that appealed to
get there. He wasted no time crossing the border spoon
spoon to check out the Juana.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
It was one of the things we saw first when
we knew we were going over here, that it's close
to the border and Mexico was I think top on
the on the list.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
I had my brother and my father coming over a rather.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
It's a big football fan, and he noticed that the
Cholos was playing on a day off, so we kind
of put together to go over there, and it quickly
turned from me and my brother and my father going
to five or six guys from the team also wanted
to join. It's big stagium and coming from Europe and
watch a lot of football games there. It's always fun
(27:19):
to experience a culture on the game day, it was
a fun experience. It was a crazy game also, so
I think we got everything out of it that we wanted.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
We asked El Capitan for his take on how the
Right to Dream style is working in MLS, his role
in making it take on the pitch, and whether he's
noticed any difference is compared to playing in Europe.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
The style of player is built upon having good structure
and using certain positions within the field to kind of
create and advantage over the opponent, so that we know
how we want to build up and how we want
to transition into the third phase pitch, so that our
offensive players have easier possibility, better possibilities to kind of
(28:07):
do their magic on the last third. In short terms,
it's being strict in positions and kind of knowing what
the advantage within staying in these positions gives the team.
I feel like the games here often tend to open
up more than I've used to, at least, and that's
kind of my role also as one of the guys
who handles the tempo of the game, to make sure
(28:30):
that we stay within our structure and yeah, it doesn't
go all around the pitch. My role is to make
sure that everybody stays in position also when we attack,
so that we don't just go with nine guys and
leave two guys against two on our own half for
when the ball travels back again. But the coaching staff
has been doing a good job the first six months
(28:53):
for implementing a style, and I think like after we
won also a couple of games, people saw that, okay,
this way of playing football can be very beneficial here
because it makes us control the game more and when
you control the game, you often also have a better
chance of controlling the outcome.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
I feel like it took a.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Couple of games to the start of the season to
really show everyone that doing it this way is the
right way.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
For us, And as captain Getpus sees it as his
responsibility to make sure the younger guys have the courage
to play freely in this system.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
We had a game yesterday where we relied a lot
on our fullbacks and center backs, and it's just to
keep motivating them to kind of be brave as the
best word, because we have very good players all around
the pitch. For us, it's about everyone contributing, and the
way we play is a lot about everyone being brave
and taking risks, so that whether you're eighteen or you're thirty,
(29:51):
and I've played this game for long, so that's the
most important thing for me, is kind of build up
the young guys to be able to don't feel like
they have to pass the ball all too guys who
played more games, but also for them to be creative
and unfold themselves.
Speaker 5 (30:05):
But it's not just on yep.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
That responsibility is shared right across the club and it
really reflects the culture of growth and support that right
to dream is all about growth, mentality, growth mindset.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
I feel like one of the special things here is
also the environment we built. People talk a lot about
culture and stuff and it's often a little bit fluffy,
but a huge thing in football is also how you
go about with your teammates, and we have guys who
haven't played as much, but people are still very positive
(30:42):
and that makes the environment coming to work here kind
of feel more like being with friends and family. And
we feel at least that it's been great for us
because you can also sometimes you're on a pitch all
the teams starting to complain a little bit more within
the team, where Yeah, I think what we are building
and what we have built here in terms of culture,
(31:03):
in a sense of people wanted to help each other
is a big thing. So that's also a thing for
the younger generation that fills something we just seemed to
make it special. Build relationships and remember that the more
you can be positive, the better.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
I love to hear how Yep and his family have
settled into the fluffiness of San Diego El Capitan. He's
been such a part, a huge part, not only of
San Diego FC on the field, but he's quickly. I
think the last time I saw a guy settled into
San Diego as beautifully and as quickly was Darren Smith
when he arrived back in the day, and he became
(31:44):
a major part of San Diego community, just like Yep
Beteta's companies. Well, the mix of leadership guys in culture
is a big reason why this team has come together
so fast, Darren, I'll start with you the culture. We
felt it from day one of camp. You could just
see Yepe and the leaders took that responsibility very seriously,
(32:05):
and we've talked about it so many many times. Yepet
there's got being voted Gottan over international captains Patty mucnairfor
Northern Ireland and the man that's played the most games
in Panama's history in aniwhile Goldoy. Yet it was Yepet
they selected, and there's a reason for it.
Speaker 11 (32:21):
Number one.
Speaker 6 (32:21):
I will accept that comparison, especially as somebody who enjoys
a trip across the border to go into Tijuana from
time to time. And I did love that detail from
Yepe and his family when they went down there and
really just enjoyed not just the city, the county, but
the region. I think that's really really important. But you're right,
I mean, he's the captain of the captains. He's not
the most vocal person out there. When he has the
(32:43):
point to make, certainly he's willing to make it. But
when we get these opportunities to hear Yepe like that,
or even to hear what it was that he said
before the Galaxy game where he had that really pointed
line about hey, they're here to party, We're here to
spoil the party and goatya.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
You've interviewed multiple athletes across the board, and especially when
it comes to the football EASTA the soccer player, the
environment when they switch clubs. A lot of times it
doesn't go this wealth, especially for the family, but it
appears that the Tsks love the finest city, Jepez.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
Can you just imagine this guy from Copenhagen with his
brother and his father and they're like, let's go to Mexico,
Let's go to Tijuana, tou Estadio Caliente to watch a
sholo's game, to experience football and the culture, and I'd
be afraid of it. And then not just that, but
I love when he said, well, what was meant to be?
(33:36):
This just like family affair turned into this whole group
situation with some of the guys wanting to join and
be like, hey, we'll go down there as well, we'll
go down to Tijuana, we'll go to the game. And
it was this whole group and I can just picture it.
It's so special. So that story is just hands down
my favorite.
Speaker 6 (33:54):
Yeah, it is and I love the part about it too, because,
like we hear from Mikey all the time about a
growth mindset, and that's not just you know how you're
connecting passes and playing football. You know, that's like the
human being. I'm not too proud to admit this. If
I'm going to go to a Club Tijuana match, I
might call somebody and say, hey, you know, anybody got
some ta These guys took it upon themselves like that
(34:15):
was news to people that worked for the club that
this group did that on and off day. So when
they started posting on social media, I remember saying, oh,
you guys must have set them up right with a
car service or somebody picked them up.
Speaker 11 (34:26):
They did that all on their own.
Speaker 6 (34:28):
Like, I just think that speaks so well of them
that they were willing to do that and take that
initiative right in their lives to learn a little bit
about the region. That was one of my favorite parts
and details of that whole experience for them.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, I know, God and speak to this as well
for us that are born and raised in the region.
The Iguana will embrace you if you act like you've
been there and you embrace it. The Iquanta embraces you,
and I don't think anybody's going to be messing with
the dev scuffs anyway in the hottest corner of the Americas.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
I'm so glad that he was able to do that.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And it about the bigger picture, guys, you know, when
it comes to San Diego. See and after the break,
we're gonna sit down with head coach Mikey Badas to
hear how he sees the season so far and where
San Diego FC can go next.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
We're gonna catch you on the way back and we're
back now.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
It's one thing hearing about the philosophy from the players
and assistance, but what about the man himself leading it all.
Here's an extract of an interview I did with head
coach Mikey Badas where I asked him about San Diego
style of play and now he sees it evolving in
the second half of the season.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
First, you have to feel this kind of football deep, deep,
deep in your bones, because you take a lot of risks, right,
and you have to believe in it. And if the
coaches don't believe in it, the players won't believe in it.
And if the players don't believe in it, it won't work.
So I think that's first and foremost. I think that
we've done a very good job of implementing initial stages
of this style of play, playing with initiative. You see
(36:16):
that we usually control games with possession and high pressing.
We're still working out some details in terms of what
does that look like in terms of defending and transition
and how do we take advantage of the kind of
chances that we can create, right, And I think once
we get to those levels of detail, we're going to
be a really, really competitive club.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
You guys have been tested, and especially during that losing
run in the month of April.
Speaker 5 (36:41):
My kid, I think I saw a lot from you. Guys.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Just got knocked off the horse, dusted yourself off, you
got right.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
Back up and back to your winning ways.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Did you change much after reacting as a collective after
that run in April? Or do you just said, you
know what, let's just keep banging, let's keep working and
this will kind of on its own.
Speaker 4 (37:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Every day we show up with the intentions of being
good people, having a growth mindset, and embracing competition, and
all of that should be regardless of results or where
you stand in the table or what position you hold,
whether you're a starter or not starter, head coach, assistant coach.
It's about living those fully, being present, loving what we
do every day, knowing that it's a huge honor and
(37:24):
also a massive responsibility, so taking it very seriously, and
we didn't change much. We of course continue to reflect
on the details we can do better, but we also
pointed out the things that we were doing well during
that stretch. And the main thing that we talked about
was actually it was more all in on our style
of play. More all in to say, guys, go all
in with what we want to be and who we
(37:45):
want to be because it's going to help us in
the long run. And then ultimately making sure that we
don't lose perspective. Everything can't be good all the time.
That's not real life. And if that's what you want
to be real life, you're going to start finding yourself dissatisfied.
Even in the quote unquote good times. You need the
lows sometimes to understand and really appreciate the highest and
(38:07):
we're not afraid of that. If we can come every
day and love the struggles also, then you know you
love what you do. If you only love it and
your only show top character when things are good. I
think it's very fragile. You know, your passion for whatever
you're doing at that time.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
And the ability to adapt has been something that you've shown,
not just as a manager, but as a leader of
these men here for San Diego FC, and teams have adapted.
They've kind of looked at the tape seem Okay, they're
not going to catch us by surprise anymore. Mike's not
going to take me to the well this time, I'm
going to do this or I'm going to do that.
What have you noticed as far as changes when you've
seen teams second time around and they're getting kind of
(38:43):
like the book on you.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Yeah, that's the fun part, right is the second time
team see you, or the more tape they have, you know,
start to anticipate, Okay, what might they do based on
their style play, based on the players that they have.
What we've mostly noticed is either teams are going to
go all out against us and try to man mark
us and take those chances, knowing that we're going to
try to play through it, or they're going to sit
(39:07):
back in a real compact block take away the middle
because they know we like to play through the middle
and we're good at it, and see if we're able
to exploit him in the white spaces. Those are kind
of the two things that we've noticed. And the other
thing that we've figured out is no matter what they've
done in their last four or five games, we have
to be prepared for some totally different game picture to emerge,
especially if they have time to prepare the game.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Really insightful stuff for Mikey about us and Darren. We've
had the pleasure to talk to him from day one.
He's always been very transparent about everything that he's doing.
And the man plays chess though, and he's excellent at it.
I love how he said, you've got to feel this
style of football deep in your bones, because that belief
has been absolutely clear all season long.
Speaker 5 (39:55):
They feel this football to the core.
Speaker 6 (39:57):
Yeah, it's in the blood. He's talked about that. It
took a little while, a couple of matches in maybe
twenty five percent of the way into the season. He
had that clip where he's addressing the squad after a win.
Speaker 11 (40:08):
He's like, it's in the blood, Fellas, I can feel it.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
I felt like it was coming for a long time,
and he wasn't so fired up about the results, but
just about the way they had played, because he felt
like it had clicked. There's that great story that's always
told about Johann Kroi when he recognized something about Pep
Guardiola when he started managing. Even in the loss, He's like,
that was the best football that we've seen and you
could tell something really click that made the coach happy.
And I love what he's talking about some of the
(40:31):
cat and mouse stuff that goes on, and he's clearly
talking about the Sporting KC game where he's like, teams
have time to prepare for us, they throw us a
little bit of a wrinkle. That's the fun is trying
to figure out how to solve the puzzle.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
And we've heard from Frank Gottia on the touchline, from
Yet on the pitch, and instrumental everybody in the locker room,
from the head coach to everybody on this staff. It's
all come together quite nicely. Now, how much should they
be prepared for teams coming in a bit wiser now,
because as Darren just said, they've tried and I repeat
(41:04):
the word tried to adapt.
Speaker 7 (41:06):
That's going to be part of the challenge more games,
more video to study. Teams now are well aware, of
course they're going to go after you, and it's part
of the risk, part of the risk of the way
they play, part of the characteristics that make this team
so special. It's because they go after games. They are resilient,
they don't give up, and that's going to be so
valuable come playoffs because it's a different format. All of
(41:30):
those little lessons are going to be just so valuable
because in that moment, everything's going to change, everything's going
to be different, and that's when you're going to need
all of what happened throughout the season and the way
you were tested. But you're going to have to find
the solutions. And that's the whole philosophy of the Right
to Dream Academy. It's preparing the players to find those
(41:51):
solutions when they're on the field.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Next up, we're finally back at the snap Dragon for
the first time since San Diego c beat Nashville on
the twenty sixth of July. This time the team faces
Phil Nevill's Portland Timbers, who currently sit fifth in the
Western Conference with thirty seven points. Katya, what are your
thoughts on the Timbers and is there anything that we've
(42:18):
heard from today's episode that you're going to be keeping
an eye on, in particular for this matchup.
Speaker 7 (42:23):
When we look at the Portland Timbers. First, Cincinnati, who
is leading the East and in the race for the
supporter Shield. They beat Portland in what was Evander's trip
back to his old stomping ground. But Portland, you know,
we see them in that mid table position, and that's
for a reason because they give a lot of space sometimes.
(42:43):
I've been reading comments about all the fans in Portland
that they're so loyal and they've been so loyal and
a great fan base throughout the years in MLS and
now seeing their team that they've lacked quality a bit
in certain areas. They're only playing with one DP. They've
tried to address it right now during the trund through window,
but that's going to take some time. It's not going
to be immediate. And we're talking about this game that's coming.
(43:05):
San Diego should be able to pull the win, especially
coming back home after two successful games on the road.
I think, you know, it's looking pretty good for them.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Mikey said it during this show, how they love to
just take the Steamrollers down main Street and come after
you and then exploit the white areas and took got
to this point. They are ultra exploitable here at the
Portland Timbers.
Speaker 6 (43:26):
They are, and you could sort of picture right like
Bill nevill Bee and the kind of manager here where
they've lost a couple of matches one win in their
last five. You can kind of picture him coming and
doing some of the things that we've all seen, whether
it's Saint Louis Sporting Casey kind of coming in here
parking the bus. So it'll be up to SDFC to
try to figure that out. But I suspect that'll be
the style of the game. That said, Hey, sdfc's defended
(43:47):
really well over the last six MLS matches, So I'm
looking at a I'm looking at a win here this
weekend on Saturday night, all right.
Speaker 5 (43:54):
But stick your neck out, give me a prediction, give
me a score, all right, I will.
Speaker 11 (43:58):
I'll give you to nil in this one.
Speaker 5 (44:00):
God damn your prediction.
Speaker 7 (44:02):
I have to agree with that, because I think Portland
Timbers we're gonna try and be compact and not give
them those spaces. But then San Diego will just find
a way to get that one goal to get ahead,
and then in that second half in San Diego, f
Sea fashion a fast break. Maybe they're going to find
that second goal.
Speaker 5 (44:19):
I'm going to drop something crazy right now.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
I'm sticking my neck out for nothing, San Diego FC,
Let's go give the fans a treat. They've been waiting
for a Goolasso spectacular. There at the mission, del the
Murph Dragon will be breathing fire for nothing.
Speaker 7 (44:36):
SD get your throat ready, I.
Speaker 5 (44:40):
Get it ready.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
We're gonna rocket and the ruckies has been brought all
season long, from day one from our own Frontea as D.
Speaker 5 (44:48):
But I have to tell you, guys.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Portland fans make a hell of a racket and that's
exactly where we're headed next time, an episode all about
fan culture, the Timbers Army, our own supporters and yes,
that growing rivalry with that one city up north, up
the five. You know we're talking about Putolo Siankits. A
(45:11):
big thank you to Frank yorbia Je Peterskov and of
course head coach Mikey Badis and as always to the
best in the business. My partners might find us, as
they would say in Venezuela.
Speaker 6 (45:21):
Got the end Darren, Thank you guys, thank you AJM,
g u yes.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
And of course thank you for taking the time to
listen and join us. Make sure you follow the podcast
wherever you get your shows, and join us every week
as we write out this incredible journey. This inaugural season
has been absolute fire. Stay with us. I'm Adrian, you
gotta see Americas and you've been dipped in chrominously
First, you have to feel this kind of football deep
deep in your bones. You take a lot of risks right,
and you have to believe in it. And if the
coaches don't believe in it, the players won't believe in it.
And if the players don't believe in it, it won't work.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hi there, I'm Adrian Garcia Marquez, and this is Behind
the Flow, the podcast where we dive in deep week
by week to the heart of San Diego FC as
they navigate their inaugural season in Major League Soccer. This week,
we're talking all about San Diego FC's style of play.
It's bold, it's risky, and it comes straight from the
Right to Dream philosophy. We're going to hear how the
(00:37):
coaching staff setting non negotiables from day one, pushing players
out of their comfort zones.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
So we started out with more of a blank pitch
and then we individualize as you would in any tribe
of learning environment.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We're going to talk to Captain Jeppe Devskov about dictating
the temple on the pitch and helping younger players play
with courage.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
For us, it's about everyone contributing and the way you
play it is a lot about everyone being brave and
taking risks. So that's whether you're eighteen or you're thirty.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And of course we're gonna hear from head coach Mikey
Vadas some belief, resilience and what it takes to lead
MLS in possession and build up play.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Every day we show up with the intentions of being
good people, having a growth mindset, and embracing competition and
all of that should be regardless of results or where
you stand in the table or what position you hold.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
All right, let's get it started. Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So welcome to this week's edition of Behind the Flow.
I'm Adrian Garcia Marquis and as always I'm joined by
Unpard Kraks, Darren Smith of San Diego Sports seven sixty,
an icon in San Diego, California, one of the finest
broadcasters in the city, and of course the analysts there
for San Diego FC, and the great Gattias, the international
(02:04):
Woman of Mystery, covers everything from coast to coast in
the United States and obviously around the globe. Guys, this
is going to be a lot of fun. This is
a great episode we have loaded up.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Yeah, well, thanks for having us. I would just like
to quickly point out, I know you're not supposed to
mess with a winning streak, but you know Katia and
I are. That's TFC's undfeated since we've been on the podcast.
Speaker 7 (02:21):
Just Sam just saying that we are the lucky Charms
and I'm happy to be here. I had a great
weekend because over the weekend I was in te California
with my family, So that was nice.
Speaker 5 (02:33):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
And by the way, you just celebrated a birthday recently. No, yes,
I did, Happy birthday.
Speaker 7 (02:38):
Thank you. Still Leo season Let's go.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
You get some of the best sweetbread on planet Earth
and that got them. Speaking of sweetness, let's get it started.
Coming up in this episode, we're going to dive deep
into San Diego f c's style of play, which mikey
Botis has called.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
In a word, relentless.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
But first let's discuss the match against the San Jose
Earthquakes game where after going a goal down, San Diego
FSI came back late to score a couple of goals
take all three points for the sixth road win in
a row.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
Let's hear what it sounded like.
Speaker 8 (03:14):
It's entertaining, does a real good job of thressuring Dosatos grade.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
Nifty and then sending it in egg box and bring
San Diego level one. One Pryer might be in to
put San Diego.
Speaker 8 (03:35):
Stars and try all from the team never stops amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
What a win, a resolute come back. You get up
off of the floor the canvas if you will, and
got the CJ trying to play from the back custom
a goal. Mlst's most aggressive team with the ball playing
out of defense risk versus reward style of play.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
They almost got him.
Speaker 7 (04:00):
I mean they did get him, but we know with
the style of play high risk, high reward. And what
I like about the team is the way they come
back mentally, they stay strong even though they're being tested
different scenarios, different fields, different things that they keep throwing
at them, and they find a way to get those
solutions and not only get a point on the road,
(04:23):
but then still win away from home. When you're an
expansion team, that is no easy feat.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Darren Smith for us is that striker position. They needed
a solution, and Tyler Heaps had told us we're going
to get a reinforcement. His name is Marcus Embarks in
negative in on that assist at amount of what a combo,
coming right in and coming in hot.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
Yeah. Really a sight for sore eyes was Marcus checking
into the match, a match where you do not have
Chucky Lozano, who didn't feature at all. It came off
against Sporting Kse. He's your second leading scorer and you
and I are wondering during the broadcast, somebody has got
to help unders out here, and what a site for
sore eyes. Marcus was coming off the bench. We know
(05:05):
he's been working hard, so he's missed twenty games, but
then he checks in and everybody started to ask questions
about what is the Achilles Heel for this SDFC side,
and everybody would point to the lack of production from
the number nine spot, especially post Milan Iloski. Well, Marcus
was kind of that guy at FC Norchland before we
(05:27):
ever heard of Milan Aloski. He's a Golden Boot winner,
so it was a lot expected of him when he
signed here. He's one of the first signings that SDFC had,
So I was throlled for the guy and he gets
to now right the end of this chapter for this
first season, what an asset that might be down the
stretch for the remaining seven.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So With just seven games to go for San Diego FC,
they find themselves at the top of the Western Mountain
by five points are now leading the supporter shield race
as well. So no better time to talk about the
football and the on field strategy that has taken the
MLS by storm. This week, we're diving into one of
the biggest reasons San Diego FC's debut season has stood out.
(06:10):
Their unique style of play. It's a methodology, a vision
even for playing football, and it's baked into the club's
DNA and you see it every single day. It all
comes from their wider organization, the Right to Dreams style
of play, a way of playing the game that, aside
from being exciting to watch, it places technical ability and
(06:33):
youth development at its core. For a deeper dive, check
out episode five of the series. But here's a clip
from an interview with Sir Mohammed Mansour, chairman of Right
to Dream and San Diego FCS. He explains how he
first discovered the project and what inspired him to bring
it to America.
Speaker 9 (06:58):
I was raised in Alexandra, Egypt back in the fifties.
Speaker 10 (07:02):
We were three.
Speaker 9 (07:02):
Brothers and we were all very sportsmanlike and we're very
competitive as a family. Who's going to be the fastest swimmer,
who's going to be the best striker in the football team.
And my mentor at that time was my uncle Mustafa
Kamel Mansour, who's like a legend in football in Egypt
because he was a goalkeeper that played actually in the
World Cup in nineteen thirty four. And this love of
(07:25):
the game grew and we continued to be loving soccer
as it is called in the United States. Then one
of the board members reached out to us and said
he was sponsoring and helping this academy in Sub Saharan Africa,
and he spoke to my son Lutfi and said, you
know that we want you to maybe help build them
(07:45):
a pitch. And when my son Lutfi went and met
with Tom Vernon and other founders, he came back and
said that, I mean, this is an amazing project. I
was so impressed with what I saw of the work
that had been done with young men and women and
Write to Dream to create an opportunity for them to
either be professional footballers or footballers or go the education route.
(08:08):
So as I look at the Right to Dream and
what it has done, it really ticked all the boxes
for me and the Mansur family. So when we came
to acquire Right to Dream back in twenty twenty one,
I met with some of the management of Right to
Dream at the time and said, go to Egypt. He said, well,
Egypt is not an our radar screen. I said, well,
(08:29):
Mosallah has an Egyptian player, and I've seen how Egyptian
players know the technical ability and Egyptian passion for the game.
So they came back and said, we saw a lot
of young men that could be another Mosella, and so
we created this academy in Egypt. We inaugurated it when
I was in Cairol and October twenty twenty three, and
(08:50):
it was built in like eighteen months. And then the
idea of the MLS came and we're so fortunate today
to be given that opportunity. So with both allies in
San Diego, because I believe of the potential for growth
for soccer in America. I believe that we're at the
tip of the iceberg. You have the World Cup coming
in twenty twenty six. I always say, if you have
(09:12):
an NBA star that could be a goalkeeper, oh my god,
you'd have one of the best goalkeepers in the world,
and we always think long term, we don't think short
term at all. Then who knows what will bring next
in Europe or whatever else.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
In the world. So you heard it there.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
It was no accident that Sir Mohammed Monsour and Right
to Dream shows MLS as their.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Next step for world domination.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Now, the market was primed, the opportunity massive, and they
also felt that they might have an advantage coming in
a style of play that would work immediately in this league.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
And we're going to get into it.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So as a primer, we're actually talking about a physical
playbook here, a manual the outlines phases and patterns of
play and presents various solutions for the team to learn
from and draw from. Every coach in the Right to
Dream Academy, the club, any extension of it. They all
use it, each in their own way, but they all
use it. We're talking about a fluid, possession, heavy football
(10:09):
style of play, aggressive off the ball, relentless pressing and
very very entertaining. As you've seen, we've had the popcorn
ready from opening night. So Gatya, let me start with you.
How would you describe it? And as a reporter, somebody
working nationally internationally, and I know in the halls of ESPN,
for example, everybody is always talking about style of play,
(10:29):
especially our guys, the Latino inside of the coverage there
for media like Oh Bettle Gstito Guest, everybody was buzzy
about right to Dream style of play.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
When you're a new team coming into the league, you
want your fans to fall in love with the team.
You want them to go to the stadium. How do
you do that playing exciting football. You give them a style,
you give them goals, and then the crowds will keep
coming back. So even if you're not a big football fan,
even though we know San Diego is a foot town
(11:00):
and the soccer culture is so big, but then you're
also going to have other fans that might not be
that into it or didn't know that much before. But
when they go to the stadium, they see the style,
they see the goals, they see the fans go into it.
That is just going to make it even better. So
I think that was just the perfect fit, a great
idea to build that in MLS, to build that in
(11:21):
San Diego, and then we're seeing the results now and.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
As we dive into the beautiful mind of Darren Smith.
You love breaking down the numbers, Darren.
Speaker 10 (11:29):
Boo boo boooo.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Dude, s DFC leading MLS and build up touches three
hundred and sixty seven a game according to some of
your notes, compared to the league average of about two
hundred and fifty seven.
Speaker 6 (11:42):
Thank you for comparing me to Archidi two there. I
appreciate that, AGM. There are a lot of numbers here,
and I think sometimes you know, you can really sort
of have them go in one ear and out the other.
But a lot of these things matter because you know
they're not coincidental.
Speaker 11 (11:56):
You know they are by design. There was recently a story.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
In The Guardian comparing mikey Vadis's style and what's going
on here to managers like Pep Guardiola and Roberta Deserve, etc. So,
like this is a thing now that all of a
sudden is catching a lot of people's attention all across
the sport because people are noticing that their are influences
in the global game that we're witnessing match in match
out here in San Diego. So you know, it is
(12:21):
a style. Of course, sometimes you have to rely on
your stars. Sporting case great example. Your two designated players
are those two players that scored the goals, but there's
so much more to the story about getting everybody involved,
from the goalkeeper all the way up into the forwards
that's resulted in this kind of success.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And you mentioned it. This is the kicker no pun intended.
Their goalkeepers have attempted fewer long passes than anyone in
Major League Soccer and Katya they go long less often
than Barcelona and Manchester City, but they're committed to building
from the back.
Speaker 7 (12:54):
They're committed as part of the style and we're going
to continue to see that in what I like. And
that's a perfect example because the whole theme around this
style of play as well as long term growth. So
I really like what Mike said that even though some
players are going to make mistakes because it's part of it,
it's not like they're not going to get more opportunities
in the future. You know that when you join San
(13:15):
Diego one, you're going to get minutes. Two, you're going
to get minutes even if you make a mistake, because
that's how you grow, that's how you learn. They also
want to see how a player responds, how they get
back at it after they've made a mistake, and when
we think about what's coming with the academy, it's part
of that development is just so exciting because of what's
to come, not just what we're seeing now, but what
(13:37):
they're building to sustain success in the long run.
Speaker 6 (13:41):
And can I just follow up on Katya's point there,
because I think it's you know, it's really really well
said about the style that sometimes is going to lend
itself to making these kind of mistakes, which I think
everybody can live with. But it is also you know
what Katia reference there, which is the future of the
club right now. Currently by choice, this team has five
teenagers on the roster right and are playing a twenty
(14:04):
year old at center back against some of the most
prolific goal scorers that we've ever seen in Major League
soccer history. So you're going to have mistakes made. It's
what's gonna happen when you learn to live with the
mistakes and move on from the mistakes.
Speaker 11 (14:16):
That's mostly important here.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Darren, we did chat about this other right to Dream model,
and you said that the Dryer goal against Sporting Kansas
City was a perfect exam.
Speaker 5 (14:27):
This takes it off for deflection.
Speaker 11 (14:28):
It's Dryer passing on it, sliding it home.
Speaker 8 (14:33):
The MVP campaign for Anders Dryer continues already.
Speaker 10 (14:38):
It assists tonight.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Now he's had it a goal in double San Diego
twenty past. His patients talk to me about it. Why
was that such a perfect snapshot of San Diego FC
playing right to dream football.
Speaker 6 (14:50):
It was just pass pass pass, coming across the halfway line,
moving into the attacking third, and you're thinking, this is
a really beautiful thing to regardless of however it is
that this possession ends. It ended in a goal, which
made it even more special, right because here you have
Anders Dryer, who's done it all, who runs in on
goal and a beautiful flick from Anni Valacari to set
(15:15):
up the second goal of the match.
Speaker 11 (15:16):
But even just watching.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
It before it resulted in the second goal of the game, like,
it just was beautiful flowing football, and it was great
to see that result in a goal, because that's the
kind of thing you could just take and hold up
and say this is who we are in a nutshell
right here?
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Gotya?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
That kind of execution shows how quickly the players have
learned with this style of play, And what do you
think this says about the staff's ability to coach them,
but players like Andre's Dreyer who come in and show
everybody else this is.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
How you do it.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
It's a great mix of these players that have a
little bit more experience and then the youngsters grasping the
whole idea, embracing the style, embracing the message, and great
job from the coaching staff as well and seeing everybody
and giving them the tools. And I think that that
Galaxy game when the season started show does everything from
the get go, Like after all the planning, the talking,
(16:10):
it was that moment when you wanted to see it
all come to life. And boy did they exceed those
expectations for the game, because one they surprise everyone who
wasn't quite aware of what was coming. But also it
gave within the team that confidence and optimism to the
whole squad to see that the work pays off. And
then that's why you're seeing success now.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
And we've seen it, and Darren and I have felt
it in the broadcast booth all the way down to
the field. San Diegobse have really taken the league by storm,
far beyond anyone's expectations, that's for sure. After the break
you're gonna hear from assistant manager Frank Jorba and also
from Gjepeterskoff.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
Their philosophy.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
This philosophy, our philosophy has come to life. Cooling Break
will be back, and we're back. From day one. The
coaching staff set non negotiables for how San Diego FC
(17:15):
would play, pushing players out of their comfort zones, and
one of the driving forces behind that is assistant coach
Frank Yorbia. Years of experience at Denmark's e FC norseland
he's lived this style before. We sat down with him
last week and asked why the chance to build something
from scratch in a new culture was too good to
(17:38):
turn down.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
My name is Frank Yorbia and I'm an assistant coach
and I'm originally from Denmark, moved in January with my family.
I've been coaching in Denmark full time or at a
professional level for ten to twelve years, fifty percent of
the time at the academy level and fifty percent of
the time with the seniors team. I've been at sinosh
(18:03):
Land for almost four and a half years in total,
so I know the organization and I know the thoughts
behind it and the methodology and the style of play
and the whole view of human beings and human development,
and so that's very appealing to me. Then having a
chance to try to build something completely from scratch, doing
(18:25):
it in a different culture, different continent, a place I
haven't been to before, was just a great, great challenge
and the great opportunity. I'll say that you see the
similarities between FCN and San DIEGOFC, both with and without
the ball, in terms of how you want to build
(18:46):
the game with the ball, how you want to impact
the games with a structured style of play where there's
a lot of decision making and where we try to
take a lot of initiative, where we try to be intense,
try to get the ball back very fast.
Speaker 5 (19:03):
So we wanted it known.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Was there a moment or a match where Frank dot, yes,
this is it right here, this style can work.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I'll say the first game that we had in the season,
because it was such a unique stage against the defending
champions Away. After being together for a little over a month,
bringing this grew together and then everything had to really
be put to the test. So that game especially stands
(19:32):
out for me, winning two zero, keeping a clean sheet,
showing things on both sides of the ball that we
really tried to develop over the few weeks that we.
Speaker 10 (19:42):
Have been together.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
And we tried to convince the players from the beginning, listen,
a lot of this would be.
Speaker 10 (19:46):
New for you, but we can make it work. We'll
be ready for that game.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
And we tried to convince them about that, and obviously,
as a coach, that's the approach you got to take,
and then you know that it can go wrong. But
we had to be very ambitious from the beginning. We
had to convince them that they could do it. And
obviously we played games and had trainings where like their
heads were spinning, like they were getting dizzy from all
the information and all everything. We tried to teach them right,
but we also had a strong belief.
Speaker 10 (20:11):
In them, and they could still have had a.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
Great performance and show us and show everyone that was
interested that that style of plays can be done, can
be efficient within a short amount of time, and we
could still have lost the game.
Speaker 10 (20:24):
Of course, no, that's football. That how it happened. But
then we end up winning two zero.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
So how did they manage to pick it up so
fast and already perform at the level we're seeing now we.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Have some things style of play wise, that's like non negotiable.
Speaker 10 (20:37):
This is how we want to play.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
And we started by pushing the boundaries as far as
we could, pushing them all the way out of the
comfort zone and basically told them this is the ambition
level that we have in terms of defending, for example.
And then as we progressed through the preseason and in season,
then we started to find the balance of things and
started to know a bit more where the limitations are.
(20:59):
And as we got to know the players, as they
got to know the style of play, and we gave
them more and more time within those different scenarios on
the training pitch, that's where you start to make it
more and more individual and telling this guy, isn't you're
very good at doing this specific turn or having.
Speaker 10 (21:16):
This specific position.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So we started out with more of a blank page
and then we individualized as you would in any type
of learning environment.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Then came April. Can we forget April?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
A tricky run of losses had at that period forced
the team to evolve.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
It was clear within that tough period where we had
three losses in a row, that the opponents were not
caught by surprise anymore. They have had some games to
analyze and then they could see what was coming compared
to the first few opponents. Right, So then we had
to adapt and be better in terms of not giving
the ball away in situations where we were too vulnerable,
(21:54):
because we were.
Speaker 10 (21:55):
Especially punished in transitional moments.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Where we were building the game and we became too
open with it our structure. So that was a good
teaching point for us, and it's really about making the
most out of these periods without losing the guys in
terms of believing that this will continue to work.
Speaker 10 (22:10):
We just got to get better at what.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
We're doing and hopefully we used it in a good
way to develop the team.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Frank told us his background at FC Northstone was key
to helping San Diego settle on their playing style right
from the start.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
I was the only one from the coaching staff having
experience with this specific style of play. Of course, the
other guys have, of course recruited because the clubs see
that they can fit in within this, but I was
the only guy who had some experience Fromochlan. But that
helps a lot for all the other guys to also
be introduced to the principles. Knowing that, okay, it is
this direction that we have to go in. This means
(22:46):
that we could from day one be up and running
very fast because we take away a lot of the
noise in terms of decision.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
Making on the pitch. We take away a lot of
the debates and.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Discussions that you and I could have we started at
football club tomorrow.
Speaker 10 (22:58):
Because the game is so complex.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
You can do so many things and there's no right
or wrong, but we just know within us that it's
got to be within our style of play principles. The
organization did a phenomenal job in terms of bringing in
a head coach who was so aligned that, despite coming
from the outside, his own personality and his own view
of the game of football and what makes sense to
him in terms of style of play and coaching a
(23:22):
football team was just a very good match. I think
you cannot underestimate how powerful it is for us as
a group now speaking as a big group, as an organization,
as a locker room, as a coaching staff group, as
a group of players and coaches, that we are standing
on shoulders of so many people that for so many
(23:44):
years has spilt on top of this methodology and there's
THEFC layer is now being built on top of all that.
A bunch of very very good guys and girls and
very clever people that have gone through many, many years
and many defeats in football games, all these things and
kept pushing for this view of the game. And now
we're just very fortunate to be able to try to
(24:05):
build the next layer into that.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
So Frank obviously such a valuable asset for Mikey Badas
on that bench and Staph and Darren. Frank talked about
the non negotiables and principles that define this style. I mean,
you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
That's pretty much what we've seen. Where has it gone
wrong for you at times? And should they compromise a
little bit more And have you perceived any weaknesses because
(24:31):
I mean, Frank did talk about teams adapting and adapting
pretty quickly.
Speaker 6 (24:36):
One of the things that they talked about openly was
worrying about transition, you know, being in transition football and
having too many players that would be caught into the attack.
Speaker 11 (24:47):
Some of that is just.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
Guys getting used to playing with one another. So when
you have two center halves like the mcsmash brothers, who
can learn that if you're going to go forward, I'm
going to stay back, or when you have two fullbacks
like Oscar Varhoven and Luca Bombing. So they've talked about
this that they have nonverbal communication where if you're going
to go up, I'm going to cover you. Should we
end up in a transition situation. The risk of this,
(25:08):
obviously is what we saw most recently. There is the
social media account when playing it out of the back
goes wrong. Nobody wants to be on one of those clips, right,
nobody does, But from the time to time it's going
to happen just based on the style. So they've done
an amazing job of adapting one other thing. You just
see how much they celebrate each other. They celebrate the
(25:30):
guy with the assist almost as much as they celebrate
the guy with the goal. But every once in a while,
I think it does cross our minds, like, you know,
you're really good at scoring a goal here, maybe it
would be better for you to just take the shop.
But man, it it ain't broke, so I don't know
that it needs a lot of fixing.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Yeah, and I love the selfless plus relentless culture that
we've seen out of this squad and the style of
play and a player that epitomizes this. Frank mentioned him, Yeah, Peterskov,
not just for his role on the pitch, but the
influence he has a on the training center. We caught
up with him in the last few weeks and started
(26:05):
this chat by asking how he settled in and his
family into life in San Diego.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
We love it.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
One part is, of course the football, but also the
outside of football is very It's very nice here. We've
been talking to a lot of people and I feel
like everybody always says the same, like, once you get here,
it's difficult to leave. So I think we've we felt
the same that yeah, it's a good life here and
we enjoyed very much.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Turns out it wasn't just San Diego that appealed to
get there. He wasted no time crossing the border spoon
spoon to check out the Juana.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
It was one of the things we saw first when
we knew we were going over here, that it's close
to the border and Mexico was I think top on
the on the list.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
I had my brother and my father coming over a rather.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
It's a big football fan, and he noticed that the
Cholos was playing on a day off, so we kind
of put together to go over there, and it quickly
turned from me and my brother and my father going
to five or six guys from the team also wanted
to join. It's big stagium and coming from Europe and
watch a lot of football games there. It's always fun
(27:19):
to experience a culture on the game day, it was
a fun experience. It was a crazy game also, so
I think we got everything out of it that we wanted.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
We asked El Capitan for his take on how the
Right to Dream style is working in MLS, his role
in making it take on the pitch, and whether he's
noticed any difference is compared to playing in Europe.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
The style of player is built upon having good structure
and using certain positions within the field to kind of
create and advantage over the opponent, so that we know
how we want to build up and how we want
to transition into the third phase pitch, so that our
offensive players have easier possibility, better possibilities to kind of
(28:07):
do their magic on the last third. In short terms,
it's being strict in positions and kind of knowing what
the advantage within staying in these positions gives the team.
I feel like the games here often tend to open
up more than I've used to, at least, and that's
kind of my role also as one of the guys
who handles the tempo of the game, to make sure
(28:30):
that we stay within our structure and yeah, it doesn't
go all around the pitch. My role is to make
sure that everybody stays in position also when we attack,
so that we don't just go with nine guys and
leave two guys against two on our own half for
when the ball travels back again. But the coaching staff
has been doing a good job the first six months
(28:53):
for implementing a style, and I think like after we
won also a couple of games, people saw that, okay,
this way of playing football can be very beneficial here
because it makes us control the game more and when
you control the game, you often also have a better
chance of controlling the outcome.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
I feel like it took a.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Couple of games to the start of the season to
really show everyone that doing it this way is the
right way.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
For us, And as captain Getpus sees it as his
responsibility to make sure the younger guys have the courage
to play freely in this system.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
We had a game yesterday where we relied a lot
on our fullbacks and center backs, and it's just to
keep motivating them to kind of be brave as the
best word, because we have very good players all around
the pitch. For us, it's about everyone contributing, and the
way we play is a lot about everyone being brave
and taking risks, so that whether you're eighteen or you're thirty,
(29:51):
and I've played this game for long, so that's the
most important thing for me, is kind of build up
the young guys to be able to don't feel like
they have to pass the ball all too guys who
played more games, but also for them to be creative
and unfold themselves.
Speaker 5 (30:05):
But it's not just on yep.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
That responsibility is shared right across the club and it
really reflects the culture of growth and support that right
to dream is all about growth, mentality, growth mindset.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
I feel like one of the special things here is
also the environment we built. People talk a lot about
culture and stuff and it's often a little bit fluffy,
but a huge thing in football is also how you
go about with your teammates, and we have guys who
haven't played as much, but people are still very positive
(30:42):
and that makes the environment coming to work here kind
of feel more like being with friends and family. And
we feel at least that it's been great for us
because you can also sometimes you're on a pitch all
the teams starting to complain a little bit more within
the team, where Yeah, I think what we are building
and what we have built here in terms of culture,
(31:03):
in a sense of people wanted to help each other
is a big thing. So that's also a thing for
the younger generation that fills something we just seemed to
make it special. Build relationships and remember that the more
you can be positive, the better.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
I love to hear how Yep and his family have
settled into the fluffiness of San Diego El Capitan. He's
been such a part, a huge part, not only of
San Diego FC on the field, but he's quickly. I
think the last time I saw a guy settled into
San Diego as beautifully and as quickly was Darren Smith
when he arrived back in the day, and he became
(31:44):
a major part of San Diego community, just like Yep
Beteta's companies. Well, the mix of leadership guys in culture
is a big reason why this team has come together
so fast, Darren, I'll start with you the culture. We
felt it from day one of camp. You could just
see Yepe and the leaders took that responsibility very seriously,
(32:05):
and we've talked about it so many many times. Yepet
there's got being voted Gottan over international captains Patty mucnairfor
Northern Ireland and the man that's played the most games
in Panama's history in aniwhile Goldoy. Yet it was Yepet
they selected, and there's a reason for it.
Speaker 11 (32:21):
Number one.
Speaker 6 (32:21):
I will accept that comparison, especially as somebody who enjoys
a trip across the border to go into Tijuana from
time to time. And I did love that detail from
Yepe and his family when they went down there and
really just enjoyed not just the city, the county, but
the region. I think that's really really important. But you're right,
I mean, he's the captain of the captains. He's not
the most vocal person out there. When he has the
(32:43):
point to make, certainly he's willing to make it. But
when we get these opportunities to hear Yepe like that,
or even to hear what it was that he said
before the Galaxy game where he had that really pointed
line about hey, they're here to party, We're here to
spoil the party and goatya.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
You've interviewed multiple athletes across the board, and especially when
it comes to the football EASTA the soccer player, the
environment when they switch clubs. A lot of times it
doesn't go this wealth, especially for the family, but it
appears that the Tsks love the finest city, Jepez.
Speaker 7 (33:14):
Can you just imagine this guy from Copenhagen with his
brother and his father and they're like, let's go to Mexico,
Let's go to Tijuana, tou Estadio Caliente to watch a
sholo's game, to experience football and the culture, and I'd
be afraid of it. And then not just that, but
I love when he said, well, what was meant to be?
(33:36):
This just like family affair turned into this whole group
situation with some of the guys wanting to join and
be like, hey, we'll go down there as well, we'll
go down to Tijuana, we'll go to the game. And
it was this whole group and I can just picture it.
It's so special. So that story is just hands down
my favorite.
Speaker 6 (33:54):
Yeah, it is and I love the part about it too, because,
like we hear from Mikey all the time about a
growth mindset, and that's not just you know how you're
connecting passes and playing football. You know, that's like the
human being. I'm not too proud to admit this. If
I'm going to go to a Club Tijuana match, I
might call somebody and say, hey, you know, anybody got
some ta These guys took it upon themselves like that
(34:15):
was news to people that worked for the club that
this group did that on and off day. So when
they started posting on social media, I remember saying, oh,
you guys must have set them up right with a
car service or somebody picked them up.
Speaker 11 (34:26):
They did that all on their own.
Speaker 6 (34:28):
Like, I just think that speaks so well of them
that they were willing to do that and take that
initiative right in their lives to learn a little bit
about the region. That was one of my favorite parts
and details of that whole experience for them.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, I know, God and speak to this as well
for us that are born and raised in the region.
The Iguana will embrace you if you act like you've
been there and you embrace it. The Iquanta embraces you,
and I don't think anybody's going to be messing with
the dev scuffs anyway in the hottest corner of the Americas.
Speaker 5 (34:56):
I'm so glad that he was able to do that.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
And it about the bigger picture, guys, you know, when
it comes to San Diego. See and after the break,
we're gonna sit down with head coach Mikey Badas to
hear how he sees the season so far and where
San Diego FC can go next.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
We're gonna catch you on the way back and we're
back now.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
It's one thing hearing about the philosophy from the players
and assistance, but what about the man himself leading it all.
Here's an extract of an interview I did with head
coach Mikey Badas where I asked him about San Diego
style of play and now he sees it evolving in
the second half of the season.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
First, you have to feel this kind of football deep, deep,
deep in your bones, because you take a lot of risks, right,
and you have to believe in it. And if the
coaches don't believe in it, the players won't believe in it.
And if the players don't believe in it, it won't work.
So I think that's first and foremost. I think that
we've done a very good job of implementing initial stages
of this style of play, playing with initiative. You see
(36:16):
that we usually control games with possession and high pressing.
We're still working out some details in terms of what
does that look like in terms of defending and transition
and how do we take advantage of the kind of
chances that we can create, right, And I think once
we get to those levels of detail, we're going to
be a really, really competitive club.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
You guys have been tested, and especially during that losing
run in the month of April.
Speaker 5 (36:41):
My kid, I think I saw a lot from you. Guys.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Just got knocked off the horse, dusted yourself off, you
got right.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
Back up and back to your winning ways.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
Did you change much after reacting as a collective after
that run in April? Or do you just said, you
know what, let's just keep banging, let's keep working and
this will kind of on its own.
Speaker 4 (37:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Every day we show up with the intentions of being
good people, having a growth mindset, and embracing competition, and
all of that should be regardless of results or where
you stand in the table or what position you hold,
whether you're a starter or not starter, head coach, assistant coach.
It's about living those fully, being present, loving what we
do every day, knowing that it's a huge honor and
(37:24):
also a massive responsibility, so taking it very seriously, and
we didn't change much. We of course continue to reflect
on the details we can do better, but we also
pointed out the things that we were doing well during
that stretch. And the main thing that we talked about
was actually it was more all in on our style
of play. More all in to say, guys, go all
in with what we want to be and who we
(37:45):
want to be because it's going to help us in
the long run. And then ultimately making sure that we
don't lose perspective. Everything can't be good all the time.
That's not real life. And if that's what you want
to be real life, you're going to start finding yourself dissatisfied.
Even in the quote unquote good times. You need the
lows sometimes to understand and really appreciate the highest and
(38:07):
we're not afraid of that. If we can come every
day and love the struggles also, then you know you
love what you do. If you only love it and
your only show top character when things are good. I
think it's very fragile. You know, your passion for whatever
you're doing at that time.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
And the ability to adapt has been something that you've shown,
not just as a manager, but as a leader of
these men here for San Diego FC, and teams have adapted.
They've kind of looked at the tape seem Okay, they're
not going to catch us by surprise anymore. Mike's not
going to take me to the well this time, I'm
going to do this or I'm going to do that.
What have you noticed as far as changes when you've
seen teams second time around and they're getting kind of
(38:43):
like the book on you.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
Yeah, that's the fun part, right is the second time
team see you, or the more tape they have, you know,
start to anticipate, Okay, what might they do based on
their style play, based on the players that they have.
What we've mostly noticed is either teams are going to
go all out against us and try to man mark
us and take those chances, knowing that we're going to
try to play through it, or they're going to sit
(39:07):
back in a real compact block take away the middle
because they know we like to play through the middle
and we're good at it, and see if we're able
to exploit him in the white spaces. Those are kind
of the two things that we've noticed. And the other
thing that we've figured out is no matter what they've
done in their last four or five games, we have
to be prepared for some totally different game picture to emerge,
especially if they have time to prepare the game.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Really insightful stuff for Mikey about us and Darren. We've
had the pleasure to talk to him from day one.
He's always been very transparent about everything that he's doing.
And the man plays chess though, and he's excellent at it.
I love how he said, you've got to feel this
style of football deep in your bones, because that belief
has been absolutely clear all season long.
Speaker 5 (39:55):
They feel this football to the core.
Speaker 6 (39:57):
Yeah, it's in the blood. He's talked about that. It
took a little while, a couple of matches in maybe
twenty five percent of the way into the season. He
had that clip where he's addressing the squad after a win.
Speaker 11 (40:08):
He's like, it's in the blood, Fellas, I can feel it.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
I felt like it was coming for a long time,
and he wasn't so fired up about the results, but
just about the way they had played, because he felt
like it had clicked. There's that great story that's always
told about Johann Kroi when he recognized something about Pep
Guardiola when he started managing. Even in the loss, He's like,
that was the best football that we've seen and you
could tell something really click that made the coach happy.
And I love what he's talking about some of the
(40:31):
cat and mouse stuff that goes on, and he's clearly
talking about the Sporting KC game where he's like, teams
have time to prepare for us, they throw us a
little bit of a wrinkle. That's the fun is trying
to figure out how to solve the puzzle.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
And we've heard from Frank Gottia on the touchline, from
Yet on the pitch, and instrumental everybody in the locker room,
from the head coach to everybody on this staff. It's
all come together quite nicely. Now, how much should they
be prepared for teams coming in a bit wiser now,
because as Darren just said, they've tried and I repeat
(41:04):
the word tried to adapt.
Speaker 7 (41:06):
That's going to be part of the challenge more games,
more video to study. Teams now are well aware, of
course they're going to go after you, and it's part
of the risk, part of the risk of the way
they play, part of the characteristics that make this team
so special. It's because they go after games. They are resilient,
they don't give up, and that's going to be so
valuable come playoffs because it's a different format. All of
(41:30):
those little lessons are going to be just so valuable
because in that moment, everything's going to change, everything's going
to be different, and that's when you're going to need
all of what happened throughout the season and the way
you were tested. But you're going to have to find
the solutions. And that's the whole philosophy of the Right
to Dream Academy. It's preparing the players to find those
(41:51):
solutions when they're on the field.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Next up, we're finally back at the snap Dragon for
the first time since San Diego c beat Nashville on
the twenty sixth of July. This time the team faces
Phil Nevill's Portland Timbers, who currently sit fifth in the
Western Conference with thirty seven points. Katya, what are your
thoughts on the Timbers and is there anything that we've
(42:18):
heard from today's episode that you're going to be keeping
an eye on, in particular for this matchup.
Speaker 7 (42:23):
When we look at the Portland Timbers. First, Cincinnati, who
is leading the East and in the race for the
supporter Shield. They beat Portland in what was Evander's trip
back to his old stomping ground. But Portland, you know,
we see them in that mid table position, and that's
for a reason because they give a lot of space sometimes.
(42:43):
I've been reading comments about all the fans in Portland
that they're so loyal and they've been so loyal and
a great fan base throughout the years in MLS and
now seeing their team that they've lacked quality a bit
in certain areas. They're only playing with one DP. They've
tried to address it right now during the trund through window,
but that's going to take some time. It's not going
to be immediate. And we're talking about this game that's coming.
(43:05):
San Diego should be able to pull the win, especially
coming back home after two successful games on the road.
I think, you know, it's looking pretty good for them.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Mikey said it during this show, how they love to
just take the Steamrollers down main Street and come after
you and then exploit the white areas and took got
to this point. They are ultra exploitable here at the
Portland Timbers.
Speaker 6 (43:26):
They are, and you could sort of picture right like
Bill nevill Bee and the kind of manager here where
they've lost a couple of matches one win in their
last five. You can kind of picture him coming and
doing some of the things that we've all seen, whether
it's Saint Louis Sporting Casey kind of coming in here
parking the bus. So it'll be up to SDFC to
try to figure that out. But I suspect that'll be
the style of the game. That said, Hey, sdfc's defended
(43:47):
really well over the last six MLS matches, So I'm
looking at a I'm looking at a win here this
weekend on Saturday night, all right.
Speaker 5 (43:54):
But stick your neck out, give me a prediction, give
me a score, all right, I will.
Speaker 11 (43:58):
I'll give you to nil in this one.
Speaker 5 (44:00):
God damn your prediction.
Speaker 7 (44:02):
I have to agree with that, because I think Portland
Timbers we're gonna try and be compact and not give
them those spaces. But then San Diego will just find
a way to get that one goal to get ahead,
and then in that second half in San Diego, f
Sea fashion a fast break. Maybe they're going to find
that second goal.
Speaker 5 (44:19):
I'm going to drop something crazy right now.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
I'm sticking my neck out for nothing, San Diego FC,
Let's go give the fans a treat. They've been waiting
for a Goolasso spectacular. There at the mission, del the
Murph Dragon will be breathing fire for nothing.
Speaker 7 (44:36):
SD get your throat ready, I.
Speaker 5 (44:40):
Get it ready.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
We're gonna rocket and the ruckies has been brought all
season long, from day one from our own Frontea as D.
Speaker 5 (44:48):
But I have to tell you, guys.
Speaker 2 (44:50):
Portland fans make a hell of a racket and that's
exactly where we're headed next time, an episode all about
fan culture, the Timbers Army, our own supporters and yes,
that growing rivalry with that one city up north, up
the five. You know we're talking about Putolo Siankits. A
(45:11):
big thank you to Frank yorbia Je Peterskov and of
course head coach Mikey Badis and as always to the
best in the business. My partners might find us, as
they would say in Venezuela.
Speaker 6 (45:21):
Got the end Darren, Thank you guys, thank you AJM,
g u yes.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
And of course thank you for taking the time to
listen and join us. Make sure you follow the podcast
wherever you get your shows, and join us every week
as we write out this incredible journey. This inaugural season
has been absolute fire. Stay with us. I'm Adrian, you
gotta see Americas and you've been dipped in chrominously
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