July 8, 2025 • 43 mins
It’s November 2024, less than three months until SDFC play their first-ever game — and they only have six players on their roster. But in a few weeks’ time, they’ll have an opportunity to change that with the MLS Expansion Draft and SuperDraft.
Tyler and Mikey now focus on how to build a team that can play in the Right to Dream style — while winning games straight out of the gate.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's the Fall of twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
In the last episode, Mikey and Tyler put the work
of building a football club on pause to do a
world wind tour of the Right to Dream Network.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
The most important thing is to put your feet on
the ground wherever that place is. Because you can read
the slide deck so you can get on zoom calls.
But when you put your feet on the ground in Ghana,
on the ground in the Gift, on the ground in Denmark,
you feel the culture.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
First stop was Ghana in West Africa, the place where
it all began twenty five years ago. Okay, there they
immersed themselves in the herd and soul of the organization,
the development of young student athletes and preparing them to
take on the world whatever path they choose to follow.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
How do we find the best talent?
Speaker 5 (00:55):
And I think what resonates so well with me is
that talent isn't just on the football pig. Talent is
is a person. So when we talk about player development,
we talk about holistic development, we talk about education, we
talk about character. And so that is what right your
Dream is at its core beliefs, it's making sure that
everybody has an opportunity to realize their full potential in life.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Next, they flew out to Egypt to see the most
recent addition to the group, the Cairo Academy, where the
hunt to unearth the next most Salah is well underway.
They met with the boys and girls already it's thriving there.
They might even have witnessed a future MLS star in
(01:37):
the making. But aside from the impressive surroundings, it was
the human factor that was most inspiring.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
The talent is tremendous, you know, but more than anything,
you can see that there's a love and passion for
the game that's absolutely unbelievable. And I think, if anything,
if we can bring this kind of humbleness, positive outlook
on life and also passion for the game, we'll do
ourselves really well if we can, if we can bring
those things from here.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Finally, they went for a week long deep dive at
s dfc's sister club, FC Northland in Denmark, the pinnacle
of the Right to Dream system. Here, Tyler met with
leadership to strategize on squad building, while Mikey threw himself
into learning how to train the Right to Dream playbook
post match.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
If the feel that we created the chances and of
tulogy to big.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Chances that we can expect against the City Bowl, to see.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The style of play more clearly in action and like
a higher level. Right because in an academy in Egypt
is the academy. But then you say okay translation to
first team, because that's the project that we're going to
be on that has been really, really, really important.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Now they're back on home soil, it's time to go
to work on putting the plan into action, building a
Right to Dream squad that can compete in MLS. In
February twenty twenty five, San Diego FC became the thirtieth
team to enter Major League Soccer, now the largest professional
(03:25):
league on the planet. But this is more than just
another football club, at least that's the hope of the
club's co owners. Under the leadership of Sir Mohammed Monsteur,
Right to Dream is an organization promising to rock American
soccer to its foundations with a revolutionary approach to coaching
and youth development. Anchoring the project in the local community
(03:47):
is the Sequan Band of the Kumiya Nation, the first
ever Native American owners in men's professional sports and as
the only MLS club officially sanctioned to recruit out of me.
I mean, this thing could really fly, that is, if
everything goes to plan. Back in November twenty twenty four,
(04:08):
with less than three months to kick off, Tyler and
Mikey had just six players on their roster. As the
tensions turned to recruitment, the question is how do they
build a winning squad while staying true to the Right
to Dream principles. Captured in the final months before the
twenty twenty five season kicks off, this series follows sdfc's
race to field.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Their first ever team.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I'm Adrian gotta say, I'm out of kiss and this
is Behind the Flow, the origin story of San Diego FC.
Back from Denmark, Mikey and Tyler take the chance to
debrief and take stock of the lessons learned on their travels.
Though Tyler's been part of the organization for over a year,
(04:51):
at this point even he has a renewed appreciation of
how well the Right to Dream methods work in practice.
It's all vital reparation for the San Diego buildoun I.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Think it was a fantastic trip, not only for our
squad building, and I say squad, but with a staff standpoint, myself, Mark, Mikey,
Harry all went together, so it gave us a lot
of time to spend together. But it also allowed us
to meet with those players that we have already signed
on our rosters. So I think Mikey got a little
bit excited he finally started to see football and some
of the players that he's going to start working with.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Aside from meeting his players and observing the right to
dream system up close, Denmark gave Mikey a tinly boost
in self belief.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
And the trip gave me tremendous confidence, just spending a
lot of time with Mads and Fleming talking football, speaking football,
going over my ideas for the first team, and them
just providing me tremendous support when they were like, yes,
that's perfect, go with that.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
For his part hit of Football Matts, Davidson was impressed
with how integrated their visitors were from day one.
Speaker 6 (05:54):
So the good thing about our community is that we
are very close and be very open. So Mikey literally
webb IFC and gear and took part of every meeting
and what standing down by the pitch side instead of
sitting up like a guest and that was done on purpose,
that we wanted this to be real.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The time spent traveling together also gave Tyler and Mikey
plenty of opportunity to talk and discuss their ideas. With
the epic task of squad planning ahead, they're both relieved
to find how united they are in their thinking.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Mikey and I reconnected after and this is a probably
just show the alignment in us. It's amazing that we
don't have to go into the conversation by having a
conversation to make sure that we're aligned to what we're saying.
He said, I have full trust in you that you're
going to be completely aligned, and you a full trust
in me. And I think that was a really key moment.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
So their attention now turns to signing players. Remember Right
to Dream didn't choose MLS by accident. Their research tells
them that this league perfectly suits them style of play,
a highly tuned brand of controlled chaos with aggressive pressing
and clever ball possession. They also think that the young
players from across their global network can develop and succeed here.
(07:12):
That's the vision for SDFC. The thing is, how do
you plan for the future while also winning matches in
the present. It's a challenge that has peaked the interest
of MLS journalist Charles Bohm.
Speaker 7 (07:26):
So it's a real juggling act. And then when you
consider the fact that San Diego SC wants to be
an academy driven club who don't have enough functional academy yet,
they've got to patch that gap in the short to
medium term while still creating the structure that they can
grow into that will allow them to develop young players
both from within the San Diego and wider geographic regions,
(07:49):
and then also be working within the Right to Dream Network,
which certainly seems as if will involve top young players
or prospects from other parts of the Right to Dream
Network in Denmark and elsewhere. So it's a it's a
real juggling act, and it's it's complicated for anyone, but
for a club like SDFC, who is sort of synthesizing
(08:10):
an international network and all these other factors, it's it's
fiendishly complex and we have never seen exactly a blueprint
like this, so it makes it a fascinating storyline.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Some already imagine a team full of West African and
Scandinavian Right to Dream prodigies turning out for s DFC.
Could San Diego become FC Northland two point zero, climbing
the Western Conference while fielding the youngest team in MLS history.
It's possible one day in years to come, any player
that graduates from Right to Dreams International Academy could have
(08:47):
the choice of playing in either Denmark or the USA.
When that day comes, it'll false Mats Davidson to advise
them of which option makes most sense.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
So basically the question is what's better for the player.
In a case where let's say there's a good left
winger in Ia that is about to turn eighteen after
two development years with our International Academy, and both San
Diego and FS and Ocean and am interested in the player,
then it's from my chair, as in the group football,
(09:20):
all about thinking what's best for the player. For example,
that could be looking at the current squads. Maybe at
that time IFS and Ocean has two good left wingers,
and therefore the young player would probably go into a
little bit of a queue and maybe not get so
many minutes. And therefore we could look at the San
Diego squad and thinking, yes, they don't have any left
(09:41):
wingers right now. So that's how we are working together.
We're thinking what's best for the player, and of course
in the end, the player decides. We're not telling anyone
where to.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Go, and that's the bottom line.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
These players are adults with their own dreams and ambitions.
They might be advised by mods and others, but at
the end of the day, they'll make their own decisions.
So you see, it was never going to be as
simple as sending their best academy prospects to San Diego
for twenty twenty five, it will really be the next
cohort of international academy graduates to consider if MLS and
(10:19):
San Diego FC is the right move for them. And
on that score, Mads is certainly optimistic.
Speaker 6 (10:27):
I'm pretty confident that as soon as we get San
Diego up running, as soon as to bring them to
the game, show them the training ground, let them train
with the first team, then it becomes so real that
I'm sure that they will be just as important pathway
as IF has been. So that's the crucial part now
that we want to develop and showcase is DFC as
(10:50):
another pathway for for our homegrown players.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So with recreating FCN two point ruled out for the
time being. What is the plan for San Diego in
twenty twenty five, let's recap. They want to implement the
Right to Dream style of play. They want to give
young players the chance to shine. They want to create
a team that represents the people of San Diego while
still having an international flavor, and they want to win.
(11:21):
But before they dive into the market, they need to
consider the players they already have on the roster. First
the Denmark Latoon Duran, feree Alex Mightin, Jepesberskov and Marcus Ingbartson.
It's been decided that Duran will not be part of
the first SDFC squad at his age, Tyler thinks he's
(11:42):
better off staying where he.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Is, and we thought it was the best for Duran
and for his development. He's moving away from home for
the first time. Obviously, he grew up here in southern California,
so for him to not only develop as a player,
but as a person, we thought was really important for
him to go European football. And there's so many young
American players that want that opportunity, and what better pathway
(12:06):
that we can give it to him. At eighteen years old,
when he turns eighteen, so that it was always the conversation.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Next up is the fleet footed winger Alex Mikee, a
British American dual national and a player they have high
hopes for.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
I think first and foremost his personality. Alex is unbelievable,
like this kid always has a smile on his face,
and I think that was apparent as soon as I
had it was able to have a conversation with him
in the interview process.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
His career has been really, really unique.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
The twenty two year old the rives at a crucial
moment in his career. He burst onto the scene at
one of the old giants of English football, former European
champions Nottingham Forced, but after a bright start, he struggled
for game time.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
And that was the conversation that I had with him
and his father and the agent of hey, we want
to help Alex rebound.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
We have complete expectations for him in year one. We
fully expect that.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
He's going to get minutes because we're not going to
have a full roster right away. We expect him to
hit the ground running on day one. I think that's
this transition period where he's training with FCN that's really
going to help him.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
So that brings us to the senior players. There's two
Danes center midfielder Jeppe Zberskov and the big man up top,
Marcus Ingbarksen.
Speaker 8 (13:19):
What the funny, whatsa fight so much?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Then in defense they snapped up former Manchester United and
Middlesbrough center back Northern Irish international Patti mcnamars.
Speaker 8 (13:34):
Mcmari's conton and he's putting norgan Islands free up in Prague.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
And finally there's the club's first designated player, arriving after
spells that European powerhouses Napoli and PSB Einkholmen. They're attacking
Star from Mexico Irvy Chuki los angele.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Let's going to Mexico.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
As Charles Bom makes clear in MLS, the value of
dps cannot be overstated.
Speaker 7 (14:07):
Designated players are typically the face of the franchise. Usually
you want them to be forced multipliers to make everyone
around them, better, to be leaders off the pitch, to
set the example. And in the particular context of Right
to Dream and a club that wants to be academy centered,
you need, I think a personality who understands that, who
buys into that, who recognizes the role that they can
(14:28):
play within that.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
But more than anything, they need to win you games.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It's a lot of pressure, but hey, that's why they
get paid the big bucks.
Speaker 7 (14:37):
Bruce Arena, who's now coaching the San Jose Earthquakes, who's
won more titles than anyone else in this league, he
has us saying. He says, your best players have to
be your best players. And while that may sound obvious,
he's getting out of fundamental truth there, which is that
you need DPS and top level talent like that to
carry their weight and then some Mike.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He is under no illusions either getting the best out
of it Chuki will be a top priority.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
So we say, Irving, we need to set up for success.
Irving's got to score goals and get assistance.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
League.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
When your TP gets on, the team gets on. That's
that's a fact. That's a very simple truth in MLS.
So what do we want to do well, we study Irving?
What does Irving do? How does Irving score goals? Irving
scores goals both from the left and the right.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Now we're getting to the good stuff. Irving can't do
it on his own. It's all about the team's game
plan and how he connects with the players around him.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
So Irving will float inside, okay, and he'll make a
little darting runs in behind, but also get the ball
in the pocket to find combination. So when we think
about Irving, now we think about Yepa Yepe is a
controlling midfielder. He's someone who holds well, has huge IQ,
really great technique. He's going to help us break pressure,
(16:00):
accelerate play. And then you have Patty who's a very
balanced center back, really good breaking lines, calm on the ball. Okay,
So now we're thinking about how we want to attack. Well,
we want to set up the team where Marcus is
more often than not arriving in the final six yards.
He's going to score goals. He's going to have opportunities
(16:22):
to score goals. We want to get Irving the ball
facing forward. Why because he's good at running at people,
finding combination.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
With all of these cogs moving in his mind, Mikey
can immediately pick out a missing puzzle piece, a player
they will need to find asap.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So we think about how can we pair a left
back who is able to protect Irving solid defensively, Maybe
start lower in the build strong in the ball to
help get Irving the ball. Okay, help get our pocket
players the ball, but then has the physical capacity to
make a late run to get in around Irving wants.
(17:02):
Irving inevitably runs inside with the ball.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Now we're talking.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
This is where that right to Dream playbook kicks in
the sharp intelligent passing players swapping positions, dominating the ball
of minfield for releasing forward, quickly isolating opposition defenders one
v one runners arriving in the box, and go on.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Well, that's the idea anyway.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
But then the final step will be what players are
we actually able to sign, because in reality versus planning
is all depending on negotiation of salaries, who's available at
what moment, who you pick first. You might pick a
player and then all of a sudden a week later,
there's another profile available.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Player transfers the moment we've all been waiting for. Well,
that would be Tyler's department, and the young man from
Minnesota is working some long hours preparing for the biggest
week of his career. It's early evening in late November
(18:19):
twenty twenty four. SDFC Sparse open plan offices on Kentner
boulevard are now bustling and busting with activity. It's nearly
five pm and there's no sign of anyone logging off
anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Too much to do.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
In fact, it are just installing a bank of computer
screens on the last empty desk, squeezing in another team
to help with ticket sales. Tyler is camped out in
a far corner, eyes constantly darting between his phone and
laptop screen.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
There'll be some dominoes that start to fallow very very quickly,
and obviously December will be a very busy month with
announcements and players joining us from within the league, and
also we're working on quite a few behind the scenes
to get ready for January as quickly as possible. So yeah,
it's this kind of last waiting period before things start
to ramp up and decisions starts to get made very quickly.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
This is high pressure stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I was telling my fiance on the phone the other day.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
It seems like you're treading water in the ocean and
you've just lost sight of all the land. That's kind
of how it feels at the moment. Because there's so
much to do, still.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Endless late nights and early mornings are taking their toll.
In fact, he looks older. He could be thirty five,
joking a side. Even though Tyler has great support in
mods and Flemming, at the end of the day, it's
his job to fill as dfc's roster.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
We're all making decisions, especially now in my role. I
need to make decisions on players and there'll be a consequence.
So it's about trying to find the right ones, and
it's about asking the right questions, and it's about finding
the right balance. And I think it is difficult, to
be honest, because this is unlike anything I've ever done
before where I'm building it all at once. Normally you're
looking for a fullback and you're trying to fill in
a fullback, and then that puzzle becomes a lot easier
(20:04):
because you're looking for one piece. But any piece that
we lay right now, it impacts all the others.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
And so that has been the challenge, I think.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
And now how do we start to find the right ones,
and then how do we fill in around them and
find those other types of players?
Speaker 1 (20:23):
So what are they looking for?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
As we know they need a mix of youth and experience,
but all players have to be able to play Right
to Dream football. As group technical director Fleming Patterson explains,
that means they need players who are smart as well
as athletically gifted.
Speaker 10 (20:40):
Obviously, we always like looking for for players that can
play a proceisonal play, so players that are used to
build the game games through the thirds, breaking lines either
with passes, dribblings or first touches turns. So we want
these Right to Dream type of players. But we also
(21:03):
want players that can cover ground, players with athleticism because
that's also a big part of the modern game. The
last ten years there's double as much sprint actions now,
so athlytically the game is also developing massively, so I
would say athletically good players and strong cognitive players.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Well, in terms of youth, there's one obvious transfer mechanism
available to them, the college draft or the super Draft
as MLS calls it. The question is do college players
have the qualities they're looking for. Plenty of great players
have come out of the US college system over the years,
but these days generally it's only one or two in
(21:49):
any batch that become regular starters in MLS.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
At this time of year. The super Draft and the
relevance or lack thereof or fading relevance of college soccer
is often debated in MLS circles. It is declined in
the sense that the growth and maturity of the academy
system is identifying top prospects younger and younger ages and
(22:15):
getting them into professional environments and precluding college as a route.
There's a general perception that a player who's gotten all
the way to college either was overlooked or is a
late bloomer and hasn't either won't reach the level or
is racing against the clock to reach the professional level.
So there's many who say should no longer exist.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
As MLS academies have grown in size and strength, the
collegiate system has become a harder pathway to make it
as a pro. But that doesn't stop the top clubs
from looking carefully and there's always a chance of unearthing
a star.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
And for all that, after all that talk, every year,
there's still players who are drafted who go on to
become MLS starters or MLS regular with the first pick,
I think San Diego has a real chance to get
a starter or a starter level talent from the college environment.
Somewhere there's diamonds in the rough every year.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
As Charles Boham mentioned there as an expansion team, SDFC
have got their pick of the pack.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
We hired a scout that specializes in NCAA and knows
it very well, and God bless him. He's watched a
lot of games over the last couple of weeks and
he's actually traveling right now watching some of NCAA tournament games.
We need to find players that can potentially develop quickly,
understand the professional game quickly, and make an impact by
the end of the year, or make an impact in
year two. So that's kind of what we're looking at.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
And wouldn't you know it, there is indeed one young
man who's caught their eye, nineteen year old you see
Santa Barbara freshman Manudua, the combative and technically gifted six
foot four defensive midfielder. Also just happens to hail from Ghana.
You can see why they're interested. So that's a box
(23:59):
check for youth. What about my less experience. Charles Baum
knows as well as anyone what it takes to make
it in the league.
Speaker 7 (24:11):
MLS is a ferociously competitive league. I would say there's
unique aspects of this league that are challenging in particular
for new arrivals, both at the individual and organizational level.
The regular season begins in February, and then you have
a real marathon, a real grind that goes through the
summer months and all the way until December. And this
(24:34):
is taking you across an enormous expanse, the biggest I
think geographical expanse of any top flight league in the world.
It's a level of travel and a diversity of climate,
playing surface, weather conditions. You have a tremendous variety of
playing styles, philosophies, supporter cultures. So it's devilishly tricky, really.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And Tyler knows it too.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Right to dream may have youth development at its heart,
but they're banking on MLS veterans to be the backbone
of San Diego FC.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
We're focusing on players that have MLS experience. We know
that we need that.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Looking back at all the expansion teams, that has been
a cornerstone of success.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Getting somebody in and your spying.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
Your team that really knows what MLS is, that knows
what the travel is, that's playing a lot, that's well
aware of the different types of players here. Because Marcus
and Yepe are going to arrive and Yepe's never been
out of Denmark before.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Which brings us nicely to the main event, the Expansion Draft.
For those of you new to MLS, this is a
transfer mechanism unique to the league and it's a doozy.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Get this.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Each new team that joins Major League Soccer is given
the chance to steal five players from the other squads
in the league. That's right, they get to cherry pick
names from their competitors to help make up their first
roster in a few weeks time. On December ninth, each
team will have to submit a list of twelve players
(26:05):
they are protecting. Any when not on that list is
up for grabs. The jump for Tyler is to try
and guess which names will be left unprotected. And with
twenty nine teams, that's a long list over three hundred
and fifty players.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
So where do they start.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
I think the two words I like to use in
the roster build are balance and flexibility. We're definitely looking
for a balance from an age standpoint. We're looking from
a balance in terms of the player types that we get,
the ones that players that can play both ways, that
fit the culture, that have.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
The same values as us and all that stuff.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
We're looking for flexibility in terms of different ways that
we can play in expansion year, I think flexibility in
terms of players that can play multiple positions is extremely important,
and we don't know how people are going to settle.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
We don't know how injuries.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Are going to happen in this sport because we're a
team obviously that's starting from scratch. So having that flex
ability I think is also really important.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
But that doesn't mean they're looking for generalists. Any player
that they sign needs to have that X factor.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
So we're looking definitely for players that have a special
quality and have a special talent. We don't want players
that are just okay in everything. We want somebody that
differentiates themselves so that they can bring something unique and
different to the way we play.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And then, of course there's the off field dimension to consider,
the human factor.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
If you like, anybody can look and say that's a
good player. That's the easy part.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
I think the other parts that are behind it are
where it really starts to settle in it's does that
player going to fit with how we want to play?
Is that player going to fit in the league that
we play in? Is that player going to be able
to settle from a family standpoint?
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Does he have the same values as us?
Speaker 5 (27:44):
Is he going to be able to help in the
locker room or can we not count on him to
be a mentor for older players?
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Is this young player going to have a pathway here?
And is he going to fit?
Speaker 5 (27:52):
So it's all those other questions, and that's the glory
of the sport, right.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
So they're after players with MLS experience, a mix of ages,
positional and tactical flexibility, a special X factor, and ideally
hailing from West Africa, Scandinavia, Southern California, and or Latin
America to help mesh with the group culture while still
promoting local talent.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
That's quite a list.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Time to go shopping, I guess. In a window Liss
meeting room within s DFC headquarters, Tyler heaps fiddles with cables,
(28:40):
checking his laptop screen is up on the big TV.
With just a few weeks to go until the December
eleventh expansion draft, Tyler and Mikey and their analysts are
pouring over the squad lists of their competitors.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
They're trying to figure.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Out who might be available that can fire them to
glory in their first season. Scattered on the table are
empty coffee cups and cans of energy drinks.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
On the wall is a white board with names on it.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Some are crossed out, some are circled, Some are annotated
with dollar signs and arrows indicating possible swaps and trades,
duels against the special quality.
Speaker 9 (29:20):
Duels, use of the ball, willingness to work against the
ball in special quality. So again, as we have these
player profiles that we're kind of pushing out there that
this is this is a theme in each and every one.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Going scanning one team's roster, they assess defensive options they
need at least one starting center back. They compare with
Patty McNair and another for squad depth.
Speaker 9 (29:46):
And also, yeah, that's that's a phone call of essentially
saying we're thinking about picking and to get fifty grounds,
but if we get good.
Speaker 5 (29:52):
Hundred budget, it's four to fifty, getting close to the annual,
should be starting games.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
But my thing is, if like he's a good ball
playing center back, he quick.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
He's quick, do you have his speed numbers?
Speaker 5 (30:10):
I wouldn't want to put him next to Patty if
you can't run out.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
My point is he's not a starter.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
So like again, like for me, I would consider him
if some of these other ones don't, can you put
them in like bold, that's just bold people that we
think that we're gonna talking about that we.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Do more work. Yeah, he's worth a discussion.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I watched him live against Galaxy and against Pack specifically
struggle on the turn.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
And most people are in the league.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
I haven't seen one person.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
I haven't seen one person be able to get anybody
else in that unprotected that we that we would even considered.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
As the scouting team goes through the names, mikey Banas
spots a familiar face and old pupil of his. This
is where inside knowledge could be key.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Well the closure. I coached him at your fourteen fifteen.
I thought he was huge, huge potential. He's fast, it's
pretty good in one v one. I converted him to
a full deck.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
That's where I was thinking for all then he was.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Playing full deck, and then when he went to college
because he's better than college players, they put him back
at winger.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
While video clips and performance data might paint one picture,
personal character is every bit as important. It's at the
front of everyone's mind when considering possible signings.
Speaker 7 (31:41):
It's another for me.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
I think he has a strange personality behind anything, but
I think the main thing is that his expectations versus
his reality are off.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
Killed testament based on that direction.
Speaker 7 (31:56):
Since he was injured and I'm starting to play second
team game, it was what am I doing down here?
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Getting half? I don't think we should take it.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
We have to trade farm.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
He doesn't not excit.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
As you can imagine, it's a slow process. They will
go through every player on every squad, assessing suitability and availability.
And that's before Tyler starts picking up the phone to
agents and fellow gms to see what deals can be
done on salaries, budgets and player trades. It's going to
(32:30):
be a long afternoon, another one of many. It's a cold,
dark November evening in Fottom, Denmark, twelve miles northwest of Copenhagen.
(32:53):
From the window of his office, Matt's Davidson can see
the snow swirling under the floodlights piling up on the
field outside. The ground staff are working hard to clear
it for training. Danish winters are no joke. It's why
FC Northland play on artificial grass.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Mattz opens up his laptop.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
He's preparing for a virtual meeting of the Right to
Dream Sporting Committee. This includes Tyler, who will be dialing
in from southern California, where it is six thirty am.
It's a strange business there, in coordinating a sporting operation
that spans the globe and figuring out how to integrate
a club that doesn't yet exist.
Speaker 6 (33:34):
When we are meeting in for example, the Performance Committee,
where we discuss squad build and recruitment and ia pipeline
for both of our clubs, and both clubs are represented,
and I'm obviously the chair there. I've always said to
them before we start discussing, remember twenty twenty four is
an outlier year. It's a year that will never be
(33:54):
replicated because no matter what happens, we will not start
a club again. I'm scratch, and therefore every discussion, every
decision will be weird in some way, it will be
very different because it won't happen again. Already from twenty
to twenty five.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
After other members of FC and staff have joined them
and taken a seat, Mattz logs into the conference call.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
There's a lot to discuss.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Do you think from the gym?
Speaker 6 (34:21):
Do today, So run through STFC Transundo squad planning, a
little discussion and Tyler around my keys and how we
make sure that we can share our reports and the
reports on the same system.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
In future, these meetings will be where the two clubs
strategize on how to build their squads utilizing the same
talent pipeline. They will discuss their current players, possible loans
and transfers between the teams. They'll also assess upcoming academy
graduates and their possible pathways.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
But today they're focused.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
On the up coming MLS expansion Draft, the January transfer window,
and the targets Tyler and his team have identified.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
So our plan in year one is twenty two plus three.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
That obviously could change based on whether we get into preseason,
we have some injuries, or we think we need a
little bit of a bigger squad, But I think our
intention is to carry twenty two field players and three
goalkeepers from the beginning. I've then just started to highlight
different what profiles we're looking for in each different spot.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Everyone knows that scoring goals and getting the most out
of chu Quy Losano is paramount, but Tyler thinks that
for them to be successful, they'll need more high quality
firepower to call on. That means a second designated player,
and it's probably the biggest decision they'll make and one
(35:51):
they can't afford to get wrong.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
So we are looking for another DP as a right winger.
We're in conversations right now and I'll obviously just share
some of those names whenever I go to the next page.
Then we think we need MLS experience in the front
line just because we don't have it from anybody else.
We're looking for another nine that is a different profile
to Marcus that can obviously stretch it, and then we're
trying to supplement that with a young, high potential player
(36:14):
as well, just based on the age of what the
front three will look like.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
At the other end of the field, Tyler highlights a
center back to partner with Patty McNair as another key
target they're working on. After extensive research, they've concluded it's
not a profile they expect to get via the expansion draft.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
This is the one that probably is the golden nugget.
Someone that's face, can defend behind and has MLS experience
as the other TAM player, which is not easy to
find and is highly overpaid in this league, so trying
just to look and say, okay, if we have to
go trade for somebody, who would we potentially trade.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
For, Speaking of reaching for the checkbook.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Next, the conversation turns to their four academy players who
are already playing in MLS. For Tyler, signing any of
these guys would be a major bonus. Imagine league experience
combined with Right to Dream education, talented players who already
know the style of play and fit the culture. It's
(37:19):
basically a hack for jump starting as dfc's on field project.
Leaving the Sporting Committee meeting for a moment, here's soccer
writer Charles Baum again.
Speaker 7 (37:28):
What strikes me is almost a really disproportionate number of
successful MLS players that have Right to Dream on their resume.
These players are so prepared, they're so far ahead of
the typical kid their age in terms of their maturity
in every context of that word, and their resilience their commitments.
(37:48):
But it's already and they could go out and get
and we haven't seen this yet, but if they wanted to,
they could go out and fill up their squad with
Right to Dream alums who have MLS experience.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Players like San Jose's Senni Buddha, who was drafted out
of Stanford Rido.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
There is boss a straight.
Speaker 8 (38:07):
Right place at the right time, a massive goal for
the man from Burketo. Vessel Usedi Buddha, with his first
in Major League Soccer has leveled that.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Or Emmanuel Boatank, an MLS veteran with over two hundred
appearances under his.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
Belt, Adiaga able to play ahead Paul Less Heel able
to work on across Bota.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Or how about Yahya Boa who scored the MLS Cup
winning goal in twenty twenty three, or.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
The Satrom Columbus water ball yo.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
As mods will tell you they always keep track of
their graduates.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
You never know when the reunion might make sense.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
Players out there that left us for whatever reason, but
since has developed and now we can bring them back.
So of course, being already in the MLS and knowing
the league structure and all what comes with that, traveling
and climatic differences and time so on differences, and then
being a graduate so of course a very nice link
(39:20):
to the whole family.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
The problem is the clubs know this too, and they
can see Tyler coming from a mile away.
Speaker 5 (39:33):
The other ones for right to Dream.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Unfortunately they're using it against us that.
Speaker 5 (39:38):
Were right to dream. So San Jose fully expects to
protect Tousa any Buddha, so I don't foresee that working out.
They're going to ask for a far too high number
that just wouldn't make logical sense for us to do.
And also New England Revolution thinking Emmanuel Bobatang has said
that they're taking his option, so again it's I kind
of expected this to happen.
Speaker 4 (39:57):
And then this is.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
Probably the most important to talk about year, but I
think we went through in more detail. We're looking at
right to Dream players in the international market.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Clubs will be adding a right to Dream text, So
if they want to bring in a graduate to help
galvanize the project, they're gonna have to pay for. This
is all part of the challenge of building a competitive
team for twenty twenty five, implementing the group philosophy while
also laying foundations for the future. It's not something that's
going to happen overnight.
Speaker 7 (40:26):
They have work to do in the final weeks and
months leading up to opening day. But I think they
want to try and create a brand among their audience
while introducing the concept that they want to grow stars
and make stars more so than just capture them, and
so I think that will be I think a central
balance that they need to find, and there's inevitably even
(40:46):
if things go perfectly according to plan, I suspect that
STFC will evolve from year to year as they try
to move towards that Right to Dream model that I
think still revolves around young talent under the radar talent
and preparing young prospects for higher levels and bigger stages.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
And that vision, that dedication to implementing the model from
day one is what's really staggering about this project. On
top of the travel, the meetings, the scouting, the negotiations,
the draft prep and team planning. On top of all
of this, they're also moving full steam ahead with a
buildout of a world class youth academy at Singing Hills
(41:33):
in the summer of twenty twenty five. They need to
be ready to receive their debut class of Right to
Dream scholars from both.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
The US and Mexico.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
No wonder, despite the challenges, Tyler is bullish about the future.
Speaker 5 (41:46):
And so I think what Norchaland shows you is that
it's not one or the other. And I think that's
what we're most after here in MLS. It's not that
you're either or it's not your development club or you're
a winning club. I think that we have every intention
to be six tesful in both, and that's developed players,
play our own players, and still be competitive on a
daily basis.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
The question is can they actually get it done in
time next time? On Behind the Flow, While Tyler is
busy building a team for twenty twenty five, others at
the club are building the team of the future. Write
to Dream arrived in Southern California with a bold plan
to revolutionize youth soccer in the US. But is everyone
(42:30):
happy to see them? We meet the club's staff who
are out in the community trying to win hearts and minds.
Behind the Flow is a message heard production. I'm your
host Adrian Garciamarkas. The series producer is McAllister Beckson. Mark
Kendrick is the assistant producer, and Rebecca Ware is the
(42:51):
field producer. Jake Warren and Sandra Ferrari are the executive producers.
James Cox and Dago Diaz are the production coordinators. Editor
is Lizzie Andrews, and music composition is by Tom Biddle.
Speaker 5 (43:09):
M HM
It's the Fall of twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
In the last episode, Mikey and Tyler put the work
of building a football club on pause to do a
world wind tour of the Right to Dream Network.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
The most important thing is to put your feet on
the ground wherever that place is. Because you can read
the slide deck so you can get on zoom calls.
But when you put your feet on the ground in Ghana,
on the ground in the Gift, on the ground in Denmark,
you feel the culture.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
First stop was Ghana in West Africa, the place where
it all began twenty five years ago. Okay, there they
immersed themselves in the herd and soul of the organization,
the development of young student athletes and preparing them to
take on the world whatever path they choose to follow.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
How do we find the best talent?
Speaker 5 (00:55):
And I think what resonates so well with me is
that talent isn't just on the football pig. Talent is
is a person. So when we talk about player development,
we talk about holistic development, we talk about education, we
talk about character. And so that is what right your
Dream is at its core beliefs, it's making sure that
everybody has an opportunity to realize their full potential in life.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Next, they flew out to Egypt to see the most
recent addition to the group, the Cairo Academy, where the
hunt to unearth the next most Salah is well underway.
They met with the boys and girls already it's thriving there.
They might even have witnessed a future MLS star in
(01:37):
the making. But aside from the impressive surroundings, it was
the human factor that was most inspiring.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
The talent is tremendous, you know, but more than anything,
you can see that there's a love and passion for
the game that's absolutely unbelievable. And I think, if anything,
if we can bring this kind of humbleness, positive outlook
on life and also passion for the game, we'll do
ourselves really well if we can, if we can bring
those things from here.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Finally, they went for a week long deep dive at
s dfc's sister club, FC Northland in Denmark, the pinnacle
of the Right to Dream system. Here, Tyler met with
leadership to strategize on squad building, while Mikey threw himself
into learning how to train the Right to Dream playbook
post match.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
If the feel that we created the chances and of
tulogy to big.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Chances that we can expect against the City Bowl, to see.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
The style of play more clearly in action and like
a higher level. Right because in an academy in Egypt
is the academy. But then you say okay translation to
first team, because that's the project that we're going to
be on that has been really, really, really important.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Now they're back on home soil, it's time to go
to work on putting the plan into action, building a
Right to Dream squad that can compete in MLS. In
February twenty twenty five, San Diego FC became the thirtieth
team to enter Major League Soccer, now the largest professional
(03:25):
league on the planet. But this is more than just
another football club, at least that's the hope of the
club's co owners. Under the leadership of Sir Mohammed Monsteur,
Right to Dream is an organization promising to rock American
soccer to its foundations with a revolutionary approach to coaching
and youth development. Anchoring the project in the local community
(03:47):
is the Sequan Band of the Kumiya Nation, the first
ever Native American owners in men's professional sports and as
the only MLS club officially sanctioned to recruit out of me.
I mean, this thing could really fly, that is, if
everything goes to plan. Back in November twenty twenty four,
(04:08):
with less than three months to kick off, Tyler and
Mikey had just six players on their roster. As the
tensions turned to recruitment, the question is how do they
build a winning squad while staying true to the Right
to Dream principles. Captured in the final months before the
twenty twenty five season kicks off, this series follows sdfc's
race to field.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Their first ever team.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I'm Adrian gotta say, I'm out of kiss and this
is Behind the Flow, the origin story of San Diego FC.
Back from Denmark, Mikey and Tyler take the chance to
debrief and take stock of the lessons learned on their travels.
Though Tyler's been part of the organization for over a year,
(04:51):
at this point even he has a renewed appreciation of
how well the Right to Dream methods work in practice.
It's all vital reparation for the San Diego buildoun I.
Speaker 5 (05:03):
Think it was a fantastic trip, not only for our
squad building, and I say squad, but with a staff standpoint, myself, Mark, Mikey,
Harry all went together, so it gave us a lot
of time to spend together. But it also allowed us
to meet with those players that we have already signed
on our rosters. So I think Mikey got a little
bit excited he finally started to see football and some
of the players that he's going to start working with.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Aside from meeting his players and observing the right to
dream system up close, Denmark gave Mikey a tinly boost
in self belief.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
And the trip gave me tremendous confidence, just spending a
lot of time with Mads and Fleming talking football, speaking football,
going over my ideas for the first team, and them
just providing me tremendous support when they were like, yes,
that's perfect, go with that.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
For his part hit of Football Matts, Davidson was impressed
with how integrated their visitors were from day one.
Speaker 6 (05:54):
So the good thing about our community is that we
are very close and be very open. So Mikey literally
webb IFC and gear and took part of every meeting
and what standing down by the pitch side instead of
sitting up like a guest and that was done on purpose,
that we wanted this to be real.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The time spent traveling together also gave Tyler and Mikey
plenty of opportunity to talk and discuss their ideas. With
the epic task of squad planning ahead, they're both relieved
to find how united they are in their thinking.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
Mikey and I reconnected after and this is a probably
just show the alignment in us. It's amazing that we
don't have to go into the conversation by having a
conversation to make sure that we're aligned to what we're saying.
He said, I have full trust in you that you're
going to be completely aligned, and you a full trust
in me. And I think that was a really key moment.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
So their attention now turns to signing players. Remember Right
to Dream didn't choose MLS by accident. Their research tells
them that this league perfectly suits them style of play,
a highly tuned brand of controlled chaos with aggressive pressing
and clever ball possession. They also think that the young
players from across their global network can develop and succeed here.
(07:12):
That's the vision for SDFC. The thing is, how do
you plan for the future while also winning matches in
the present. It's a challenge that has peaked the interest
of MLS journalist Charles Bohm.
Speaker 7 (07:26):
So it's a real juggling act. And then when you
consider the fact that San Diego SC wants to be
an academy driven club who don't have enough functional academy yet,
they've got to patch that gap in the short to
medium term while still creating the structure that they can
grow into that will allow them to develop young players
both from within the San Diego and wider geographic regions,
(07:49):
and then also be working within the Right to Dream Network,
which certainly seems as if will involve top young players
or prospects from other parts of the Right to Dream
Network in Denmark and elsewhere. So it's a it's a
real juggling act, and it's it's complicated for anyone, but
for a club like SDFC, who is sort of synthesizing
(08:10):
an international network and all these other factors, it's it's
fiendishly complex and we have never seen exactly a blueprint
like this, so it makes it a fascinating storyline.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Some already imagine a team full of West African and
Scandinavian Right to Dream prodigies turning out for s DFC.
Could San Diego become FC Northland two point zero, climbing
the Western Conference while fielding the youngest team in MLS history.
It's possible one day in years to come, any player
that graduates from Right to Dreams International Academy could have
(08:47):
the choice of playing in either Denmark or the USA.
When that day comes, it'll false Mats Davidson to advise
them of which option makes most sense.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
So basically the question is what's better for the player.
In a case where let's say there's a good left
winger in Ia that is about to turn eighteen after
two development years with our International Academy, and both San
Diego and FS and Ocean and am interested in the player,
then it's from my chair, as in the group football,
(09:20):
all about thinking what's best for the player. For example,
that could be looking at the current squads. Maybe at
that time IFS and Ocean has two good left wingers,
and therefore the young player would probably go into a
little bit of a queue and maybe not get so
many minutes. And therefore we could look at the San
Diego squad and thinking, yes, they don't have any left
(09:41):
wingers right now. So that's how we are working together.
We're thinking what's best for the player, and of course
in the end, the player decides. We're not telling anyone
where to.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Go, and that's the bottom line.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
These players are adults with their own dreams and ambitions.
They might be advised by mods and others, but at
the end of the day, they'll make their own decisions.
So you see, it was never going to be as
simple as sending their best academy prospects to San Diego
for twenty twenty five, it will really be the next
cohort of international academy graduates to consider if MLS and
(10:19):
San Diego FC is the right move for them. And
on that score, Mads is certainly optimistic.
Speaker 6 (10:27):
I'm pretty confident that as soon as we get San
Diego up running, as soon as to bring them to
the game, show them the training ground, let them train
with the first team, then it becomes so real that
I'm sure that they will be just as important pathway
as IF has been. So that's the crucial part now
that we want to develop and showcase is DFC as
(10:50):
another pathway for for our homegrown players.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So with recreating FCN two point ruled out for the
time being. What is the plan for San Diego in
twenty twenty five, let's recap. They want to implement the
Right to Dream style of play. They want to give
young players the chance to shine. They want to create
a team that represents the people of San Diego while
still having an international flavor, and they want to win.
(11:21):
But before they dive into the market, they need to
consider the players they already have on the roster. First
the Denmark Latoon Duran, feree Alex Mightin, Jepesberskov and Marcus Ingbartson.
It's been decided that Duran will not be part of
the first SDFC squad at his age, Tyler thinks he's
(11:42):
better off staying where he.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Is, and we thought it was the best for Duran
and for his development. He's moving away from home for
the first time. Obviously, he grew up here in southern California,
so for him to not only develop as a player,
but as a person, we thought was really important for
him to go European football. And there's so many young
American players that want that opportunity, and what better pathway
(12:06):
that we can give it to him. At eighteen years old,
when he turns eighteen, so that it was always the conversation.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Next up is the fleet footed winger Alex Mikee, a
British American dual national and a player they have high
hopes for.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
I think first and foremost his personality. Alex is unbelievable,
like this kid always has a smile on his face,
and I think that was apparent as soon as I
had it was able to have a conversation with him
in the interview process.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
His career has been really, really unique.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
The twenty two year old the rives at a crucial
moment in his career. He burst onto the scene at
one of the old giants of English football, former European
champions Nottingham Forced, but after a bright start, he struggled
for game time.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
And that was the conversation that I had with him
and his father and the agent of hey, we want
to help Alex rebound.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
We have complete expectations for him in year one. We
fully expect that.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
He's going to get minutes because we're not going to
have a full roster right away. We expect him to
hit the ground running on day one. I think that's
this transition period where he's training with FCN that's really
going to help him.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
So that brings us to the senior players. There's two
Danes center midfielder Jeppe Zberskov and the big man up top,
Marcus Ingbarksen.
Speaker 8 (13:19):
What the funny, whatsa fight so much?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Then in defense they snapped up former Manchester United and
Middlesbrough center back Northern Irish international Patti mcnamars.
Speaker 8 (13:34):
Mcmari's conton and he's putting norgan Islands free up in Prague.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
And finally there's the club's first designated player, arriving after
spells that European powerhouses Napoli and PSB Einkholmen. They're attacking
Star from Mexico Irvy Chuki los angele.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Let's going to Mexico.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
As Charles Bom makes clear in MLS, the value of
dps cannot be overstated.
Speaker 7 (14:07):
Designated players are typically the face of the franchise. Usually
you want them to be forced multipliers to make everyone
around them, better, to be leaders off the pitch, to
set the example. And in the particular context of Right
to Dream and a club that wants to be academy centered,
you need, I think a personality who understands that, who
buys into that, who recognizes the role that they can
(14:28):
play within that.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
But more than anything, they need to win you games.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It's a lot of pressure, but hey, that's why they
get paid the big bucks.
Speaker 7 (14:37):
Bruce Arena, who's now coaching the San Jose Earthquakes, who's
won more titles than anyone else in this league, he
has us saying. He says, your best players have to
be your best players. And while that may sound obvious,
he's getting out of fundamental truth there, which is that
you need DPS and top level talent like that to
carry their weight and then some Mike.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
He is under no illusions either getting the best out
of it Chuki will be a top priority.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
So we say, Irving, we need to set up for success.
Irving's got to score goals and get assistance.
Speaker 9 (15:10):
League.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
When your TP gets on, the team gets on. That's
that's a fact. That's a very simple truth in MLS.
So what do we want to do well, we study Irving?
What does Irving do? How does Irving score goals? Irving
scores goals both from the left and the right.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Now we're getting to the good stuff. Irving can't do
it on his own. It's all about the team's game
plan and how he connects with the players around him.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
So Irving will float inside, okay, and he'll make a
little darting runs in behind, but also get the ball
in the pocket to find combination. So when we think
about Irving, now we think about Yepa Yepe is a
controlling midfielder. He's someone who holds well, has huge IQ,
really great technique. He's going to help us break pressure,
(16:00):
accelerate play. And then you have Patty who's a very
balanced center back, really good breaking lines, calm on the ball. Okay,
So now we're thinking about how we want to attack. Well,
we want to set up the team where Marcus is
more often than not arriving in the final six yards.
He's going to score goals. He's going to have opportunities
(16:22):
to score goals. We want to get Irving the ball
facing forward. Why because he's good at running at people,
finding combination.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
With all of these cogs moving in his mind, Mikey
can immediately pick out a missing puzzle piece, a player
they will need to find asap.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So we think about how can we pair a left
back who is able to protect Irving solid defensively, Maybe
start lower in the build strong in the ball to
help get Irving the ball. Okay, help get our pocket
players the ball, but then has the physical capacity to
make a late run to get in around Irving wants.
(17:02):
Irving inevitably runs inside with the ball.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Now we're talking.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
This is where that right to Dream playbook kicks in
the sharp intelligent passing players swapping positions, dominating the ball
of minfield for releasing forward, quickly isolating opposition defenders one
v one runners arriving in the box, and go on.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Well, that's the idea anyway.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
But then the final step will be what players are
we actually able to sign, because in reality versus planning
is all depending on negotiation of salaries, who's available at
what moment, who you pick first. You might pick a
player and then all of a sudden a week later,
there's another profile available.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Player transfers the moment we've all been waiting for. Well,
that would be Tyler's department, and the young man from
Minnesota is working some long hours preparing for the biggest
week of his career. It's early evening in late November
(18:19):
twenty twenty four. SDFC Sparse open plan offices on Kentner
boulevard are now bustling and busting with activity. It's nearly
five pm and there's no sign of anyone logging off
anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Too much to do.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
In fact, it are just installing a bank of computer
screens on the last empty desk, squeezing in another team
to help with ticket sales. Tyler is camped out in
a far corner, eyes constantly darting between his phone and
laptop screen.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
There'll be some dominoes that start to fallow very very quickly,
and obviously December will be a very busy month with
announcements and players joining us from within the league, and
also we're working on quite a few behind the scenes
to get ready for January as quickly as possible. So yeah,
it's this kind of last waiting period before things start
to ramp up and decisions starts to get made very quickly.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
This is high pressure stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
I was telling my fiance on the phone the other day.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
It seems like you're treading water in the ocean and
you've just lost sight of all the land. That's kind
of how it feels at the moment. Because there's so
much to do, still.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Endless late nights and early mornings are taking their toll.
In fact, he looks older. He could be thirty five,
joking a side. Even though Tyler has great support in
mods and Flemming, at the end of the day, it's
his job to fill as dfc's roster.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
We're all making decisions, especially now in my role. I
need to make decisions on players and there'll be a consequence.
So it's about trying to find the right ones, and
it's about asking the right questions, and it's about finding
the right balance. And I think it is difficult, to
be honest, because this is unlike anything I've ever done
before where I'm building it all at once. Normally you're
looking for a fullback and you're trying to fill in
a fullback, and then that puzzle becomes a lot easier
(20:04):
because you're looking for one piece. But any piece that
we lay right now, it impacts all the others.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
And so that has been the challenge, I think.
Speaker 5 (20:12):
And now how do we start to find the right ones,
and then how do we fill in around them and
find those other types of players?
Speaker 1 (20:23):
So what are they looking for?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
As we know they need a mix of youth and experience,
but all players have to be able to play Right
to Dream football. As group technical director Fleming Patterson explains,
that means they need players who are smart as well
as athletically gifted.
Speaker 10 (20:40):
Obviously, we always like looking for for players that can
play a proceisonal play, so players that are used to
build the game games through the thirds, breaking lines either
with passes, dribblings or first touches turns. So we want
these Right to Dream type of players. But we also
(21:03):
want players that can cover ground, players with athleticism because
that's also a big part of the modern game. The
last ten years there's double as much sprint actions now,
so athlytically the game is also developing massively, so I
would say athletically good players and strong cognitive players.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Well, in terms of youth, there's one obvious transfer mechanism
available to them, the college draft or the super Draft
as MLS calls it. The question is do college players
have the qualities they're looking for. Plenty of great players
have come out of the US college system over the years,
but these days generally it's only one or two in
(21:49):
any batch that become regular starters in MLS.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
At this time of year. The super Draft and the
relevance or lack thereof or fading relevance of college soccer
is often debated in MLS circles. It is declined in
the sense that the growth and maturity of the academy
system is identifying top prospects younger and younger ages and
(22:15):
getting them into professional environments and precluding college as a route.
There's a general perception that a player who's gotten all
the way to college either was overlooked or is a
late bloomer and hasn't either won't reach the level or
is racing against the clock to reach the professional level.
So there's many who say should no longer exist.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
As MLS academies have grown in size and strength, the
collegiate system has become a harder pathway to make it
as a pro. But that doesn't stop the top clubs
from looking carefully and there's always a chance of unearthing
a star.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
And for all that, after all that talk, every year,
there's still players who are drafted who go on to
become MLS starters or MLS regular with the first pick,
I think San Diego has a real chance to get
a starter or a starter level talent from the college environment.
Somewhere there's diamonds in the rough every year.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
As Charles Boham mentioned there as an expansion team, SDFC
have got their pick of the pack.
Speaker 5 (23:17):
We hired a scout that specializes in NCAA and knows
it very well, and God bless him. He's watched a
lot of games over the last couple of weeks and
he's actually traveling right now watching some of NCAA tournament games.
We need to find players that can potentially develop quickly,
understand the professional game quickly, and make an impact by
the end of the year, or make an impact in
year two. So that's kind of what we're looking at.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
And wouldn't you know it, there is indeed one young
man who's caught their eye, nineteen year old you see
Santa Barbara freshman Manudua, the combative and technically gifted six
foot four defensive midfielder. Also just happens to hail from Ghana.
You can see why they're interested. So that's a box
(23:59):
check for youth. What about my less experience. Charles Baum
knows as well as anyone what it takes to make
it in the league.
Speaker 7 (24:11):
MLS is a ferociously competitive league. I would say there's
unique aspects of this league that are challenging in particular
for new arrivals, both at the individual and organizational level.
The regular season begins in February, and then you have
a real marathon, a real grind that goes through the
summer months and all the way until December. And this
(24:34):
is taking you across an enormous expanse, the biggest I
think geographical expanse of any top flight league in the world.
It's a level of travel and a diversity of climate,
playing surface, weather conditions. You have a tremendous variety of
playing styles, philosophies, supporter cultures. So it's devilishly tricky, really.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And Tyler knows it too.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Right to dream may have youth development at its heart,
but they're banking on MLS veterans to be the backbone
of San Diego FC.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
We're focusing on players that have MLS experience. We know
that we need that.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
Looking back at all the expansion teams, that has been
a cornerstone of success.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Getting somebody in and your spying.
Speaker 5 (25:19):
Your team that really knows what MLS is, that knows
what the travel is, that's playing a lot, that's well
aware of the different types of players here. Because Marcus
and Yepe are going to arrive and Yepe's never been
out of Denmark before.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Which brings us nicely to the main event, the Expansion Draft.
For those of you new to MLS, this is a
transfer mechanism unique to the league and it's a doozy.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Get this.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Each new team that joins Major League Soccer is given
the chance to steal five players from the other squads
in the league. That's right, they get to cherry pick
names from their competitors to help make up their first
roster in a few weeks time. On December ninth, each
team will have to submit a list of twelve players
(26:05):
they are protecting. Any when not on that list is
up for grabs. The jump for Tyler is to try
and guess which names will be left unprotected. And with
twenty nine teams, that's a long list over three hundred
and fifty players.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
So where do they start.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
I think the two words I like to use in
the roster build are balance and flexibility. We're definitely looking
for a balance from an age standpoint. We're looking from
a balance in terms of the player types that we get,
the ones that players that can play both ways, that
fit the culture, that have.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
The same values as us and all that stuff.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
We're looking for flexibility in terms of different ways that
we can play in expansion year, I think flexibility in
terms of players that can play multiple positions is extremely important,
and we don't know how people are going to settle.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
We don't know how injuries.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Are going to happen in this sport because we're a
team obviously that's starting from scratch. So having that flex
ability I think is also really important.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
But that doesn't mean they're looking for generalists. Any player
that they sign needs to have that X factor.
Speaker 5 (27:09):
So we're looking definitely for players that have a special
quality and have a special talent. We don't want players
that are just okay in everything. We want somebody that
differentiates themselves so that they can bring something unique and
different to the way we play.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And then, of course there's the off field dimension to consider,
the human factor.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
If you like, anybody can look and say that's a
good player. That's the easy part.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
I think the other parts that are behind it are
where it really starts to settle in it's does that
player going to fit with how we want to play?
Is that player going to fit in the league that
we play in? Is that player going to be able
to settle from a family standpoint?
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Does he have the same values as us?
Speaker 5 (27:44):
Is he going to be able to help in the
locker room or can we not count on him to
be a mentor for older players?
Speaker 4 (27:49):
Is this young player going to have a pathway here?
And is he going to fit?
Speaker 5 (27:52):
So it's all those other questions, and that's the glory
of the sport, right.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
So they're after players with MLS experience, a mix of ages,
positional and tactical flexibility, a special X factor, and ideally
hailing from West Africa, Scandinavia, Southern California, and or Latin
America to help mesh with the group culture while still
promoting local talent.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
That's quite a list.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Time to go shopping, I guess. In a window Liss
meeting room within s DFC headquarters, Tyler heaps fiddles with cables,
(28:40):
checking his laptop screen is up on the big TV.
With just a few weeks to go until the December
eleventh expansion draft, Tyler and Mikey and their analysts are
pouring over the squad lists of their competitors.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
They're trying to figure.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Out who might be available that can fire them to
glory in their first season. Scattered on the table are
empty coffee cups and cans of energy drinks.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
On the wall is a white board with names on it.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Some are crossed out, some are circled, Some are annotated
with dollar signs and arrows indicating possible swaps and trades,
duels against the special quality.
Speaker 9 (29:20):
Duels, use of the ball, willingness to work against the
ball in special quality. So again, as we have these
player profiles that we're kind of pushing out there that
this is this is a theme in each and every one.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Going scanning one team's roster, they assess defensive options they
need at least one starting center back. They compare with
Patty McNair and another for squad depth.
Speaker 9 (29:46):
And also, yeah, that's that's a phone call of essentially
saying we're thinking about picking and to get fifty grounds,
but if we get good.
Speaker 5 (29:52):
Hundred budget, it's four to fifty, getting close to the annual,
should be starting games.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
But my thing is, if like he's a good ball
playing center back, he quick.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
He's quick, do you have his speed numbers?
Speaker 5 (30:10):
I wouldn't want to put him next to Patty if
you can't run out.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
My point is he's not a starter.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
So like again, like for me, I would consider him
if some of these other ones don't, can you put
them in like bold, that's just bold people that we
think that we're gonna talking about that we.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Do more work. Yeah, he's worth a discussion.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
I watched him live against Galaxy and against Pack specifically
struggle on the turn.
Speaker 5 (30:38):
And most people are in the league.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
I haven't seen one person.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
I haven't seen one person be able to get anybody
else in that unprotected that we that we would even considered.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
As the scouting team goes through the names, mikey Banas
spots a familiar face and old pupil of his. This
is where inside knowledge could be key.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Well the closure. I coached him at your fourteen fifteen.
I thought he was huge, huge potential. He's fast, it's
pretty good in one v one. I converted him to
a full deck.
Speaker 9 (31:18):
That's where I was thinking for all then he was.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
Playing full deck, and then when he went to college
because he's better than college players, they put him back
at winger.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
While video clips and performance data might paint one picture,
personal character is every bit as important. It's at the
front of everyone's mind when considering possible signings.
Speaker 7 (31:41):
It's another for me.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
I think he has a strange personality behind anything, but
I think the main thing is that his expectations versus
his reality are off.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
Killed testament based on that direction.
Speaker 7 (31:56):
Since he was injured and I'm starting to play second
team game, it was what am I doing down here?
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Getting half? I don't think we should take it.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
We have to trade farm.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
He doesn't not excit.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
As you can imagine, it's a slow process. They will
go through every player on every squad, assessing suitability and availability.
And that's before Tyler starts picking up the phone to
agents and fellow gms to see what deals can be
done on salaries, budgets and player trades. It's going to
(32:30):
be a long afternoon, another one of many. It's a cold,
dark November evening in Fottom, Denmark, twelve miles northwest of Copenhagen.
(32:53):
From the window of his office, Matt's Davidson can see
the snow swirling under the floodlights piling up on the
field outside. The ground staff are working hard to clear
it for training. Danish winters are no joke. It's why
FC Northland play on artificial grass.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Mattz opens up his laptop.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
He's preparing for a virtual meeting of the Right to
Dream Sporting Committee. This includes Tyler, who will be dialing
in from southern California, where it is six thirty am.
It's a strange business there, in coordinating a sporting operation
that spans the globe and figuring out how to integrate
a club that doesn't yet exist.
Speaker 6 (33:34):
When we are meeting in for example, the Performance Committee,
where we discuss squad build and recruitment and ia pipeline
for both of our clubs, and both clubs are represented,
and I'm obviously the chair there. I've always said to
them before we start discussing, remember twenty twenty four is
an outlier year. It's a year that will never be
(33:54):
replicated because no matter what happens, we will not start
a club again. I'm scratch, and therefore every discussion, every
decision will be weird in some way, it will be
very different because it won't happen again. Already from twenty
to twenty five.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
After other members of FC and staff have joined them
and taken a seat, Mattz logs into the conference call.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
There's a lot to discuss.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Do you think from the gym?
Speaker 6 (34:21):
Do today, So run through STFC Transundo squad planning, a
little discussion and Tyler around my keys and how we
make sure that we can share our reports and the
reports on the same system.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
In future, these meetings will be where the two clubs
strategize on how to build their squads utilizing the same
talent pipeline. They will discuss their current players, possible loans
and transfers between the teams. They'll also assess upcoming academy
graduates and their possible pathways.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
But today they're focused.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
On the up coming MLS expansion Draft, the January transfer window,
and the targets Tyler and his team have identified.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
So our plan in year one is twenty two plus three.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
That obviously could change based on whether we get into preseason,
we have some injuries, or we think we need a
little bit of a bigger squad, But I think our
intention is to carry twenty two field players and three
goalkeepers from the beginning. I've then just started to highlight
different what profiles we're looking for in each different spot.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Everyone knows that scoring goals and getting the most out
of chu Quy Losano is paramount, but Tyler thinks that
for them to be successful, they'll need more high quality
firepower to call on. That means a second designated player,
and it's probably the biggest decision they'll make and one
(35:51):
they can't afford to get wrong.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
So we are looking for another DP as a right winger.
We're in conversations right now and I'll obviously just share
some of those names whenever I go to the next page.
Then we think we need MLS experience in the front
line just because we don't have it from anybody else.
We're looking for another nine that is a different profile
to Marcus that can obviously stretch it, and then we're
trying to supplement that with a young, high potential player
(36:14):
as well, just based on the age of what the
front three will look like.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
At the other end of the field, Tyler highlights a
center back to partner with Patty McNair as another key
target they're working on. After extensive research, they've concluded it's
not a profile they expect to get via the expansion draft.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
This is the one that probably is the golden nugget.
Someone that's face, can defend behind and has MLS experience
as the other TAM player, which is not easy to
find and is highly overpaid in this league, so trying
just to look and say, okay, if we have to
go trade for somebody, who would we potentially trade.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
For, Speaking of reaching for the checkbook.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Next, the conversation turns to their four academy players who
are already playing in MLS. For Tyler, signing any of
these guys would be a major bonus. Imagine league experience
combined with Right to Dream education, talented players who already
know the style of play and fit the culture. It's
(37:19):
basically a hack for jump starting as dfc's on field project.
Leaving the Sporting Committee meeting for a moment, here's soccer
writer Charles Baum again.
Speaker 7 (37:28):
What strikes me is almost a really disproportionate number of
successful MLS players that have Right to Dream on their resume.
These players are so prepared, they're so far ahead of
the typical kid their age in terms of their maturity
in every context of that word, and their resilience their commitments.
(37:48):
But it's already and they could go out and get
and we haven't seen this yet, but if they wanted to,
they could go out and fill up their squad with
Right to Dream alums who have MLS experience.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Players like San Jose's Senni Buddha, who was drafted out
of Stanford Rido.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
There is boss a straight.
Speaker 8 (38:07):
Right place at the right time, a massive goal for
the man from Burketo. Vessel Usedi Buddha, with his first
in Major League Soccer has leveled that.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Or Emmanuel Boatank, an MLS veteran with over two hundred
appearances under his.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
Belt, Adiaga able to play ahead Paul Less Heel able
to work on across Bota.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
Or how about Yahya Boa who scored the MLS Cup
winning goal in twenty twenty three, or.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
The Satrom Columbus water ball yo.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
As mods will tell you they always keep track of
their graduates.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
You never know when the reunion might make sense.
Speaker 6 (39:00):
Players out there that left us for whatever reason, but
since has developed and now we can bring them back.
So of course, being already in the MLS and knowing
the league structure and all what comes with that, traveling
and climatic differences and time so on differences, and then
being a graduate so of course a very nice link
(39:20):
to the whole family.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
The problem is the clubs know this too, and they
can see Tyler coming from a mile away.
Speaker 5 (39:33):
The other ones for right to Dream.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Unfortunately they're using it against us that.
Speaker 5 (39:38):
Were right to dream. So San Jose fully expects to
protect Tousa any Buddha, so I don't foresee that working out.
They're going to ask for a far too high number
that just wouldn't make logical sense for us to do.
And also New England Revolution thinking Emmanuel Bobatang has said
that they're taking his option, so again it's I kind
of expected this to happen.
Speaker 4 (39:57):
And then this is.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
Probably the most important to talk about year, but I
think we went through in more detail. We're looking at
right to Dream players in the international market.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Clubs will be adding a right to Dream text, So
if they want to bring in a graduate to help
galvanize the project, they're gonna have to pay for. This
is all part of the challenge of building a competitive
team for twenty twenty five, implementing the group philosophy while
also laying foundations for the future. It's not something that's
going to happen overnight.
Speaker 7 (40:26):
They have work to do in the final weeks and
months leading up to opening day. But I think they
want to try and create a brand among their audience
while introducing the concept that they want to grow stars
and make stars more so than just capture them, and
so I think that will be I think a central
balance that they need to find, and there's inevitably even
(40:46):
if things go perfectly according to plan, I suspect that
STFC will evolve from year to year as they try
to move towards that Right to Dream model that I
think still revolves around young talent under the radar talent
and preparing young prospects for higher levels and bigger stages.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
And that vision, that dedication to implementing the model from
day one is what's really staggering about this project. On
top of the travel, the meetings, the scouting, the negotiations,
the draft prep and team planning. On top of all
of this, they're also moving full steam ahead with a
buildout of a world class youth academy at Singing Hills
(41:33):
in the summer of twenty twenty five. They need to
be ready to receive their debut class of Right to
Dream scholars from both.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
The US and Mexico.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
No wonder, despite the challenges, Tyler is bullish about the future.
Speaker 5 (41:46):
And so I think what Norchaland shows you is that
it's not one or the other. And I think that's
what we're most after here in MLS. It's not that
you're either or it's not your development club or you're
a winning club. I think that we have every intention
to be six tesful in both, and that's developed players,
play our own players, and still be competitive on a
daily basis.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
The question is can they actually get it done in
time next time? On Behind the Flow, While Tyler is
busy building a team for twenty twenty five, others at
the club are building the team of the future. Write
to Dream arrived in Southern California with a bold plan
to revolutionize youth soccer in the US. But is everyone
(42:30):
happy to see them? We meet the club's staff who
are out in the community trying to win hearts and minds.
Behind the Flow is a message heard production. I'm your
host Adrian Garciamarkas. The series producer is McAllister Beckson. Mark
Kendrick is the assistant producer, and Rebecca Ware is the
(42:51):
field producer. Jake Warren and Sandra Ferrari are the executive producers.
James Cox and Dago Diaz are the production coordinators. Editor
is Lizzie Andrews, and music composition is by Tom Biddle.
Speaker 5 (43:09):
M HM
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.