5/25/25: Mo Egger with Taylor Twellman

MLS Season Pass analyst Taylor Twellman has the call of FC Cincinnati's road match against Atlanta.  He joined us on ESPN1530.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
In Atlanta Mercedes Benz Stadium to battle the Atlanta United
kick off a set for seven o'clock, and you can
watch it on Apple TV, the Apple TV app with
MLS Season Pass, and on Apple TV Plus and.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
On the call along with a.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Friend of the show, Jake Zivin is the great Taylor
twelveman kind enough to give us a few minutes on
this Friday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Taylor, it's awesome to have you. Good afternoon. How are
you good?

Speaker 3 (00:26):
How are you so? I'm just a friend like Jake's
the friend of the show. What am I?

Speaker 1 (00:32):
So? This is your second appearance Jake has made for
I agree. So once we get you to three, I
think you're officially friend of the show.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Right now, you're an acquaintance.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
I'd rather say as an acquaintance. I do my best
work as an acquaintance.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Likewise, now it's awkward. It's good to have you. I
appreciate you doing this. FC Cincinnati. No team in Major
League Soccer has more points. Sixteen teams in Major League
Soccer have more goals. Do we see a little bit
more offense on Sunday?

Speaker 3 (01:01):
I think so. I mean it's interesting, you know, playing
at Atlanta you're playing on turf, the environment. Atlanta is
a real wounded animal, and oftentimes you don't want to
play that type of team. However, they don't really know
who they are. Yeah, they've gone out and spent fifty
two million over the last couple of transfer windows, but
the reality is they're underperforming by a level that we

(01:24):
really haven't seen in this league. I would say, we
see goals. Here's the thing about Cincinnati that I appreciate
is if it's a one goal game, they've got confidence
they're going to.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Win that game.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
They've got two game changers in Denke and Evander. They've
got the ability to find a way to win games.
I do think Cincinnati fans and even myself to a
certain extent, want to see a team that can win
a game and blow a team out, because I do
think they have the firepower. But when it comes to
playoff time and then the bigger games, you've got to

(01:56):
have the ability to win tight games. And that's where
I think Cincinnati, under Pad in the leadership of Chris Albright,
have really changed the mentality of the group and understanding
that I'll be shocked if we don't see goals. But
I don't want to really jinx it because I'm flying
down to Atlanta and the mound. I don't want to
jinx the good game.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
I think a lot of us have kind of taken
our que from Pat where they're winning, and I think, frankly,
you know, given all the tumult of the preseason and
who wasn't there and trading away Lucho Acosta and some
players who got injured, where they are right now as
a minor miracle, But on a game in a game
out basis just listening to Pat, you know, he wants
more offense, he wants a more crisper attack, and I

(02:36):
think a lot of us have taken OURQ from him
where we've kind of focused on what they're not doing
againstead of what they are and they're piling up points.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, I've known Pat since I was five years old,
and Pat was one of the good attacking players in
this league. He was one of the best teammates I've
ever had because he held you accountable. And I think
that's the mentality that he has within this group and
who he's turned into as a manager. So I agree
with you. I don't think Cincinnati fans are wrong to
ask the question can this team provide a little more

(03:04):
in the attack? Absolutely, they can. However, I'm coming from
completely different perspectives. In big, big games, Cincinnati has never outplayed.
They may not be the best team on the day,
but they've always always got a chance to win. How
many teams can you say that about? MLS Inner Miami

(03:25):
right now has given up twenty plus goals in their
last six games in all competitions. And so you want
to have stability, you want to have continuity, you want
to be consistent. Cincinnati's consistently in games, which in a
league of parody like Major League Soccer, that's a positive.
I do agree with Cincinnati fans, this team's got to
hit another gear. I think they're always in third or

(03:47):
fourth gear in the attack. I think there is another gear.
And to go back to your point about Luciano Acasta,
I was of the mindset and in the camp, very
small camp, and I know Cincinnati fans didn't agree with me,
but I would completely fine with the movie because they
were replacing that with Evander, and I think Evander's a
different player, and I think adding Denke with Evander becomes

(04:09):
a completely different situation than what Cincinnati was with just
Luciano Acostas, So I like Cincinnati, but I do agree
with majority of the talking points in the sense that
can they hit another gear. I think they need to,
and I think Pat Nenon wants them to.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Certainly helps when you have a guy like Roman Selatano
in the back end of that defense, and he's obviously
been their goalkeeper for a while and he's been really,
really good. But I think you talk about like players
who have kicked it into a different gear this season,
He's at the top of that list.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, I agree, And that's the one thing about goalkeepers
versus any other position in the sport around the world
is it can take them a little time to go.
It can take them a little time to find who
they are. I thought a couple saves that he had
against Columbus for the kind of saves that I think
many people who saw Celentano when he was little, when

(04:59):
he was grown up, when he came into Cincinnati, that's
the potential. He showed it. He's really come into his own.
I think the more fit and confident Miosga gets, because
obviously Miles Robinson's going to be in and out of
the lineup with national team duties and whatnot. I do
think Selentino gives them a little bit of an extra hand.
And now you put him into the conversation, well, we've

(05:21):
got two game changes in the attack, do we have
a game changer in the defense? And now as a goalkeeper,
you really can't ask for a better situation if you're
an MLS fan and a Cincinnati fan and saying we're
in that conversation of we do have a game changer
goal and we have two in the final third. So
Selentino looks the part. I think he's got a bright

(05:43):
future ahead of him, and as a goalkeeper, age is
really not an issue. You can really grow into things
a little bit later in your career. He looks the
part to me, and I think they should be very
pleased with where he's at.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Taylor Twelveman is with us mL season Pass Apple TV.
Sunday Night, FC Cincinnati on the road against Atlanta. Last year,
it felt like the Eastern Conference was a three team race,
which it was during the regular season, and then it
was an entirely different stories once we got to the
MLS Cup playoffs.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
How do you handicap the East?

Speaker 3 (06:13):
This year? The East looks like a four team race.
It really does to me. I think it's gonna be
Cincinnati Columbus when it's all said and done. I think
they're going to be in the conversation. I've been against
Inner Miami. Against is the wrong word, but you know
what I'm trying to say. I just haven't really believed
in what they're doing. They don't look like the same

(06:35):
juggernaut that we saw last year under TOTSA. Martino, and
Philadelphia is going to surprise people. And the reason why
is their style just makes you play an ugly game
in a game that you're uncomfortable with, and it grinds
out points for the team. I do think at some
point there's going to be a team that plays themselves
into the conversation. If you would ask you this four
weeks ago, I would have said at Lane. I don't

(06:58):
know if it's at Landy United, but there will be
an another team in the East that will play themselves
in the playoff race and the conversation. But when it
comes to winning the one seed, I think it's gonna
come down to the four teams we just talked about.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
I think we've made the decision to upgrade you to
friend is that Okay.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
No, I'm lose my number.

Speaker 2 (07:17):
You know what, You're not the first person to tell
me that.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
You're not even the first person to tell me that
on the air, So I don't know what to say.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
We do look forward to having you again, though.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
I look forward to being there, and I look forward
to Sunday Night on Apple TV Cincinnati Atlanta. Should be fun.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
It should be a lot of fun Sunday night, seven o'clock. Taylor,
thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
Hey buddy,