Cincy 360 -- Tony Pike with Tom Gelehrter

Tony talks with Tommy G about FC Cincinnati, on ESPN 1530!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back sincey three sixty. Youjust heard it right there, a service
of Cincy's shirts. Download the app, visit any of the retail location Cincy
Shirts dot com. Uh. Startingoff our number two, This normally would
happen on a Friday, but we'relive at the Holy Grail tomorrow. Our
guest coming up is going to beheading to Toronto tomorrow. So we said,
let's make this happen today and let'stie it into our number two because

(00:23):
you can't find a better source ofgear for FC Cincinnati than visiting your local
Cincy shirts. It is the voiceof FC Cincinnati, Tom Gallairder joining us
right now. Tommy, Tommy,Tommy, what's going on? Oh wow?
And I actually went to Cinty shirtsearlier today got some new SCCINCINNTI hats

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with Gary on the front. They'reawesome. Few so appreciate our friends over
there always. But you know,footballers, true traditional footballers would really be
upset amidst this wind streak of usmaking this shift of thursdays the last two
weeks, because it's kind of likemessing with the juju. Right, you're
right, but got the result onSaturday, So I think we're in the

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clear. Well, let's let's talkabout Saturday, Tommy, because not only
do they get the result, butthey do so in fashion that they haven't
done as much mentioned last year theyslipped up against Saint Louis. They get
it early, it's a two,it's a two zero lead at the half,
which for this f C Cincinnati offenseis a lot right now. And

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they get it from Luciana a Costa. They get it from Cubo Sergio Santos
in the eightieth minute, a threegoal explosion for FC Cincinnati. What went
in, Tommy to the offense pickingup somewhere where they haven't reached a lot
this year yet. Yeah, Imean, look, it was an all
around efforts by the boys. Andif you if you listened to the radio

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and you heard Pat noon In afterthe game, or you listen to his
press conference or his comments, youknow, to any of the media outlets
following, like he was very veryplease with the performance, so much so
that I kind of called it agrind just because of the third action they
days and there was a little bitof adversity with the young goal, And
I said, coach, you couldbe really proud of the way that your
team was able to grind this out. He goes, I don't want to
call it a grind at all,because it didn't feel like a grind ka.

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It felt like the team performed reallywell. So I think that's a
testament to how well the team performedin the match. You get the penalty
kick from Lucco. It was nodoubt a penalty, easy call there to
send him to the spot. Hemakes Roman Burkey go the wrong way,
the raining MLS goalkeeper of the year, and then they're able to get two
more and one of those goals theSergio Santos ay. Sergio needed to go

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in a big, big way,so he gets that, and the team
needed a little bit of insurance.Matt Maaska needed him to get that goal
because when it's two to one,that could have shifted the momentum big time,
especially after an non goal like thattakes a bit of a wind out
of your sales. When at twonail everything felt pretty good and Saint Louis
was given a lifeline. But Sergiogets the leg goal for the insurance,
and I think again the midfield wasvery very good, you know, Pavel

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Buca and Beina Wilboedo continue to impressYu Yakubo with a great goal, and
I just think a team is firingon all cylinders. They faced some adversity
too during the six match Street,and I think that's the most impressive part
that you knew you were going torotate some guys in those three matches in
eight days, but across the sixgames. And I have to double check

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this, but I don't know thatthey've repeated a full starting eleven across the
wind Street. So that's I thinkas impressive as anything else they've done.
How impressive, And we mentioned wementioned last week, we mentioned it today.
Three matches in eight days, andit's one thing to say it.
It's another thing to watch a matchand know the physical grind that that takes.

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How impressive is a three match ineight day span where you not only
get three wins, but you doit in fashion, where you beat Columbus,
you beat your rival who hasn't lostin home forever, you take care
of Atlanta, and then you putup three in your most arguably impressive offensive
performance on the back end of thatthird game in eight days. That is

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impressive on so many levels from thisteam. No I think tell Tony is
a testament to how far the teamhas come along this season and grown into
the year and started to click togetherand look the team a little bit fortunate
that the one trip in those threematches they didn't have to get on a
plane. Still bus ride, andthe bus ride that's equal to most of

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the plane rides of the team goeson, but still a little bit easier.
I would say to go to Columbusand come back, and you're not
getting back as late as you might. But something that I talked about on
the broadcast on Saturday is that underPat noon And the team has been so
incredibly good on short rest, andthat credit goes obviously well beyond beyond the
head coach. But on two daysrest since Pat Noonan has taken over,

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the team is fifteen two and fiveand they're four to zero in two this
year, And that just means they'repushing the right buttons when they have this
quick recovery, when they have toturn it around quickly, and very rarely
do you see a letdown when they'recoming off the short rest. So no,
I think a lot of credit dueobviously to Pat, but to his

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staff, to his training staff,to the physio staffs and strength coaches,
to everybody who helps. I meanit goes you know, to the chiropractor,
the massage therapist, the whole teamof care that they have set up
for these guys to be ready dayin, day out. Did a great
job and had different folks ready toperform. And then and then, look,
it's one thing for everybody behind thescenes to have you ready, but

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you got to step up and performin the moments. And if he did
that over the over the eight gameor eight day stretch to get the three
wins, we we grazed over it. At the start you mentioned your your
post game interview with Pat Noonan,and we have made a point on this
show to talk about even in victories, Pat Noonan still being critical of the

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performance and wanting more out of theteam. What does it say about a
leader of an organization of a clublike FC Cincinnati when you do have that
guy at the front that is notthe front runner, right, it's not
well well winning. So we're justgonna keep it, but one team more.
But also, as you mentioned aftera night like Saturday against Saint Louis,

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to say, and we did ittonight. This was an impressive one.
They need to be celebrated. Iwould imagine that carries a lot of
weight in the locker room as well. And what these guys really feel with
Pat Noonan, Yeah, absolutely,And we've talked about it here and I've
talked about it with my various broadcastpartners, you know on the radio broadcast
that there's times that the team winsand Pat's like, that's great, but

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we're not good enough, right,exactly what you're getting at. And then
there are nights like that where he'spatting everybody on the back saying, look,
I don't want to be critical tonightbecause the team did really well.
And there's nothing wrong with Pat wantingmore. Everybody in the city wants more.
The leadership wants more, ownership wantsmore. Everybody wants to make sure
that next year ends. I'm sorry, this year ends on a victory and

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not a loss with that taste thatwe all had on December second in the
Eastern Conference Finals. So look,the sky's the limit for this team.
And with the way the team isplaying, and you know, you anticipate
Chris Albright will make a few adjustments, possibly to the roster or in the
summer window and improvements and everything he'sdone has worked out pretty well that you

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should feel really excited that if youleavef season change to contender again in twenty
twenty four, you're not paying attention. And sure, the first couple of
weeks of the season was a littlebit frustrating and took the offense a little
while to get going, but they'refighting ways to win and Luco has been
a consistent piece of it. Butthere's been other pieces around him that have
been rotated or that have come andgone due to injury. And remember DeAndre

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Evan's been out for a few matchesnow and the team continues to win.
Hopefully DeAndre is back for this matchon Saturday in Toronto. So I think
that a lot of really good thingsare going on with the team, and
I think that, yeah, youwant to fight for pat because I got
to keep it real with you whenthe performance isn't good enough, even if
it ends in a victory. Buthe's also will keep it real with you

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and give you all the high fiveand a hug and a handshake when you
perform really well. It is aundefeated may up to this point. Two
more matches in the month of May. The first one is going to take
place against Toronto this weekend. UHToronto, uh twenty two points, so
kind of sitting right there, alittle bit in the middle of the East,

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but coming off of arguably their bestperformance of the year, a five
to one victory over Montreal. Whatmakes this Toronto team dangerous tomorrow or Saturday
night. Well, we saw them, you know, back back in February
and on opening night for a CCincinnati a Tiqio Sadam is a nil nil
draw. Kind of a boring match, But on that night, Kevin and

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I talked about it that Toronto wasobviously more organized. Last year they were
not organized. They were a mess. They end up finishing last in the
Eastern Conference. But they brought indown her men. They've they've done a
lot better, they've looked a lotbetter, and then obviously they explode for
five goals. What's interesting is inthat match and they win against Montreal that
you just talked about, you know, Federico Bernadeski, the very talented Italian,

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gets a hat trick, great game, and then the ninety first man
he gets a six yellow card andguess what, that's his fifth yellow card
of the season, which means heis suspended for this match against FC Cincinnati,
So he's tied for the team leadinggoals right now. They have a
player in PRINCULUSU who's a very dangerousscorer as well. But they're gonna lose
an important cog in their offensive attackwith Bernadeski being out. And you know,

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last year he has got a lotof criticism for not really performing,
Bernardeski that is, and he's performinghere in twenty twenty four. But it's
a team that looks good. It'skind of firing on all cylinders and is
very improved. So Cincinnati, evenwithout Bernardeski, is gonna have a tough
challenge on their hands going into Toronto, but also go in there with some

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good memories last year because last yearwhen they played at Demo Field, that's
where they clinched the supporter shield andhad a big celebration in the dressing room
afterwards. So look, c Cincinnati'sto stick to their game plan. If
they keep doing what they're doing,then they're gonna have another opportunity to win
and push this this streak to seven, and that certainly would be big.
Just give me an update on theroster right now, because as the MLS

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season goes on, we know thatthere are comings and goings based on national
team request. Miles Robinson's called upto the national team, I know,
I believe a day ago f CCincinnati signed a forward as well. Where
is the roster construction at right now? As this time of the year,
it does get a little bit confusingfor some Yeah, it's a good question.

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And look after Sincceni has a breakcoming up, which would be good
to match on Toronto on Saturday thatwe talked about. Then they'll play at
home on Wednesday against Nashville. Theyactually have a bye week on the weekend
after that, and then it's afeepal window the weekend after that, so
they'll basically have two weeks off beforethey come back with San Jose and in
fifteenth And I think health wise rightnow the team needs that maybe more than

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anything, especially a guy like LucioCosta has been playing a little bit banged
up. But then you get intointernational duty. Of Myles Robinson called into
the US men's national team. It'sa preliminary camp that will start after the
Nashville game, and then that groupI think it's twenty seven players, twenty
eight players who are called into thecamp, twenty three of which will be
selected to play in Copa America.So there's a chance that Miles is included

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in that group. If he isincluded, then he's gonna be out for
a while, probably not back untilat the very very earliest. There's a
chance the US plays on July first, after Sentinn, he plays in DC
against CC Night on July thirty.Probably would not be involved for that match
if the US was eliminated after thegroup stage, which obviously would be a

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nightmare for the Stars and Stripes.Hopefully that's not the case in our Miami
at home July sixth if the USwas eliminated, he'ld be back for but
we may not see him until Julythirteenth against Charlotte, you know, potentially,
you know, if not, dependingon what the US does and if
they make a run in Coopa.So he could end up missing four five
games maybe for c Cincinnati. Mygood news is there's some depth there with

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Kip Keller and Nick Caglin to stepin and fill in for him, and
that was a big part of thereason why they brought in a guy like
Kip Keller to add some depth thereas in a back position, and they
knew that Miles would be involved inthe national team. There's a little chance
Matt Miyauska could be involved as well, although he was not called in for
this camp, so you won't seeMiles here for a bit now. On
the end of all that, inJuly, the transfer window open again and

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f C Cincinnati, I mean,they could sign somebody this afternoon and say
that player X is going to jointhem when the transfer window opens in July.
That that is commonplace. You're startingto see some other teams, you
know, with rumors swirling about that, and that certainly could play out that
f C Cincinnati is trying to getsomebody in. Yeah, Aaron Bupenza is
still injured, so he's out fora while. De Andre Yellen's working his

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way back. Hopefully he'll be involvedwith the trip this weekend, and and
you start to get a little healthback there, which which would certainly be
big. So you know, alot of teams and we're gonna see it
as we go through this month ofJune and then into early July. You
know, a lot of teams aregoing to be missing players. You know,
Messi's called it in Argentina, sohe's gonna be obviously playing in Copa

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America. He's gonna miss quite afew games. A lot of his teammates
are gonna miss game. We're gonnasee the Filadelphia Union on June nineteenth.
Those guys are gonna be missing awhole bunch of guys when they show up.
In New England, Revolution will bemissing some guys when they show up.
So it's an interesting window and atricky one. You remember, the
rest of the world right now isdone for the season, so they're off

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if the guys are playing with thenational team, if they're playing in Copa
America, if they're playing in theEuros or any other tournaments during the summer.
The Olympics will come up after that, so you know, those guys
aren't necessarily missing their club games.In Major League Soccer, we're going up
against it and guys will miss clubgames, and that'll make the rosters a
little bit different. But it's alsogonna opportunities, Like I said Kip Keller,

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Nick Kaglin, I can get alot of opportunities throughout the month of
June and into early July, andI'm excited to see that. I can't
imagine you mentioned Messi he's gonna missan extended amount of time, and I
believe he'll miss that f C Cincinnatimatch. Here. But here's here's enter
Miami, who is off to afantastic start thirty one points. And you
look back in f C Cincinnati's wonsix in a row and they're right on

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your heels with one less game playedone of the main reasons. And we
can honestly tell we have this conversationeach and every time we get together and
talk. But I'm looking at LucianoAcosta, who has now appeared on nine
of the fifteen MLS Team of theMatch Day recognition so far this season.
It's one thing to say that's justLuca and he's coming off of winning an

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MVP, But can you even quantifyin words what he has meant, especially
as this team tries to figure themselvesout a little bit, what his consistency
has meant, and now as youstart to see the team find success,
he's continuing that. But can youeven put into words at this point how
much he means to FC Cincinnati.No, it's very difficult, and I

(15:07):
put it out there on my account, I think in Sunday and said,
you know, is he performing ata higher level, excuse me, than
what he was doing last year asthe MVP, as the runaway MVP.
You know, there was there wasno question in most folks mind that he
would be the MVP. And Ithink there's a fair argument to say he's

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playing better than he was at hisbest last year. And I don't think
he's one hundred percent right now.He acknowledged that after the Columbus game he
had been sick the night before inthe hotel and had not gotten much sleep.
He picked up a knock in theOrlando game. He's been fighting through
that and obviously he has had shortrest. He has not missed a game.
And that's why I'm saying he needscould get through these next two,
survive, get a couple of winswith Toronto and Nashville, and then try

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to get well over that two weekperiod, because if they can win these
two and go into the break withan eight match win streak, you know,
not only in a good place,but Miami's gonna drop some points in
June and July, and that's reallygonna be the opportunity to overtake them and
maybe grow some cushion ahead of them. But no, I think Luco is

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unbelievable and every night he does somethingelse that makes you just say wow,
and it's so much fun to watch, and we're so lucky to have him
here in Cincinnati as the team's captain, as the reigning MVP, and look,
Lionel Messi is obviously the favorite rightnow to win MVP in twenty twenty

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four. Luis Suarez will be inthe conversation, but Luco's gonna be in
the conversation too, And there's alot of season left and that could be
in a drop off for any ofthe three players that I just mentioned,
as well as the others that arein the MVP contention at this point.
But at the end of the year, I expect Lucio to still be in
the conversation. And if he isin the conversation, and we're gonna be

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talking about a CE Cincinnati, he'sin the running for a supporter Shield and
in the running for MLS Cup andable to chase some trophies and so yeah,
it's it's difficult to quantify, buthis numbers speak for himself with seven
goals nine assists, both team highs. And this is a team that for
the look, this is fourteen gamesin. For the first seven eight games

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we talked about how hard it wasfor the team to score. We are
kind of beating a dead horse,missed opportunities, lack of goals. Luco
made the past, but it wasn'tfinished by whoever it got to or you
know, the final probably wasn't therefor luc show and he's just turned it
on during this win streak. SoI expect to see his numbers just continue
to take off as we settle intosummer and he continues to fire on all

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cylinders. Tom gallad Or the voiceof FC Cincinnati, you can hear him
right here on ESPN fifteen thirty isFC Cincinnati takes on Toronto Saturday Night,
seven thirty on the road. Tommy, as always, man, appreciate your
time. We'll talk again next week, buddy. Yeah, I look forward
to it. Happy birthday to ourguy Austin. Yes, I hope the
birthday back is a huge success.One year I'll be in town and then

(18:07):
be able to attend and be properlyinvited and all that good stuff. I
really look forward to being there oneday. Thank you, Tommy, I
appreciate that. Happy birthday, Austin. Yeah, Tommy, you're the best.
You're the best. Have a greatday. Cheers Tommy, cheers here.
We got it in all right.That's Tommy G of FC Cincinnati,
your talkbacks when we come back.ESPN fifteen to thirt Cincinnati Sports Station and

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