Union Soccer Podcast Ep. 11: Small Positives -- 4/19/23

Jon Jansen and Joe Tansey break down why the Philadelphia Union should take some positives from the 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire. Plus they answer your questions and break down which players need to do better for more results to come in MLS play.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to another edition of the UnionSoccer Podcast. You can find us wherever
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Also make sure to subscribe to theUnion Soccer blog dot substack dot com.

(00:24):
My name is John Jansen, oneof the hosts of this fine program.
You can follow me at j Jansonthirty four and the star of the
show, Joe Tanzy at Jay Tansyninety on Twitter. A draw against Chicago
on the road, Okay, isit good? Fine road point? You

(00:47):
know thing? Yeah? I meanthere's two ways you can look at it,
right. There's the one way,which I kind of chose to with
posting Saturday night where they finally showedup as themselves. You know, they're
the and I know it's hard tobe like they're not. They're not going

(01:08):
to recreate twenty twenty two, butyou know what the expectations are with the
Philadelphia Union and that version of it. After after the second goal really kind
of kickstarted things. Um, DanielGosdeg was really good, Twinn Sullivan spark

(01:32):
Daniel Goysdeg was great, right,but he's but he's only scored from the
peneltal spot, so he hasn't beengood this year. Um. And uh,
Twinn Sullivan was was a smart aswell. So positives like that that's
what you want out of these games. I mean, yeah, they slept
up in the first half and theown goal was a disaster, um,

(01:53):
and they brought it and they broughtit upon they brought it upon themselves.
I mean it's funny because I endedup doing the the screenshot, like I
don't know, thirty seconds before thepenalty was rewarded, but like it's I
did a breakdown on the sub stacks, so you know you can kind of
reading the detail there. But there'sfive guys on the right side of the

(02:15):
box and yes, you know,I know Jim Curtin can kind of chop
that up as well. That's that'sthe really odd play. And you know,
it's it's very hard that t happen. But it's the position they put
themselves in to get to that point, um that made it frustrating because five

(02:37):
guys should not be in that thattype of space and there's only five guys
as a terrible Burger as well overpriced, yes, way overpriced. I learned
that very well from the five guysoutside repell Arena UM. But you know,
it's just it's one of those thingswhere like you could, and there

(02:59):
are people who have, you couldlook at that game and say it's a
two two drawl against the Chicago Fire, that's not good enough. It's still
a disappointing result. Or you canflip it and say, well, we're
starting to see more signs of lifefrom the actual Philadelphia Union. We've come
to know a love for these lastthree years, and that second half comeback

(03:23):
was that, and that was theside of actual fight in this team,
whereas in previous games it wasn't there. So I think that that's kind of
how you look. You can kindof choose your own adventure on how you
want to break down that game.But to me, the more important part
was the fight back. Yeah,the mistakes have happened, but like,

(03:45):
the actual ability to fight back issomething we haven't seen yet this season,
and it was really nice to seethem them wake up and get a point
and be galvanized by it. YEAa bad concession. I think the thing
is too, it's coming off ofthat Champions League game where they were doing
that as well, Like they keptfighting in that one, kept finding ways
to scrap goals. And they comeaway from the Champions League game and I

(04:09):
know you probably want some more momentum, right turn that into a win,
and I know they were trying that. But you know, I think you're
right. There are things that arestarting to click better. Offensively, obviously,
they're starting to click better. Andthe defensive mistakes, you know,
I don't know what to attribute thatto. You know, I don't know
if that's the one that suffers mostfrom the schedule that they've had. And
they are getting some injuries there inthe back line as well, which doesn't

(04:32):
help. So I just I thinkit is encouraging to see them play those
two games back to back, andknowing that once they do short things up
because it's April, and once theyget to June and they'll probably have you
know, they're footing under them,and really I think short up and ready
to go for the league's part ofthe season, I think we'll see a

(04:55):
much better version of the Union andthe version that we, as you just
said, come to know from lastyear. I think you're right, we
are getting much closer to that andit feels like we're getting closer to it
more than they've ever had so farthis season. Yeah, I think the
defensive stuff and you know, we'regetting too more questions. We'll kind of
just nix in the questions we gotbecause they're kind of all the pertinent topics
here. But defensively is weird becauseKive Wagner has been been out, Gamian

(05:23):
Lowe has been out, Bizos dealingwith some some hamstring sword in this now
som Nathan Harry has played essentially threedifferent positions if you count the you know
him being the third center back.Yeah, as the third there. Um
Matt Rayel's coming and done a prettydecent job. Um Elliott I think has

(05:44):
room to grow into his form andlessons has been phenomenal. And then look
the the goalkeeper thing. You know, I know we touched on this a
few weeks ago. The goalkeeper thingwasn't exactly a Joe Bendick is a bad
goalkeeper problem. It was more theseguys are so used to playing with Andre

(06:08):
Blake in the back, and thecommunication between those guys suffered from that.
That's what that was. It wasmore than anything, the communication part of
it. And and that just comeswith playing, you know, over a
hundred games together. So that's that'swhat I point out as as that issue.

(06:30):
Now this you know, if youwant to pinpoint, you know,
certain plays. The first Chicago goalis just a guy gets round Nathan Harryl
and he knocks it in. Thesecond goal, the own goal. It
looks really bad, but it's allpreventable stuff, you know. It's it

(06:54):
still goes back to like the themeof all these defensive errors is there prevailable
mistakes. It's not like they're baddefenders and they're being caught out um on
a consistent basis. And there wasa line that Jim Curtin said, I
think it was before the Chicago gamein his press conference, and we asked

(07:15):
about bringing Craig because like, youknow, where is he in the rotation?
Is he close because Damian Losmen hurt? And the kind of sidebar that
Jim Curtin said that he considered startingCraig in Cincinnati on short notice, but
decided for harry Ol instead just becauseof of the circumstances. Um. So,

(07:35):
yes, he is, I guesskind of close to playing a few
games this year. I would assumehe's got to play a few games.
Yeah, right when he's when he'snot with the U twenties, just for
depth and rotation purposes. Um,but yeah, it was just it's very
to me, it's all very likeposition based, Like I don't see much

(07:58):
of a these guys are say baddefenders. It's more of, well,
they're just being caught out in thewrong spot. In the line that the
gym said was there's something along thelines of like, you can be a
really good center back for eighty toeighty five minutes, but if you make
that one mistake, that's what you'reremembered for m And he attributed that and

(08:24):
kind of the road environment Cincinnati towhy he started Peril in that spot instead
of Craig. And yeah, it'sit's a very true statement. These guys
have have had really good stretches ofplay. I think the clean sheets against
Kansas City, the majority of let'ssay seventy five minutes of the Romando game,

(08:48):
and the Atlas home game. Butit's the little errors that we all
remember. And because there were prettymuch no errors made last year in the
back, we've come soill customed tothis high standard. So I think that's
that's where the issues come is earlier, or is the communication issues without Blake

(09:11):
and goal. I think this one'smore of yeah, Kai Wagner's injured,
but it's also more of just notmaking the step to a defender when you're
supposed to, or holding position orsomething along those lines where like like the

(09:31):
take, for example of the secondatlasical, Jack Elliott just kind of gets
stuck in no man's land and theball gets just curled into them or it
gets passed and towards the back ofthe net. Like that is it's those
little kind of defensive intricacies that thatwe don't notice when these guys are playing

(09:52):
so well, right, because we'rejust like, oh, clean sheet and
like and some of these things itdoes it is eye test worthy, like
because defensively, you know, someof these statistics are still high and all
that jazz. But like when youwatch them, like when you watch Jacob

(10:13):
Glessness defend, it's just so easy. When you watch Andre Blake, there's
a reason why Andre Blake has madefewer spectacular saves. Like there are games
where he's gonna have to, butAndre Blake bigs fewer spectacular saves because he's

(10:33):
already in the he's in position tobe in position, and he's he's making
easy catches, whereas you know anothergoalkeeper in MLS who's maybe say like mid
tier, and then just just speakingacross the league, maybe that save becomes
a little more difficult because he's he'sone step too far to the right,

(10:54):
too far to the left, Likeum, what Damian Low did in the
Cocky capt Champ like first get likeagainst Kenyons from Atlas. You watch that
and you're like, wow, thatwas a really good defense. But you
don't need stats. You know,this goes back to our eye test versus
stats, like what do stats actuallymean? And tell us? And I

(11:16):
think that's what it comes down to. The defense is we've we've spent so
long and you know over a yearfrom watching these guys play phenomenal games in
the back game after game after game, where that's our standard now whereas twelve
months ago it wasn't as high.So I think that's where it is.

(11:37):
It's like the little fixable mistakes andthe problem is they're becoming too many of
them. Right If there's if saythe Montreal game, you know that's just
a crazy um situation where you're you'redown to man and it's becomes just a
hectic situation. After the bar review, you can excuse those things if you

(12:01):
come back in and play better defensivelyover you know, what was it,
five or six games after that.So I think that's where it's it's not
clicking. It's not like Jack Elliottand Jake Glesses all of a sudden the
bad partnership where the fullbacks are bad. Um, yes, there's a little
bit of a gap in quality betweenKy Wagner and Nate, Harry Allen and

(12:24):
pet Real, But to me,it's more of the little errors and when
the little errors add up and theyturn in the goals, that's when the
frustration comes out. And that's whenyou know, Jim Kurtin noted today in
his press conference, you know,the inconsistencies, and they've got to stop
being so inconsistent. So I thinkthat's kind of the sum up the defensive

(12:48):
issues in a nut job. That'skind of where I I pinpointed that I
don't think it's it is cause forconcern because it's happened so many times.
But then you watch the you know, the Kansas City game, you watch
the first like against Atlas and you'relike, oh, whoa, it's still
these guys, right, these guysstill happen. So yeah, it's it's

(13:09):
that fine balance of guess they're stillthe defenders, but also they've made some
mistakes. They have and you weretalking about the eye tests. I want
to talk about them overall because they'veobviously been a little sloppy. It's been
really hard to come by goals forthem at times. I feel like offensively,
you know, obviously they put twoon the board UM in Champions League

(13:31):
and then put two on the boardhere in Chicago, so they're getting the
results. But I think just overall, they seem like they're passing the eye
test much better than they were previously. It's also really a little barred to
it. Well it was compared themtoo, So yeah, I mean it's
you can see it like there isyou want to call it light at the

(13:54):
end of the tunnel. It's yeah, it feels like they are sparks,
Like sparks are there and it justhasn't caught flame yet, but there are
sparks and I think it eventually will, right, And you can pinpoint to
two sort of certain moments where you'relike, Okay, you know, this
is like the coming back from downtwo goals on the road. I don't
care if it's you know, taketake your opinion of the opponent out of

(14:18):
the perspective for a second. Justgoing on the road in MLS. I
mean, how many times have webeen told it's it's difficult. So being
able to go on the road inMLS and rally from a two goal deficit,
score two goals and bring something positiveaway from that game is important because
now you look at this strategy andit's remarkably busy for be talking about so

(14:41):
many, so many damn games startingon Saturday against Toronto. But it's something
to build on. You can youcan walk into training on on Monday or
Tuesday and say, all right,we had a rough patch, but look,
this is from lack of a betterterm, a turning point in the

(15:03):
season. This can be fixed.And I've kind of hesitated to say this
because I think it's it's pretty obviousand I know what the standard is.
But it could be a lot worse. Yes, it could just take a
step back. Forget the you know, well they are they are like progressing

(15:26):
through their goals. Though I knowprobably another one would be at the top
of the table right now and competefor a supporter shield. And they could
still obviously we know the union fromlast year, they can get in that.
But I mean they progressed in ChampionsLeague, like they are, they
are progressing forward. It's just thatit's not all coming together at once where
it just like looks like a fullyum fully put together product already. It's

(15:48):
just not there yet. But theystill are progressing through their goals currently I
think, right And also like nobodywants to be a complete project right now,
No, not at all, butthat again, this is this is
kind of what we're balancing expectations here, because yes, there is going to
reach a point where you do needto pick up results in the league and

(16:11):
it's going to become more urgent Ithink. But this is the ninth game
in league play, and Toronto isa very beautiful opponent. Let's be honest
with ourselves, like, yes theyhave Burndski, and yes they haven't senior,
but their defense hasn't been great overthe years. Um, And this
is a center back pairing in Glassand Elliott that I've done pretty well against

(16:34):
some some notable strikers throughout the years. Like there is a game plan in
place from the Union to slow downthe top attacking players, and Jose Martinez
is going to be massive this weekend. So I think that, yeah,
that what you're looking at here isyou want this not to be a flash

(16:55):
in the pan result. You wantthis to now earn a consecutive of points
because they haven't earned consecutive points inleague play yet this season. That's what
you want. You want to buildon that. Okay, you know when
we talked about this before the Atlasseries as well, build on this because
this is your last league game fortwo weeks. You have off next week

(17:18):
very conveniently timed off break. Thenyou know, I know the quote about
Ernst tanner m scheduling that when peoplewere like, oh, he's playing he's
playing forty chess, Like, Idon't know if it's if it's that extreme,
but I think it is worth noting, Like, yes, this is
what said, like the the Revsdo this to avoid conflicts of the Patriots,

(17:42):
the Yankees and NYCFC and Charlotte,Like there is a science behind it,
But then there isn't, you know, because some of these teams are
actually like need days off. Soyeah, it's just very conveniently timed that
that thanks weeks off. But yeah, you can build this momentum now because

(18:03):
you're gonna need it against LAFC,absolutely no doubt. I mean if you
if you watch them play, evenfor one game, So if you watched
all traffic co someday, because Iknow that the big talking point across the
league right now is um not beingable to watch all these teams because um,
it's it's just impossible. And umPete Andrews when Philly Soccer Cage actually

(18:27):
had a really good right up.I read it before the press conference today
about you know that the situation thatis Apple's facing right now. I think
we all kind of agree with it. So it's very hard to watch.
But if you watched LAFC for heckeven a half, you know what they
bring to the table. You knowit's gonna be very very difficult, um

(18:48):
battle over two legs next week.So um, it's Bill billmento Bill momentum,
get a win, and that's kindof the goal here. And if
you do that at and you havea very winnable game against the New York
Red Bulls in two weeks as well. After Champions League. Um. If
you build on these things, likeeventually the concerns will start to go away.

(19:12):
But that's the problem we're running intoright now is the results haven't stacked
up to what they should be yetthat that's that's what it comes down to.
I get it, you know,we were We spent the whole podcast
two weeks ago talking about frustration matters, So I get it. But I
think that's kind of where where we'reat. It's still eight games in and

(19:33):
look, I look across the league. There are so many, so many
worse situations going on, which isso like I've done this exercise each week
where I'll read the Athletics UM WeeklyMLS right up, I'll read Matt Doyle's
column and I'll you know, gothrough the kind of like the national leag

(19:55):
Is this something like on a locallevel that we're well, we're so concerned
with, or is this something ona national level that everyone's paying attention to.
And there haven't been like a tonof scathing remarks about the Union's play

(20:17):
because I think from the national perspective, they're being excused because it's it's gone
pacat Champions League, right, Andthat's that's the goal and getting an MLS
team to the final, whether itbe LAFC, whether it be the Philadelphia
Union, whatever it may be,Like that is the focus. And I

(20:37):
think if some people, you know, from a national perspective, if you
were to ask them, what doyou think of the Philadelphia Union right now?
Um, I think the response wouldbe order going through Champions League.
And you can excuse that seems tobe my default response, right because because
like I would have mentioned that onthis podcast because I feel like I've done
that too many times the past fewweeks, right because from my default answer

(21:00):
to everything. From a local perspective, we analyze this team getting out every
game and it's different. But macrowe have a twenty nine teams now many
team who got MLS um But likeif you look at the Eastern Conference right
now, or we'll blow it upfor a second, Yes, the Revs

(21:22):
are playing very well and look they'regoing to be a threat. Russ Arena
knows how to win in Major LeagueSoccer. What are they a runaway favorite
in the Eastern Conference? No,FC Cincinnati just got their doors blown off
by Saint Louis, who by eachweek maybe they're even more. Really think

(21:45):
Atlanta is in third place, butthey've given up twelve goals and Brad Guzan's
heart again. Um Thiago Amada hasbeen dinged up, So that's you know,
it's kind of an imperfect there.Columbus, I think, is the
one you have to worry about becausethere's scoring goals and I'm scoring it without
Kucho. Eight Morris played phenomenal.Selling round has been really good. M

(22:06):
N y CFC. I still thinkwe don't have a full judgment on what
they are. Nashville, we knowwe're gonna we know they're gonna defend like
hell, they have the best UMgoals against record, but can they score
with you? We'll see Orlando.Look, it's kind of the same thing
as Nashville right now. Well,they've only given up seven goals, they've

(22:26):
only scored seven UM and then wejust saw Chicago. We'll see Toronto this
week. Like none of these teamsare the runaway number one seed. Like
it's not like Saint Louis or LAin the West where or even Seattle where
these teams feel like, oh,like they might not be catchable and we're

(22:47):
talking about what, yeah, eightgames into the season. So like I
think the and if you take theEast for example, like the Union technically
gained ground on some of these teamsover the weekend. The game ground Cincinnati,
they gained ground or they maintained levelwith New England and New England,
Columbus drew, Nashville lost. SoI don't know, there are bigger dumpster

(23:11):
fires out there at MLS. I'mnot saying this to say the Union are
absolved from all blame, but likeit could be like so much worse.
Like look at the situation with withRed Bulls right now. That's a disaster,
um, and that spension should havebeen way longer than six games if
you're gonna be a zero tolerance league. Um, look at Kansas City,

(23:36):
who a lot of people have beendead wrong about. They've just not been
good. I know that makes theresult that gets the Union look not so
great. But they don't have awin the Galaxy. I mean, yikes
is kind of all you have tosay about them. And then like Austin's
in kind of uh, you know, not in the the public eye.

(24:00):
They crashed out in Champions League inthe round of sixteen because they didn't take
the first legs. Seriously, theyonly have two wins from seven games like
these are good problems to have withthe Philadelphia Union, Like they're turning a
corner. It's eight games in andby the by the time juniord Ly rols

(24:21):
around, we can be talking aboutteam that actually looks like they're in rhythm.
The problem we have is because we'reso yeah and rightefully so, because
they're a team we cover, we'repicking apart all of the mistakes, and
because the mistakes continued to be atrend. That's why we're worried. I

(24:44):
don't think it's going to turn intothe missing the playoffs. It's remarkably hard
to miss the playoffs in Major LeagueSoccer. Nine teams get in like they're
going to make the playoffs. They'regonna make the playoffs. That's just that's
just a stupid rule in the firstplace. And it's best three game when
well, we will lively revisit thatin September and October when we've watched fifty

(25:07):
plus games of soccer with the PhiladelphiaUnion. But none of these gaps seem
insurmountable. And how many times haveyou seen it in MLS where teams get
off the fast starts and then theydrop where teams get off the slow starts
and they trend upwards in the summer. Like I think I mentioned the Galaxy
and Sele Sounders as the biggest examplesof that in previous podcasts. Like that

(25:30):
will happen, but I understand theconcern of like can this happen? It
can? There are signs of that. Defense will be there have been signs
of it. And then offensively thatthey come back from down to two actually
is a huge, huge sign ofpromise with the union that it can be

(25:51):
turned around. And so my concernedlevels probably at the three or four.
It's probably a lot lower than alot of people out there. But when
I when I do blow it upinto MLS perspective, it really isn't that
bad. And in the concern levelgoes even further down if you beat Toronto
and finally string together positive results withinLeague Black, and I'm thinking they do

(26:17):
that. So you asked for somequestions on Twitter, and Joe, there
was really only one question that seemedto be asked over and over and over
and over and over again. Where'sPereia and Torres? Well, they're here
physically, I mean they're here.Um, it's interesting, right, because
it kind of brings up brings upthe rotation question that we've had for and

(26:45):
how long have we had this one? This this feels like it's trending towards
the Jack McGlenn Quincilovan territory of lastyear, which if you remember, was
just the same thing over and overagain. And understanding why Jim Kurt will
play these guys using pray thing isinteresting because I actually in the time he's

(27:07):
been on the field, he's beenfantastic and in certain games he's been the
best player. Um cores I getbecause you're in that middle ground because um
gas tag is is your ten.And I understand the approach the Chicago game
like they wanted to find some consistencywith that lineup, and they did look

(27:30):
did look sluggish for the first fortyfive minutes, but they got the job
done. So like that is againkind of the not get the job done,
but they produced something out of thatgame. So I think the the
Gosdig thing runs into what we talkedabout in previous years, where the guy

(27:52):
in front of Torres, he isplaying really well. Like if you were
to rank the attackers on how theythey played so far, one Koranza two
Gosdag three. Oh, I thinkeverybody would would say that. And I
think we're getting a little too hungup on the Gazda goals. And I
really do. Yeah, I thinkhe's doing fine. Would you rather him

(28:15):
just have no confidence carry over fromlast year and him missed these penalties?
Like I don't. I get itto an extent, like I get it.
Why Like, oh yeah, hehe's only scored penalties this season.
You know why is he not scoringfrom open play? Well, because he's

(28:37):
creating a lot of these chances.You know, he's he's got I think
it's five assists, Like because he'sdistributing, he's not playing, he's not
or he's not shooting a final ballbecause he's playing the final ball, or
he's playing that role creator and beinga little too unselfish at times, be
honest, Like, there's a lotof things you can throw out the union

(29:02):
right now that are critical, andI would agree with you. The main
thing in the attack is is ohhas got a score. I get that,
Like I can sit here and tellyou it was in all the right
places and all the right times.But at the end of the day,
strikers are judged by goals and ifover you know, x amount of games
he doesn't score, yes, itbecomes an issue. I understand that criticism.

(29:25):
But when you're criticizing a guy forfor scoring goals, I don't care
how they come. He's scoring.He could be missing these. The Union
could not have a designated penalty takerlike they've added pretty much every season before
Daniel Gosdag arrived. Like guy's Dagis really good at it, Like he

(29:49):
really good and I get it,Like the the the MLS Cup penalty is
still stuck in everybody's minds or whatever. I think it could have been stuck
in his mind too. I thinkit was great that, you know,
first game the season come in.It's huge, huge for the player to
get that off his back and nothave it linger over him throughout the season.
And then he was the catalyst ofthat attack, like he's setting up

(30:12):
goals. I get it. Ifyou want to say, maybe he's not
taking enough shots, but man,if there's not. If there's one guy
that I don't think deserves a lotof criticism right now, it's gos Deck
Like he is doing everything possible andhe's involved in the majority of these goals
like it's a stat I get it. Some people will will latch onto it,

(30:36):
and I've gotten a few replies aboutthat. I think it's just honestly
kind of just circumstantial. I reallydo. And I know, I know
we've gotten away from the parade toworst thing, but that I kind of
wanted to I kind of wanted torun on that because I think that's I

(30:56):
think it's a little silly that peopleare wasting time complaining about a guy who's
been top three in terms of consistencythis year, maybe top four at least
top five on this team in termsof consistency, the parrey of tourist thing.
It comes down to, like Ithink we know Pereya is the long

(31:18):
term replacement for Alion Hunderdoya. Ifeel like we've nailed that one down because
of where he's played, where he'sgoing to play. So I think it
just comes down to something as simpleas what we've talked about in previous years,
where the guys in front of themin these designated positions. Now,
I think Coreya should be playing morethan just the right side of midfield,

(31:42):
but if that's where the club seeshim and the Doya is still given this
max effort and doing and doing everythingthat he does to the team. I
understand that, but he's gonna comeoff the bench at some point, right
that, Like, where's the rolefor him off the bench? And how
does that improve? I think theanswer to that we can look back into
previous seasons and what and what JimCurtin has done where he is, to

(32:07):
a fault loyal to his own guysin the starting eleven um, and I
think that that plays the role i'dbe I would be more considered right now
that Parade is not getting time thanTorres, because if they see Torres as
that that backup ten, he'll he'lleventually get time when they rotate in and
when they need attacking subs. Butwhat Parred is fit is like, is

(32:30):
he an additional attacker? Is hea closer off the bench defensively? What
exactly his role is I think stillneeds to be pinpointed. And that's the
the worry I have that he mayhe may just get lost in the shuffle
because we do you know, wesee the flock McGlynn thing. We'd see

(32:51):
Quinn Sullivan making an impact and earningmore minutes. Torres as your second attacking
sub. So when it comes togame planning, like what is andres Pereya's
role, I think that's very importantto define. Is he Is he just
a two a two way guy andhe's going to be able to help both

(33:13):
ways? Is he more of adefensive minded guy? And if so,
can he can he earn minutes overwhoever doesn't start on the left side or
Bueno or a third center back,how does he compare there or how does
he compare to the other attackers.So I think it comes down to where
is he in the packing order,in which spot of on the field,

(33:34):
and what role he finds And maybethe Union haven't identified that yet. That's
fine, It's it's still early inthe season, but he does need to
play role at some point very quick. Your preview for this upcoming matchup against
Toronto, they should they should win. Like keeping it, I'm guaranteeing they

(33:55):
will win. Oh, you're beingthat guy. Yeah, I'm gonna be
that guy, Joe, I'm gonnabe back. You're gonna win. Um.
I think they should be able tohandle Toronto upsta. Look, Toronto's
got I guess book. We saidearlier they got two really good playmakers and
Prent Dewsky and you know, andseeing it came off the bench, so

(34:15):
I could expect him to play abigger role this week. But the Union
do have a history of shutting downsome of these top tier attackers and really
frustrating them. And if you're ableto do that, Um and play at
a high level, not make mistakeslike Bleasness and Elliott have done at home.
UM, I think it's important andjust real quick. Ki Vokinger's one

(34:36):
hundred percent healthy, Damian low,one hundred percent healthy. Bizo got um.
They hope to have him back intraining on Thursday. Recording this Wednesday,
Um, he had some hamstring sorenessand Leon flocked with what sounds like
a really painful injury to manage.He's got like a pelvic injury. UM.
He got an injection for that onMonday. They hope to have him
in training on Thursday. That's theup day we got from him curtain earlier

(34:59):
this afternoon. But yeah, thatflock injury just sounds it sounds painful.
I would not want that. No, No, I would not want that.
I would not want any injury,Joe. Any injuries sounds pretty good.
I prefer a clean bill of healthof for injuries. Yes, that's
that's very obvious. I prefer tobe an injury free kind of guy.
But if if I were to rankinjuries, um, let's take a sprained

(35:20):
ankle or like a bruise shoulder oversomething in the pelvic region. All right,
you maybe, Joe, you maybe making a point there, a
pretty good one, all right,So obvious. We'll wrap things up there
for the Union at Soccer podcast againUnion Soccer Block dot substach dot com,
Go subscribe, Joe. What dowe have coming up this week on the

(35:43):
blog? Yes, stay tuned maybea little with uh with Quinn Sullivan,
Harriel, I'll be training tomorrow.We're talking to you on Wednesday, so
yeah, we're gonna talk about somesome rolls and positions off the bench and
uh yeah, stay tuned in.And I brought back my MLS player rankings
from from the Dead. I knowUnion players on this week, but it's

(36:06):
it's this complicated thing of like youwatch enough MLS, but then you're not
watching enough MLS, you know,and numbers can um numbers can deceive you
sometimes. So took some time togo through all the highlights and review film
and did more of a MLS centricpiece. But yeah, some some fun

(36:27):
Union stuff coming up the end ofthis week. Sure check it out Union
Soccer blog dot substack dot com.You can also follow Joe at Jay Tanzi
ninety and you can check out theUnion Soccer Podcast. Everywhere you get your
podcast, Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you get it, it is
there for you to consume. Myname is John Janson. Follow me at

(36:49):
jjs at thirty four. We'll beback for more next time right here on
the Union Soccer Podcast.