Hello, and welcome to Raising Anchor Podcast,
your source for all things Rhode Island FC. I'm
your host, Matt Entrykin, and this is your Monday
Mailbag for May 26, 2025. Jason, Rhode Island
FC, yet to find a win, yet to find a goal against
this Pittsburgh Riverhounds side. And guess what?
They get to do it all again a little later this
week. You were there. Give us the rundown. How
are the vibes at the vault? uh it was good vibes
um the weather was a little little wacky um there
was one part during uh it was still like at the
tailgate before the match and it just started
downpouring for like five maybe 10 minutes max
i think um so we all kind of huddled under some
pop -ups and stuff to stay dry and it was a little
bit like that where it would just kind of rain
off and on here so bit of a gloomy overcast day
i think maybe it kept some people away um you
know the reality too is it's it's a three -day
weekend so i imagine a lot of people had some
plans doing some stuff out of town and whatnot
so overall though like everything is still positive
everyone excited to be there you know had a really
great time despite the uh despite the result
you know sometimes you just gotta go out of town
yourself and watch a game like that from a laptop
screen and remove yourself from the problems
right so i uh i will say it was it was difficult
to watch this one and we'll we'll talk about
more at length you know in the week to come but
today we are long overdue on doing a mailback
because between the trips the many midweek games
uh the interviews we haven't had a chance to
answer fan questions and a lot of them have been
stockpiling here and i've felt bad but i mean
If you look back in the last three weeks, we've
done two episodes a week. Two weeks, we did three
episodes in a single week. So very much need
to get back to the format if we're going to be
able to continue these for fans. Yeah, it has
been a bit of a busy week with all their few
weeks with the season opening, the five games
in 14 days. But these are always fun, so it's
good to get back to that. You ready to jump into
this? Yeah, let's just give it a shot. So Joe
writes in, he's angry, Jason. Another frustrating
loss for the guys. We had opportunities early,
but they were missed. Pittsburgh got their goal
and clamped down. Kudos to Mertz, Wati, and Griffin.
We need a killer striker. Jason, it's more of
a statement than a question. Do we need a killer
striker? I think we got one. He is on the mend
right now. You know, I was watching this game,
and I was thinking this game is crying out for
JJ. I think... with how informed he started the
season. I think he could have, uh, put some pressure
on that back line there. You know, I, you know,
I, I think that it was a tough pill to swallow,
but maybe, maybe Lily ball just kind of has Connell's
number. So what did more way to either? Like
I, I went back and rewatched the highlights and
there was a lot of good opportunities that on
another night we, might have finished some of
those chances yeah and i mean you look at the
goal too it was kind of a freak goal it wasn't
necessarily a well -earned goal from the riverhound
side and you know to the point of what joe wrote
though once once bob lilly goes up he he makes
it almost unbearable to play it doesn't become
soccer anymore it becomes kind of a keep away
that both teams it just it wasn't fun soccer
to watch at that point and i historically i've
never really enjoyed the pittsburgh matches because
they're not fun products, right? The 0 -0, then
our 2 -0 loss, now our 0 -1 loss. These are quickly
turning into the most unwatchable and unfavorite
games each year against this Riverhound side.
I mean, Lily Ball is maybe a version of football
terrorism. Next one here from Pete. We lost the
game, but didn't move in the table. You guys
usually try to find the positives. Help me believe
in this team. Pete's on the edge already. We're
three home games into the regular season at home,
and fans are already crying out. Listen, Pete,
the only thing I can tell you is, and someone
else asked this question a little later, so I'll
save some of it, but we've been here before.
So I don't know if you're new to the fandom in
2025, and if you are, welcome. If you were here
last year, then I would just tell you to dig
deep and remember exactly where you were this
time in 2024, where we had only gotten one win
in the history of the club. Lots of draws and
a couple of losses stacked up. You know, we're
now 3 -3 -4, and so that's not a bad spot. We're
still in sixth place, somehow, miraculously.
And, you know, I think if you're looking for
the positive, the only thing I can tell you,
fourth game in a row where we strung together
500 passes. So, like, hey, at least we like to
move the ball side to side. I won't say we went
forward. That would get too unrealistic. But
at least we had some promise there. I think this
team's close. And I think, again, J .J. Williams
comes online. I think a lot of our problems get
solved. Right now, just we have nowhere to go
with the ball. So I'm not, I'm not yet out of
hope. I'm not, I'm not coping, you know, I don't
have the copium going right now, but I think,
I think we're fine. Jason, do you, do you think
otherwise? Yeah, no, I think, I think we're doing
all right. I think we're technically, we're probably
doing better than we were last year. Just a reminder
for those of you who were with us last year,
and maybe to those of you who were new to the
season, like, like you said, Matt, welcome. But
we didn't get our first home win until June 26
against El Paso Locomotive. The team that everyone
was getting their first wins against because
El Paso was bottom of the table. Yeah, and then
from that, I mean, we kind of already had a away
match before that that kind of sprung Bordas
into a good, pretty productive season last year.
But we've already seen some good results away.
Home form will come eventually. They'll figure
it out. agreed uh sean writes in it's time to
not just bench diqua but get rid of him we aren't
good with him on the pitch ooh sean's out for
blood i don't like i don't like getting rid of
players but i understand the frustration i understand
the frustration i think that unfortunately for
diqua he um with that 20 goal season he had he
kind of you know raised the bar to a certain
extent for himself um I checked his stats here
before. He's got three goal contributions, two
and one this year so far. Out of nine games,
that's what? One every three games, a goal contribution.
Obviously could be better, but I still think
it's early in the season with a lot of the injuries,
rotation, some of the form we're going through.
If the team can catch good form, we start winning
games at home. I'm confident that he will be
a contributor like he was last year. He ended
up with, was it 14 or 15 goal contributions?
Like 10 and 4 or something last year? I think
13 or 14, yeah. So if he can get to double digits,
get himself a handful of assists, obviously I
would love 20 goals, but I don't think that it's
anything to be too concerned about right now.
I think it's frustrating for people because JJ's
not healthy right now. You know, for me, what
it is with, you know, and I'm okay with benching
Chico until he solves what he needs to work on.
We've seen him benched before for performance
problems, and he came out the other side of it
a little bit more improved. And I think you're
right. You know, we got to stop thinking about
him as the 2023 Golden Boot winner. But the problem
really is, and smarter people have caught on
to this as well, I just don't know where he fits
in Conoball. you know you look at a player like
jj and his two biggest assets are his verticality
in the sense of he can take the ball collect
it be strong on it keep you know do do something
with whether he wants to turn and take a little
goal or you know pass it pass it back towards
an oncoming midfield to generate attack or he
dominates in the air right so from a crossing
perspective i think we're still accurate crosses
fc it's one of those things where Like, that's
the player profile. We know what we're getting
with J .J. Williams, and that's why he's so important
to this team. Chico, I mean, two years now covering
him, I don't necessarily know what his thing
is. Because if you look back at Pittsburgh, he
thrived in a two -striker system where he got
to be, you know, when a player gets to the age
that Chico is, a lot of it becomes your soccer
IQ. right it's your positioning it's understanding
the players around you understanding the opponents
and then just being in the right spot at the
right time so a little bit of luck too and but
that's that's where chico was at his best was
just like oh i'm right here and i'm gonna like
do the tap in or i'm gonna take the shot with
no one marking me because everyone was somewhere
else on the pitch i don't know how this works
in the future because we've said about chico
in the past he's not good enough to go solo But
then in the limited minutes and someone last
week on the Thursday show, I think Matt Jean
did the calculation. The two strikers, JJ and
Chico, have only played like 900 minutes total
across both seasons, across all competitions,
whether due to injury or due to formation selection
or form. They've only played about 900 minutes
together. And in that time, I think Chico's only
got one or two of his 10 goals from last year
in partnership with JJ Williams. i don't that's
my problem right now as someone who wants to
talk about this team and someone who wants to
find the positive i don't know where chico's
dimension brings this group into where they need
to go right like if if if i could see it and
then it's just more of a be patient and let the
system unlock itself then i'd be having it i'd
say hey give him as many reps give him as many
looks as he needs but i don't know where he's
at and i was i wasn't at the game but people
yesterday were saying that kano was screaming
directly at him for a majority of the time this
wasn't like the normal kano getting himself engaged
in the game and like trying to chess master everything
this was like strictly targeted at chico so i
i don't know and i'm not going to speak about
someone losing their their livelihood but like
you can say that the the performances need to
improve immediately like right now is where we
need chico the most without jj and we need him
to step up in a big way We asked the same thing
about Maxie. Noah's been quiet until just recently.
Maxie's looking like he's taking his first step
forward now. I think Noah is just getting closer
and closer. I don't see a progression with Chico
just yet. It feels like it's a backslide. Yeah,
I'd say with the exception of the currently injured
JJ, I think a lot of our forwards have not really
been living up to their reputation this season
so far. There was a bit of a rough start for
our defense, but honestly, they so far have been
the strongest point of this team. And so trying
to get some sort of offense goal scoring going
is the one final puzzle piece, I think, to get
this team back to where they were last season.
They can't all be on Joe Brito's shoulders, right?
That's just not fair. Not fair at all. Let's
get to the next question here. Is it mine? I
think it's mine. Yeah. No, it's yours. Yeah.
Rachel here says, who do you think is the better
conference this year, East or West? It's always
the East. It's always the Eastern Conference.
You'll see it right now in the quality of the
points within the table. There's always like
those two teams per conference where they're
so bad that they're making, they're propping
up some of the normal actors that wouldn't be
that high on the table. But when you look at
the point spread. right now, the East is dominating
in most of the stats. So it's a fiercer competition
internally. I haven't, I didn't take the time.
Maybe we'll talk about it on the Thursday show
on like, where do we fall in West competitions
versus East competitions? I'd be kind of curious
at this point where we're dropping points and
where we're gaining them, especially for later
on. Right. Cause like, again, losing to Pittsburgh
as a conference rival, that's a problem down
the road versus like, Hey, here's three points.
Who knows what that will mean at the end of the
table standings at the end of the season. But
historically, the East has always been the best.
You look at Charleston right now, they're completely
on fire. Lew City, no one's talking about them,
but they're just as good in the standings. They
show it. Loudon's had some slippage, but no one
thought Loudon would be there. So East is absolutely
the beast. But just remember, the Eastern Conference
hasn't won the USL championship in like, what,
five years? So at the end of the day. Does it
even matter if you're that good and you don't
get the prize at the end of the day? Yeah, I
was going to actually bring that up. Good point
there. What I will say, though, I guess to the
West's credit, is that their division is very
spread out. So I think a lot of them are used
to the travel. So when it comes to a lot of that
late -season travel in the playoffs, maybe they
feel like there's a bit of an advantage there
in their regards. The other thing I would say
is that maybe with the East being historically
strong every year is that by the time we get
to the end of the season, we're all beat up and
broken from fighting each other. And then that
final version, whoever gets out of the East alive
is hanging on there by a thread. It's a similar
issue that a lot of... pundits in England would
complain about where for a long time, historically,
they were bad in the Champions League. They're
like, well, we have such a busy, condensed holiday
schedule where you've got, you know, Boxing Day
matches, FA Cup matches, Carabao Cup matches.
And then the time they get to the later rounds
of the Champions League, they're all worn out.
And that it can be such a dogfight in England
where some of the other leagues, as great as
the talent that they have are, You typically
only see maybe like five or six teams realistically
who have any source of winning. I mean, technically
it's kind of like that in England too. But a
lot of the bottom teams have really gotten a
lot better. There's almost like a top eight at
this point where there's a decent amount of teams
that have the finances to really make the Premier
League a tough battle. So maybe the East needs
to find a way to balance some of their stamina.
Try not to, you know. Get to the final dance
there, but try and get there in one piece maybe.
Yeah, I mean, it's both a marathon and then it's
a sprint once you're in the postseason. So completely
agree. Moving on, Bob writes in, what was worse,
the Detroit game last year or this year's Pittsburgh
game? Very disappointing. I don't know if he's,
he must be referring to the loss at Bern. Yeah,
I think the Detroit one at home was worse. I
think this one. This had a nil -nil draw written
all over it. That one goal, unfortunate. I went
back and looked at it a few times. I don't think
I would be too harsh on Koke there, especially
because he made a few really good saves to keep
it even. Grant Stoneman made a goal line clearance
at the end. The defense was fighting hard to
keep us in this match. We just couldn't score.
So at that point, the Detroit game felt like
we were never in that game. Like, they just outclassed
us, and we were like, you know, couldn't have
any sort of answers for that one. Honestly, it's
so interesting about Grant Stoneman in this case
because Grant Stoneman's kind of deliberately
responsible for the goal in a weird, freak way.
And then, you know, you talk about that clearance
that he had. He's also the player that set up...
the attack run on koke to begin with and just
kind of like he takes us i think it was wealthy
he dribbled through seven or eight players and
stoneman is the last line of defense and stoneman
takes a step and walt he just goes around him
like he's a traffic cone and grant doesn't turn
and try to like catch up grant just like almost
like well i tried Like this was the best I could
do. And so as the play, you know, kind of shifted
further towards the left side of the pitch, Stoneman
does finally catch up. And it's because he was
so behind on the play that he was just trying
to get into the box. Like if he had been on his
player man marking, he would have never been
in that position to be able to clear the ball
in the first place. So it's good that he made,
you know, he cleaned up his own mess, but also
kind of involved in some of the most promising.
problems for rhode island fc for the night interesting
interesting times and when you go back and if
you look at the the goal that pittsburgh scored
if you pause it real quick before uh is griffin
right i think before he hits it there are four
rfc players blocking coque vegas's line of sight
yeah and so when you look at anything why didn't
he yeah but that and then the problem too is
after that clearance They looked a little lackadaisical
in terms of pushing to clear. Maybe, I don't
know if the instructions were off there, but
they didn't. Someone should have closed the gap
quicker. Obviously, you're still defending a
set piece. Maybe someone should stay back. Maybe
not block Koke's view. I mean, it just kind of
is what it is, but it's disappointing to let
something in like that. It didn't feel like they
were really the better team on the night. There
were some opportunities, like you had said, that
we were giving them, but ultimately it felt like
it had nil -nil written all over it. Yeah, and
I don't blame Koke at all. That was absolutely
an obstruction case against him, so I don't blame
him on that. I will say that the team felt really
slow. and disorientated at times like in their
passing sequence i know they had 500 passes but
some of that was just you know that horizontal
recycle um they didn't for a seven day rest you
would i would have expected to see kind of the
same hunger the same drive that we saw in three
games and seven days the week prior and uh it
i don't know i i thought maybe you know it was
the weather and thinking because of where i am
right now it's you know this fan is the only
thing keeping me somewhat cool and i but then
i realized you guys just come off the nor 'easter
so it couldn't be that like i don't know why
this team seemed to have lost a step last week
and i again maybe it came down to the coach's
tactics and the way that they're running off
pure adrenaline then they got actual they got
actual rest and they had to kind of warm themselves
back up again kind of get going It always reminds
me of Turnbull when he used to say he liked traveling
because there was no distractions. There was
a little bit more anxiety because you were in
someone else's fortress. And maybe there's a
truth to that. Could you imagine if we become
a great road team again and then we see no success?
That is the darkest timeline for new fans getting
excited about this club. Yeah. Next one here.
Ashley, it was great to be home. but disappointing
not to see the stadium fill to capacity. How
long do you think it'll be before we regularly
sell it out? I would say... Wait, wait, hold
on. Before we start, what was the attendance?
Because I don't know what it was. I could maybe
look it up real quick. I thought I heard five
-ish. So north of 5 ,000. So if we were at burn,
it would have been a sellout. Yeah. Okay. I mean,
that's what matters right now. That is the ultimate
base. I know there's going to be a lot of people
who start crying about, oh, you can't even fill
your stadium now. And, you know, it's Memorial
weekend. That's no excuse. Bad weather. We're
all New Englanders. You know, that's going to
get thrown around. But the reality is, as long
as you never fall below a burn stadium capacity,
this is still a success year over year. Right.
So I'm OK with that. As for when we sell it out,
I mean. I haven't heard from the club. I mean,
they'd love to, but their numbers aren't sellout
for every game. They're like somewhere between
7 ,500 and 8 ,500, and they're hitting their
KPIs of what they want. So I don't see that as
a bad thing, but I think I interrupted you. No,
yeah, sorry. I mean, I asked you the question
anyway. I just want to kind of jump in as I was
there too and mention, you know. although we
should all be used to it, the weather, but like,
let's be honest, not a lot of people do use that
as an excuse. Even when you, you kind of live
in that area, it was, it, or still is a holiday
weekend. People probably had plans to be out.
And then maybe there's the reality that sure.
We've won a few games away, but the buzz around
this team is still building. So until we can
win a few more home matches where people say,
Oh, like I, I saw them win that. That was really
good. We're. we're kind of starting over again
in some way where you know it we've kind of got
to build some of this back up again to a certain
extent so i'm not too concerned i think the 7
p .m starts actually might help where with the
4 p .m a little earlier in the day people have
a lot to do i mean there was like two softball
tournaments across the street like tons of people
and little kids and so in like that what you
know like there are other things that people
have to do 7 p .m. nightcap kind of end of the
day, maybe a little easier on the weekends to
still go out and do something, kind of come back
and catch some RFC soccer. It's so funny because
you speak of it as a single or a guy with no
kids. And everything we hear from the other side
of that coin is like they want the 4 p .m. games
because a 7 p .m. game is too difficult to manage.
with you know the flock around you so you're
never going to make anyone yeah i mean i mean
some of that's just speculation but i also know
a lot of those parents their kids do stuff so
like how are you going to actually take your
kids to the match if you've on some softball
or soccer tournament or something maybe for a
lot of the people the goal isn't to go to every
match anyway i don't know it's a better hit or
miss you can never make anyone everyone happy
No, you cannot, especially in New England. So
this is the real question of the night, and we
got to address it. Ben writes in, is Tidewater
actually cursed? Do we need to go back to Burn?
No. I kind of mentioned it talking about the
last question here, but in a way, this is a first
season all over again. We are in a brand new
home. It can... take a while for that home to
maybe feel familiar to become your own home.
I know they get to train there at least with
compared to last year where they had to train
on like a side field because burn was being used
all the time. Um, you know, I, I think once the,
once the, uh, the first one comes, it'll be like,
uh, you know, like an opening of the dam to a
certain extent where like, okay, cool. We got
that monkey off her back. We're fine. Now we
can move on. Good thing we have Miami next week,
or at least in the next home game. That's exciting.
That's not a trap game at all, Jason. Not a trap
game at all. I already have the name of that
episode locked in. Not a trap game. Oh my gosh.
Alright, next question. Andrew says, does Bob
Lilly have Coach Kano's number? I would think
so. They probably talk to each other. Yeah, yeah,
8 -6 -7 -5 -3 -0 -9. Everyone's got Coach Gano.
I've got Coach Gano's number. I actually forgot
to say this, so I've got to go back a step, see
my own notes. Back to the burn statement, though,
just so everyone remembers, too. Like you said,
it takes time. At this exact point in our season
in 2024, in terms of our home record, we had
only scored one goal in four games. So we are,
like, perfectly on track with our normal. trajectory
of performances early on in home games so like
again when i tell people just relax like let's
talk about this in two more months if we still
only have one goal scored by us in our home stadium
then yeah that's a problem but otherwise we're
right on track as for does bob lily have coach
cono's number this is curious we talked about
this last week i think i said it incorrectly
in the moment because you called me out we're
like this wasn't a bad game referring back to
the high mark performance last season but i did
think coach kano tactically set himself up for
failure and it was probably his worst coaching
performance of his season because it just didn't
look like he'd set his team up for success i
look at this one now and i tried to have that
lens on as i watched the game especially as things
started going sideways on us and you know looking
back at the first one last year jackison's first
goal of his career in the usl championship was
it was a good goal on you know running on to
uh running at us and then the the sample goal
was a fluke i mean like that that goal he couldn't
recreate that nine out of ten times if he tried
he probably couldn't recreate that goal ten out
of ten times so like i look at that one compared
to it and i i still see the same thing where
we we talk about it at length lily loves shape
he loves the team moving as a collective unit
and instead of like the individual parts and
they're not a team that wants to get drawn out
they're not a team that wants to get broken down
easily i don't know why that's so difficult for
us because we've broken down better teams so
is this where coach kano needs to change it up
for the next you know and spoiler alert, it's
this upcoming week, or does he need to perfect
the system he has? Because this feels like to
me now, this is the one team that we just can't,
and I'm going to pull it up as you talk, but
I don't think we had many final third entries
in this game, or at least in comparison to where
we normally are. It's one thing to not have a
lot of shots on target or shots in general, but
final third entries is something that we need
to see at least to be dangerous. And I'm pretty
sure they were pretty poor in relation to our
normal stat numbers. I could be way off. It just
didn't feel like it at the time. Yeah, I think
it's tough against a team like this, right? And
part of this comes down to, as a manager or coach,
what type of philosophy do you want to have?
Do you want to be reactionary in the sense that
you change your tactics and style based upon
the teams that you're playing? Or do you want
to have your own distinct, unique style and be
the best version of that self and be so good
at it that you, even coming up against a opposing
style that clashes or conflicts with yours, that
you can still become the victor in that sense?
And I think that, for instance, our lineup. I
know it's just the way we start, but 4 -2 -3
-1, I don't feel lines up very well against a
3 -4 -2 -1. Right, so should coach have maybe
shifted to, I know we kind of still somewhat
play a 3 -5 -2 at times, but maybe been a bit
more rigid in his 3 -5 -2? Should we maybe taken
off one of the wingbacks, put another midfielder
in or something? I don't know. But then at a
certain point too, if you're constantly chopping
and changing your own style, can you ever really
get good at what you do yourself if you take
away that repetition? And so do we just accept
this as a bit of a growing pain to get better
as that 4 -2 -3 -1 in the same way we saw last
year where it takes some time for the style to
really implement. But once we get going, it's
like a steam train that just keeps going and
like the momentum carries us through the rest
of the season. Maybe ultimately you want to have
the final destination be a little better, but
I mean, honestly, if we made the final, like,
you know, that was a pretty good first season.
It took us a while to get there, but. So our
final third entries were slightly below average,
but our touches into the opposition's box was
the second lowest of the season. And that includes
the game. Like this was lower than our game against
Detroit city where we were down a man. So in
that aspect, this is like, it was less than half
of our highest performance. And it was probably
about 40 to 42 % less on average than our normal
amount at just 14 touches. Ironically, our worst.
touches into the opponent's box so far this season
was the Tampa Bay game. But that's because we
just decided we were going to only shoot bangers
from the outside. Didn't even need to go into
the box. Yeah. And listen, I don't disagree with
you about, you know, you perfect what you can
control and you line it up. It just feels like
maybe the right question is, it's not does Bob
Lilly have Kano's number. It's like they're playing
the game of rock, paper, scissors, right? Because
that's kind of what you're doing at that point.
This is my strategy versus yours. And it just
seems like every time. connor goes scissors bob
lilly just comes in with rock and like just that's
it so i i will say this just to kind of preface
one of the final questions of this we it's really
important we score a goal this week coming up
like we need to at least you know whether or
not we win the game like i'd like to see us win
that and take a stronger stance in the jägermeister
but like we now need to score we need to be able
to prove to this team, to ourselves, that we
can find the back of the net against a Bob Lilly
side like that, I think is the most important
mission of the next week. Yeah, absolutely. So
Kevin writes in for this next question. Is there
concern moving forward with this team? The lack
of scoring, we're in sixth place and falling
injuries galore. Is this team below expectations
or did we set them too high? And I'm assuming
by we, he means the collective we and not you
and I. Yeah. I mean, Sixth and falling, we were
just 11th, right? Like a week ago or 10th. We
kind of jumped up there pretty quickly with two
back -to -back away wins. Injuries are a concern,
but a lot of those people are starting to come
back healthy. I'd say within the next month to
maybe month and a half, we're going to have almost
everyone healthy at this point, assuming that
no one else gets injured. I'm not concerned moving
forward. Like we mentioned earlier, first home
win didn't come until June 26th. If it's July
1st, we're going into the rest of that summer
stretch, and we haven't scored any goals at home,
we don't have any more positive results to feel
good about, then I'm going to start being concerned.
In terms of setting our expectations high, like
the collective, we maybe... We did make it to
the final last year. So I think to expect this
team to come right out the gate and just do the
exact same thing again, you know, it doesn't
always work like that. So it's still early. I'm
not pushing any panic buttons just yet. Yeah,
I think the only expectation that we're missing
on right now is, and I forget how Coach worded
it this year, because... he said it the way that
everyone remembers last year like i never promised
wins but i promised you'd watch entertaining
soccer that had people committed like they were
gonna leave it all on the pitch i am not necessarily
entertained by the results but sometimes that's
the beauty of it like a really good defensive
game you have to be able to appreciate that as
you know the eye the b was the eye of the beholder
or whatever so like in that case like these have
been well fought matches on both sides. Like
no team wanted to be the first ones to get dunked
on at Centerville Bank Stadium. And I guess that
narrative continues. And then there were other
teams that wanted to get the first win and dunk
on Rhode Island FC as the Eastern Conference
champions and the runners up from last year,
right? We've talked about that at length too.
Like a lot of teams are treating Rhode Island
FC really different in comparison to how maybe
they took the look at them and how they respected
them. in 2024 so yeah we're it's we have just
we're on the wrong side of the curve right now
we have a much higher climb and it's going to
be difficult but i don't think anyone's expectations
should be anywhere other than wait until august
are we in contention for a home playoff berth
if not are we all okay that we're still going
to make the playoffs and then we can kind of
start reflecting on the comparativeness of of
where we are and where we need to be yeah All
right. And then what do we got next to Ross?
How is our record compared to last year? I don't
have the actual stat right off the top of my
head, but I know based upon where we are in terms
of the months, I think to this day, a year ago,
the day we're recording right now, we got a nil
-nil draw at home against Louisville. So at that
point, our first, we only had one win. So we
currently have three. So I think we're doing
better. It's frustrating maybe because we're
not seeing the results at home like we want just
yet. But so far, this team has been road warriors.
So it's an improvement. You know, it's incremental.
I'll take it. It's still a young franchise, if
you will. Right. This team doesn't have a lot
of history. So we're still kind of fine near
feet. I mean, this is also Coach Cano's second
year as a head coach. So he's probably still
learning a lot of things himself too after taking
that over from being an assistant coach. So it's
not too bad. There's still some hope. The way
I look at it is this, is that it's more of a,
are we happy? with the additional wins early
on versus the additional losses right because
this is within one to two points exactly where
we would have been and remember we were kind
of trapped in the basement for a very long time
until that june uptick where we were like 10th
and not going anywhere so these winds have elevated
us technically we're doing better than we were
last year the only concern now though is is that
we have i think double the losses that we had
in looking back in retrospect to 2024. Kano was
very proud of the number of draws. I mean, he
is the draw king when it comes to draw kings.
And he was very happy about that. Like it was
a badge of honor for him. So I don't know how
you take that. Like in my world, like the wins
are important because it creates the winning
mentality. But draws can be just as equally important
where it's like we will never give up and not
get points out of any single scenario. So like
if you had to ask me which one would I rather
have, if all the wins were at home in front of
fans, I would say that I'd want this season.
But looking back, like I kind of have to respect,
it was only two losses, one win and like six
draws that early on. Like I kind of, that was
a little bit more of an interesting narrative.
At this point, we're just like not quite sure
what our swim lane is yet. Yeah, the only thing
I would argue against some of that was, Some
of those draws, if we're being completely honest
with ourselves, being removed from that season.
Don't bring up the three nil -nil draws. Don't
bring up that we had three nil -nil draws at
this point in the season. I wasn't even going
to say the score. I was just going to say some
of those were boring games. We were excited because
we've got our brand new team here, but some of
those, there was not a lot of excitement to have
here. Whereas, even a few of our losses have
been frustrating. I felt okay about the majority
of the performance that the team put out, that
there was just a few tweaks that needed to be
had, or maybe the ball was a little to the right,
it would have went in, little things like that.
Whereas some of those draws last year were just,
they were tough. I should ask you, we always
talk about the worst game, best game. Do you
remember the most boring game of last year? I
mean, I want to say it was either the Charleston
or the Pittsburgh, both nil -nil games at home,
I think, were pretty rough. Is there another
one that I've just blocked out from my memory?
Probably, because you can't recall it if your
life depended on it. It was the North Carolina
match. That was the most boring game. Oh, the
away one? Uh -huh, correct. Yeah, I think there
was literally one chance that Doyle had, and
that was it, the entire game. The rest of it
just felt like... okay we're just passing the
ball around we're just playing keep away from
ourselves but uh let's move on here brian writes
in i heard you i guess he's referring to me on
the qc say someone is trying to start claiming
kano should get sacked ridiculous but do you
think anyone's in a hot seat right now absolutely
not it's it's so we're in sixth place like I,
but Brian, I don't want to insult you because
that's not the goal of this. It's just to have
a discussion. I don't know if I don't, cause
I, you sent it through email. So I don't know
if this is a, if this is like someone who's again,
like it's hard, like, and do me a favor to anyone
that's like listening, do me the honor of when
you write a question and if I'm not scraping
them from social media and you want us to answer
it and I've never interacted with you before,
right? Like when you became a fan, because then
that can help us tailor. the questions to it
so brian i'm just going to assume that since
you listen to quahog corner that you've been
around for a long time and you would know that
there are just certain individuals that want
to say things for the sensationalism of it like
jason just said we're in sixth place we are riding
high we're basically perfectly balanced across
our our table standings and we have so many games
left we still have what 14 home games left this
year 13 now i i think it's is it 13 it doesn't
matter how many home games we have the point
is we're in first place in the jägermeister cup
we are just fine in a playoff contention for
the championship and some people they only can
see the negative out there and maybe you can
call us the you know the ever positive you know
optimistics but like i will never i will never
start the narrative of anyone should be in a
hot seat uh or getting fired until the time we're
like the results need to improve immediately,
right? And like, look at Brendan Burke, still
with the club. Yeah, you look at Tampa Bay, Sacramento.
How many, I think five teams have already recycled
their coaches this season. And like, none of
them have been eliminated mathematically from
the playoffs yet. Look at Greg Vanney from the
Galaxy. Hasn't won a game in 14 matches, got
like a three -year contract extension. Like,
we are perfectly fine. So I would advocate for
anyone that follows this club, please. Do not
say anything around, you know, a player out,
a coach out, a front office member out. Like,
you can be unhappy. You can lament them online
as much as you want. That's your right. But I
would ask, like, let's save the pitchforks for
when we need it. Because that way, it's not just
a calling card. It's like, it's a movement. Like,
if we ever need to say Kano out, and there's
substance behind it, that's when the time comes.
And like, they take us serious. I don't know.
I'm going way off the charts here on this one.
I hate that. It's like the boy who cried wolf
type stuff, right? I totally understand people
being frustrated. I want people to, you know,
it's great that there's so many people out there
so passionate about this club, voicing their
opinion. And, like, if they're frustrated and
they're angry, they have all the right to be.
They don't have to try and be as level -headed
or positive as we always try to be. But I think
even when you're in swimming in those lanes,
that there needs to be some perspective. Sixth
place. I understand that there is like New England
excellence in regards to their sports, but it's
our second year. We made it to the final in our
first year. Give this team some time. You know,
like you said, if we end the season with 15 points,
well, then maybe we definitely can have some,
we'd have some more serious conversations then,
but we're. We're still early on. There's been
some fight that we saw from this team. We've
seen some good away victories. We've saw a lot
of good performances. We know that we have a
lot of good players. Maybe some of them are all
not in form. There's still some stuff working
through. There's a lot to be excited for in this
team, I think, still. That it's a little too
early to kind of go out there and start calling
for people's jobs. You know, sixth place. i mean
playoff spot you you can say new england's like
expects champions but they just don't the reality
is they don't handle loss as well look at the
celtics they got knocked out this year after
winning it the prior year and everyone's like
oh blow it up get a new coach get a new team
it's oh it's it's over now now they're just laughing
at the knicks losing yeah and now the bruins
bruins you know not great patriots when was that
last and the red sox okay maybe i don't know
that's plenty of baseball season left like Oh,
I'm sorry. I forgot the big one, New England
Revolution, because we're anti -New England Revolution
on this hashtag not an MLS podcast. They're doing
some good. I think that hashtag not an MLS podcast,
they just gave up some goals the other day. No,
but we're now looped into being anti -revolution,
which, again, you know, whatever. Hey, if that's
your team, support soccer. I mean, I prefer local
soccer, but, you know, you do you. Next question
here is Brad. Is there a player in your eyes
that can max this team a top three right now,
and can we get him? Maybe some transfer speculation?
Have you ever heard of Cal Jennings? I hear he's
pretty good. Yeah. I hear he's pretty good. Yeah,
I heard he's going to replace Christian Pulisic
on the MLS. Not MLS. The USMN's national team.
You know, I saw him. Again, not trying to bring
up my Italy trip, but I watched him play in that
Milan game and wasn't impressed. I'm not going
to say he cost Milan the game because it was
other problems, but if that's the best we have
and then he doesn't want to play in the Gold
Cup, what are we doing? I don't know. Diego Luna
is our savior. USL supremacy. Get Cal Jennings
up there with him, honestly. i'd love to see
it they'd probably go out there and fight for
the shirt you know there's the kid up in um vancouver
that's tearing up the the western conference
with the white caps right now he just got called
up and and he's talking about how it's like the
greatest thing that could ever happen to him
i feel like some of our us men's national team
players like they treat it like it's a job and
not that it's like more important than anything
else you'll ever do in your life yeah but anyway
us men's national team but back to uh any any
uh players you think i don't i mean i don't know
the preface to this so it's like i mean i made
the joke about cal jenning you can go up and
down i know on all the other um rhode island
fc stuff people always want benzini from uh tormenta
because that that was the that was the bargain
value that we were supposed to grab that we didn't
um i i championship wise there's there's no striker
that's sleep that's been slept on. Every team
that has a need for him, they're using them.
I don't think that there's... I would like someone
that's quick and can just stretch. Especially
when JJ gets back, if we had a quickness to the
front line, maybe like a Cameron Dunbar in the...
Well, that's a phone call. I didn't know there
was a phone call in this office. Maybe I'll edit
that out later. That's fun. It's part of the
mailbag. When was the last time you had a phone,
like a landline? I haven't had a landline in
years. Is it at least like something fun, like
a hamburger phone? No, just an old Panasonic
that was white at one point and is now very much
that plastic yellowed needs to be changed out.
um but back to it so like a camera dunbar like
a speedy player like but someone that can get
into the attack that's i think where we would
want to go i've heard rumors about some mls sides
that are looking to find a striker to loan to
us um i didn't hear this from the rhode island
fc camp i heard it from a journalist that covers
an mls team in a market and like they were asking
me if i knew anything The club has not confirmed
or denied anything at this point, and nor would
they. I don't see us seeing any kind of transaction
until after League's Cup at this point, because
like, why would you let go of an asset, especially
like that's the time to potentially get them
minutes or get exposure. But yeah, I think, I
think there is probably a player out there that
can immediately transform this game. I just don't
know if we go the route of an aged or washed
out championship slash MLS player who comes down.
or if it's some bright and upcoming USL1 kid
that no one's paying attention to or a collegiate
player that just hasn't gotten their look. So
for my answer, my legitimate answer, let's get
Kai Kamara in. He gets his 10 minutes with team
number 18 in the MLS, and then let's just have
him retire at King down here in Rhode Island
FC. He jumps on our channel all the time to listen
to the pod, so why not? Yeah, actually, I remember
saying on there, is this the real Kai Kamara?
Hey, sign up. Some sort of, yeah, some sort of
striker. I think at this point, you know, I'm
not a, I'm not a Chico hater, but he's, he clearly
hasn't been putting up the numbers. I think that
we really want to kind of win us some games.
Do you think that Chico needs more competition
to give him an X factor or an edge? Maybe in
the sense that like it, not that he's like just
sitting there thinking, ah, no one can displace
me, but. When you have to fight for your spot
there, maybe it gives you that little bit extra,
the little mental edge to really push yourself
to be the best version of yourself. And maybe,
unfortunately, he just doesn't have that right
now. He's in a little bit of a funk. But yeah,
I think we've been talking about this for a while.
A third striker. I mean, we said we didn't think
we needed it. Obviously, we do. We own that.
I think we both said we're going to be fine.
I just asked ChatGPT who's the best striker that
we need to pick up, and ChatGPT is telling me
we need to go out and get Alex Harris or Alec
Hughes. So I know Alec Hughes, actually. He's
in Massachusetts. So we just need to get one
of those two players, and we'll win everything.
So thanks, ChatGPT. Who needs scouting? You've
got ChatGPT. So let's do this. Solve all our
problems. I swear it'd be hilarious if one of
those two players now gets picked up. We'll know
Coach Kano's entire system. Next question here
from Leighton. Good name, Leighton. When do we
start panicking? I think we kind of touched on
this earlier, but when actually is the date where
we go, okay, let's push the button and let's
get our tinfoil hats on? It's crazy that Everton
left back Leighton Baines is a fan of RFC. Yeah,
I don't think we need to start panicking until
July if we don't see an improvement in regards
to points, because like I mentioned a few times,
we didn't get our first win until June 26. It's
a month away from right now, and that is home,
sorry. So the results are, we still have some
time to quote -unquote be better than last season.
In some ways, we kind of maybe are in regards
to positioning and points. so stop sugarcoating
it what is the date the hour the time that we
hit the panic button uh i don't know i mean here's
our schedule what games do we play in july all
right july 5th we we host the birmingham legion
uh then we go away to indie then oh towards the
end of july there's the double header with hartford
maybe that's that's kind of like too late from
there there's still a decent amount of the season
after that but at that point maybe if we are
not in a a decent spot maybe that's where we
can kind of feel like the rest of the we really
have to be lights out the rest of the season
to actually get where we want because you have
a double header towards the end of july there
with hartford i would say i'd say the second
week of august because at that point the summer
transfer window should be kind of locked down
That's where any players or any performance changes
we're going to have, that will be where we've
completed the Jägermeister group stage. So if
we advance, that's where we'll know if hardware,
immediate hardware is closer to being earned
and on the line. So yeah, I would say by the
second week of August, you can make a date between
the 8th and the 16th right there. That's the
panic time. There's still 12 matches after the
Hartford doubleheader. So that's a decent amount
of... Matches to pick up some points. Next one
here, though. Jude found you guys doing research
for the MLR final hosted at your new stadium.
Have you guys ever been to a rugby match? But
I hope I have. It's fantastic. I've been to rugby
in three different continents and it is it is
my second favorite sport. And it I think I think
I heard this once from a movie. that soccer is
a gentleman's game played by hooligans and rugby
is a hooligan game played by gentlemen. So it
is one of the most fantastic things you will
ever watch. Jason, when I get back, if there's
still time, I don't think there is actually.
It's probably why this guy or gal, Jude could
be either. Is it Jude Bellingham maybe? A lot
of famous soccer players listen to this RFC podcast.
It's pretty crazy. I just think Jude just got
out of all of his soccer season and he's like,
you know what I need to do? I need to catch up
on some raising. Hey, it's always good to see
Jude's a rap fan. You know, that's where it really
matters at the end of the day. But we will absolutely
go to the final, no matter what. We'll go and
attend that unless something gets in the way.
But I want to go see that at least. And next
year, if we've missed the free Jax window, I
have to take you up and catch a free Jax game
because it is. it is a ton of fun and anyone
should go and watch it they do a really good
involvement from a promotion standpoint like
on and off the field um the merch is like just
some of the best in the business and the players
are very involved it's you can tell it's a like
professional yes but also like very community
driven so awesome experience i'm down check it
out you don't get a choice i'm gonna kidnap you
and just take you to the game so like i appreciate
you that you want to go but This was a foregone
conclusion. And then last question of the night,
Rick, any significance of seeing the same next
week? I think team. I don't know if I messed
it up, but I'll try this again. Any significance
of seeing the same team next week at their home?
Does a win there negate what they did to us this
Saturday? I mean, I don't know. I want to say
a win would negate it, but it would. But it's
a different competition. I think we're definitely
going to see a different lineup in the sense
like, you know, we'll have Leonette. And with
the long season and maybe after that loss, I
wouldn't be surprised if Coach maybe changed
it up a bit just to kind of try some things out.
That's kind of what cup competitions are usually
for. It gives you an opportunity to... try things
outside of the scope of the league and maybe
not worry about this is three points dropped,
right? This is, this is a cup competition. You,
you try and do your best to move on to the next
round. Obviously you try and put out the team
there, but to win, but also that this is a deep
squad. We just talked recently about like how
much depth there is in the back lines. Maybe
we see a bit of rotation there, you know, Joe
Brito. Maybe we get him another look up there,
see what he can do. So I don't think it will
negate, but I think it will, because it is the
same team, I think if we can come away with a
positive result, it will be good for the morale
of the team. Yeah, I think that makes sense.
I mean, I look at it as, remember, too, in the
Siegermeister tournament, there's still one more
USL 1 team, too. So, like, if Kano... Wants to
get some professional minutes to some of the,
you know, the least seen players like Cole Dewhurst
or Kevin Vang. Those could be opportunities,
you know, for that, that heart, the hearts game
a little later in June. So I could still see
him taking the points here and going for it.
Maybe not quite a secondary team, but. most of
the starting 11 because again it's seven days
and you know there's something to be said about
form and performance like you want them getting
minutes you want them being able to stay uh you
know fit in that regard and I I do think too
like this is a little psychological like how
what better way to wash away a loss than to go
and get a win like the next week like it's very
often it's very rare excuse me to get these kinds
of looks at teams a second time. So this could
be a big ego boost in the right direction. And
who knows? I mean, we've seen Danny Rivera now,
like, out on the training pitch. Mark Ibarra
one week is available, next week he's not. So,
like, there's a lot of players that we haven't
had, we haven't seen in a lot of minutes as of
late. So I don't think this is, like, we're going
to throw the B squad out and treat it like an
Open Cup kind of situation. I think there's points
to be had, and I think Kano will want to take
Jagermeister Cup serious. uh the entire time
and he and he said that so i i think this is
i think this is significant as an optics piece
but i don't think it's significant if we drop
additional points and go oh we still can't win
it'll be a terrible narrative that we still can't
find a win against this team but i don't think
that it i don't think it changes much i and i
i don't mean like the entire team but like a
handful of players kind of rotating and then
still have the the quote -unquote a squad there
to to kind of cycle through them as the game
goes but I think you bring up a good point, too.
It's very possible that he might want to just,
for the narrative, the optics, try and put out
the strongest squad he can there to kind of see
if they can, you know, undo what happened this
last weekend. Yeah, I mean, it would be fun to
see three former Pittsburgh Riverhounds take
the pitch against them. Chico needs the minutes,
whether you like it or not. Like, if we're going
to get this guy fixed, he needs to get out there
and, you know, at least get like 15 to 25 minutes
or more. So he'll at least make some sort of
showing unless he picks up a knock between then
and there. You get Marky Barr out there and then
Danny Rivera. Let's see if the way to beat Bob
Lilly is play Bob Lilly's players against him.
That's the problem. There we go. That's our summer
transfer signing. Just sign the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
What's the Starship Troopers like? To beat the
Bugs. You must think like the Bugs. You must
become the Bugs. Anyways, I think that's our
show. That's where we're going to end it. Any
final thoughts? Any final words before we catch
up next Thursday for our regular stuff? I'm excited
for the team to take another shot at glory in
the Jägermeister Cup. It's my new favorite competition
here now. I hope you bring Jäger shots to the
guild. And then I hope you get banned for bringing
outside alcohol into the establishment. Nah,
I'm not going to do that. It is unfortunate that
we don't have any tailgate where we can do Jaeger
shots and I can inflict those upon people. Just
reach out to Derek from the guild and see if
he can bring a bottle in, courtesy of Duffy and
the rest of the guild partnership. Speaking of
drinks, by the way, I've been crushing this Hawaiian
Sun Passion Juice. And it's delicious. I haven't
had one of these in a long time. It's like my
Capri Sun from when I was a kid here. But then
I just looked at the label. It's only 2 % fruit
juice. So I don't know what we're doing here.
I don't know what's in this can, but I've drank
like three of them now. So it's a problem. All
right, let's just wrap this up. So everyone,
what's going on? I was going to say, can you
do this off the cuff? Yeah, go for it. I got
it. I pulled it up from another document. professional
over here. As for as many times, I think I'd
memorize this by now, but make sure to check
our friends over at the blazing musket for all
of your new England soccer coverage, including
RFC. And that's at the blazing musket .com. You
can follow us on Twitter threads, Tik TOK and
blue sky at RFC podcast. We have an Instagram
at raising anchor and there's that website raising
anchor podcast .com. Anchors up, everybody. We'll
catch you all on Thursday. Anchors up, and don't
forget to keep writing those questions in for
the next time. See you later.