You're listening to Raising Anchor on 990 WBOB.
Welcome to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show with
Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey. Your home for
news, analysis, and everything Rhode Island FC.
Each week they take you inside the locker room,
inside the tactics, and inside the storyline
shaping R -I -F -C. Here's Matt and Jason. Rhode
Island FC return to action after not playing
a competitive match in 21 days against Orange
County Soccer Club as they head in from the Western
Conference. It's a team that Rhode Island has
not seen since its initial season in 2024 and
they currently sit at the top of that Western
Conference. Can RAFC pick up back where they
left off before the break and get their first
result in club history against the side, making
fireworks of their own, or will coach Danny Stone
of Orange County have different plans as we celebrate
the nation's 250th birthday? Jason, we're right
in the middle of World Cup cycle. I mistakenly
set this up right in the middle of that incredible
Croatia -Portugal game. Hashtag not a World Cup
soccer show, but it's going to be difficult not
to talk about it. How are you doing, my friend?
Oh man, that was a game. That was exhausting.
Was a very crazy into this game and it's been
a very long World Cup It feels like a lifetime
since we've done a podcast like I've seen a thousand
games Yeah, I mean we will talk a little bit
here in a second Obviously, we've got people
coming in that are attending the live show here
from that Portugal Croatia result But you know,
I think a lot of people Jason might be wanting
to have a conversation and it's not which legendary
Real Madrid player was kind of hanging up their
boots to their international career tonight Instead
it's comparing the goals and who did it better
between Ronaldo and Rio Hope Gunn, the RAFC alumni
legend as he opened his Detroit City FC account
in a 1 -1 current draw with Birmingham Legion
FC. Who did it better? I admit I was too busy
watching the Portugal game. I did not see Hope
Gunn's goal. I'll check that game later out after
maybe, you know, all these other World Cup games
when we do the next scouting report for Detroit
or Birmingham. Yeah. Yeah. Remember that game
had a little bit of consequence. If Birmingham
does get a result, we could see them potentially
jump us and drop us in the table settings while
we're talking live. So we'll kind of keep an
eye on that. And when we get to the table settings,
maybe we'll have an accurate snapshot. But getting
quickly and I do mean quickly into this World
Cup overall thoughts and impressions so far,
I think this has been the best World Cup ever.
Yeah, I mean in in the modern era here it's hard
to argue against that obviously the last final
Argentina France, maybe one of the best World
Cup games ever So, you know, I think we'll have
to see how the tournament kind of pans out I
mean last last night we saw USA knockout Bosnia
and Herzegina at the same time. How dare they
make us play two countries at the same time like
that? So I did one goal count against one and
one the other. So we beat two teams, one nil.
Is it like an aggregate from that? Which one
did we get the red card against then, right?
By the way, a couple questions came in in the
mail bag about that. That's a red card, right?
Like we don't need to have that discussion. It
unfortunately is. I think the problem is if you
look at the way that this tournament has been
reffed. It probably would be more like a yellow
because it's been it's been one of those tournaments
where they're kind of letting them play if you
will With the exception of the first game where
the ref was maybe a little red card happy We
haven't really seen much since then and for the
ref to go that long without carding anybody and
Then to like go back and retro walk retroactively
immediately go straight to red felt kind of harsh
Hear me out because everyone's comparing it to
the messy red that didn't get called We retro
the messy red as well. Gives Cape bird an even
better chance to advance in the round 16. It's
a win win. There we go. Can't hate it. What's
been your favorite match so far of the knockout
round besides the US game? Or did we just watch
it five seconds ago? I mean that that was a good
one. We disagreed at the end of that match. about
whether or not contact was made by the Croatian
attacker. I still don't think the angles are
not conclusive enough for VAR to make it clear
and obvious in my opinion. You disagree with
me, but hey, sometimes we're not going to be
on the same page about that. Croatia was robbed.
I'm just going to say it right now. I mean, I,
you know, we wouldn't be doing that as this podcast
actually right now because we'd still be watching
the extra time if that would happen. I mean,
I kind of was, I didn't really have any skin
in the game. I was open to any either team kind
of progressing and just kind of here for the
enjoyment. Um, but it's one of those things where,
you know, I, I see it and unfortunately is probably
the right call. Um, so maybe the last for the
record, but everyone that doesn't know Jason
was, is a Real Madrid fan. So of course he's
going to root for CR seven there on that one.
No, no. I mean, Modric. Also, Real Madrid legend
there. So I mean, if you're saying I'm a stan,
I like, you know, which side do I pick? Do you
have either one of their kits in your in your
locker? No. Okay, just checking. I want to get
really quickly into the last bit of FIFA, you
know, news and having a conversation. Last time
we did one of these shows, which feels like it
was over a month ago, we talked about the new
rules and some of the changes that were going
to be experienced in this World Cup. Overall
thoughts, how have you felt about those so far?
Have they had a tremendous impact on the game,
either negatively or positively? Because the
most common question, and we're just going to
answer it now, is our feelings and thoughts on
the hydration break. Overall, I'm curious, how
have you seen this tournament unfold by the new
changes that FIFA's put in? So I've so far liked
the rural changes. I think the hand covering
the mouth one is hilarious. I love seeing players
get sent off for that. We've seen it twice so
far in in the most recent Mexico game and then
we also saw Miguel Morrone From Atlanta United
fame, you know gets sent off to that was hilarious
But yeah the commercial breaks like let's just
be honest, you know, I mean to be fair There
is a heatwave going on right now in the East
Coast. It was it was very unpleasant outside
today so unpleasant almost the entire week like
we were at Gillette for the paraguay germany
game and that we were consuming adult beverages
just to stay alive in that heat so i listen the
hydration breaks i look at them as if you've
had a lot to consume their perfect restroom stops
then along the way i the hydration breaks i just
think everyone's gonna be used to it Some people
actually have talked and reached out to us and
said they like how it stifles the momentum. It
can change the direction. If a team is starting
to struggle, they can kind of change shape. I
don't really think you're going to get a lot
of tactical wizardry out of those breaks. So
far, the only break that I've seen, I think that
actually had a kind of an impact was in the England
game right now in that second half where they
came back and scored those two goals or I guess
second quarter of the fourth quarter. I guess
if you will, I don't know. We're in the quarters
now with football. Yeah, exactly. But I do like
what I what I have loved the most though is the
injury time like they are reducing that so significantly
everyone's so afraid to be off the pitch for
30 seconds to a minute or even longer depending
on the refs pension for how much time they want
to you know deliver there I have like the change
of speed on getting players off the pitch and
also like outside of serious injuries and of
course like head -to -head I have, I have enjoyed
watching players just like kind of get back up
and get back into the game. But I think overall
it's all moving in the right direction. And I
just think for those of you that hate hydration
breaks, I'm not really a fan, but they're not
going to go away because FIFA probably just made
$2 billion in advertising revenue for them. So
getting back into Rhode Island FC specific news
while on break, I didn't even know this was a
thing, Jason. Did you know that that USL is now
assigning mid -season nominations and awards?
I mean, I guess they do. I just I we've also
our team has been on break so I feel like we've
just kind of been removed and being enjoying
the World Cup here and forget that oh yeah I
guess all the other teams that are like decided
to just keep playing for some reason. JJ Williams
nominated for that midseason player of the year
which maybe that's not the right way to say it
but didn't win it it actually instead went to
French forward Issan Sako from Phoenix Rising
But Williams is in good company. He's amongst
Saco, Darren Smith after he scored what four
goals recently against one of the teams out here.
Was it Sporting Jacks that he scored four goals
against? Was it five goals? I just know he scored
a ton of goals in that game. Also, though, alongside
last year's Golden Boot winner and Peter Wilson.
Overall thoughts on seeing a Rhode Island FC
player, but specifically JJ, get the nod. It's
good to see him get a nomination there. He has
had a very good season so far. I think unfortunately
he's losing out here just because of pure numbers.
If you go take a look at soccer, I think it's
what? Nine and four or something. So it's a little
bit ahead of JJ there. Maybe the break doesn't
help us either that we're not getting eyes on
us. I'm not sure how this is voted by fans or.
So the popularity vote I got the league nominates
based on stats and Williams overlying numbers
still earned him a spot on this list He's had
a contribution every 89 .6 minutes record league
-high 41 shots so far in this mid -season period.
So what you're telling me is Rhode Island LFC
fans have been enjoying the World Cup and not
paying attention to mid -seasons and awards?
That or just Phoenix Rising, like, you know,
they put a QR code out one of their games that
everybody scan this and vote for your boy. I
mean, think about the MLS All -Stars when, like,
players get nominated and some clubs don't want
their player to go because they don't want to
get injured. So they don't let it vote. But others
are like, hey, we need the publicity. We need
the social traffic, stuff like that. So, yeah,
no, Williams very much there. And I do think,
to your point, that It is a numbers game right
now, and that's going to be a large conversation
for a lot of the underlying stats. We continue
to talk about it. I mentioned it on Orange and
Black Soccer cast. We were on their show earlier
this week. Go check that out. It's in our socials.
If you want to listen where they're just interviewing
us to learn about Rhode Island of Sea. But I
think, yeah, when you look at the Williams impact,
he just hasn't had the same amount of games like
those three, four extra games really could catapult
him to the top of the stack. And you'd love to
see it. Yeah. Fun fact here. He's actually one
goal away from cracking the top 10 goal scores
since 2020 so So they're that's that's an insane
stat now I didn't do any graphic packages for
tonight because again World Cup, but like I have
the list here since 2020 the top 11 So Williams
right now sitting in 11th with 48 goals the list
in front of him Cal Jennings, 82 goals. Augie
Williams, who's been in this league for like
15 years at 69. Russell Ciceroni, 65. Philip
Goodrum, 63. Manuel Arteaga, 56. Albert Dekua,
55. Wilson Harris, now going to the New England
Revolution, by the way. He's at 53. Renato de
Moose, 50. Sebastian Guanzani, 50. And Luis Solnyak,
49. That is a list of lists when you want to
talk about the all time since we've moved to
this more modern pro era here. That's a good
list to be a part of, and he's just now one goal
away from passing Luis Sonia. Yeah, crazy to
see Cal Janes at the top there, and he's not
even the league anymore. At least not right now.
We might talk about him a little bit later. Maybe
he will be coming back to the team anymore. Crazy,
crazy. Well, then let's jump into these table
standings and just break it down. Walk us through
where we're at with the with the Eastern Conference
and the Western Conference. Yeah. The us all
championship table continues to tighten as the
calendar turns to July. And while there wasn't
wholesale movement kind of across the standings
this past week, there were a few clubs that made
significant statements in the Eastern conference.
Charleston battery strengthened their hold near
the top after another victory while Detroit city
of C and Louisville city remained firmly in the
race behind conference leading Tampa Bay. Yeah,
I mean if you think about we keep talking about
the tightness of this race Especially again those
games in hand Rhode Island still outside the
playoff line could have even been lower In fact,
let's just do a check -in on that game between
Birmingham and Detroit City right now still tied
in the 76th minute here but very much in control
of their destiny here and in where they want
to be in that postseason glory if you really
think about it still sitting in that ninth position
meanwhile Orange County Soccer Club where is
this team Ben Jason not on my radar I knew they
were a good team I knew they were a competent
team did not know they were a top of the table
having climbed the summit kind of team eclipsing
San Antonio FC last week after finding victories
against Miami FC and Las Vegas Lights in these
last two weeks ahead of the mental health break.
Behind them, Oakland Roots, they're still sitting
in that top three. Ryan Martin doing incredible
things there. Kolo Spiggs, New Mexico United
trying to get back into that upper half, but
it's very much right now a San Antonio and Oakland
Roots and FC Tulsa and an Orange County fun fight
at the top. Points -wise though, back to the
East if we're going serious here for a second.
31 points Tampa Bay. We're not talking about
them anymore. We know what that looks like. They're
running away with Charleston battery at 26. Three
wins for Rhode Island puts them firmly in fourth
place right now, and that still gives them a
competitive edge to compete for as much as third,
second, third or fourth here. So again, it's
really anyone's game at this time. Yeah, and
we've talked about this for a while, but coming
to one of the biggest stories here for our FC
is the their position in the standings. Ninth
place is not going to jump off the page, you
know, but played the least amount of matches
around. We have to keep talking about that, right?
Yeah. And so obviously you have to win your game
in hand, but, you know, a win against the Western
Conference leaders, which we do like to play
good, play well, I should say against, you know,
top opponents. I think that could really give
us a boost into that second half of the season
here. Yeah, and so we'll talk about that here
in the head -to -head. Obviously, this game this
weekend, for a lot of reasons, is going to kind
of be a test against the league's current standard
bearer, if you will, on the western side of things.
But let's get into the head -to -head before
we go to break. Yeah, and so despite both clubs
enjoying recent success in the USL Championship,
these organizations have crossed paths only one
time. Orange County claimed that first meeting
in Southern California back in 2024. courtesy
of a goal from Bryce Jameson X LA Galaxy player
there. So Saturday night marks Rhode Island FC's
first opportunity to even the all time series
there. We don't get to play the West Coast teams
too often. Sometimes the way our schedule works
out, we sometimes only get to see them once a
year. So this is the first time they're come
out and visit us. Yeah, I mean we didn't even
see them in 2025 to your point. And I think last
year they didn't do well. if i remember we didn't
so it would have been a better year to play that
would have been the year to have them etc but
then again sometimes we don't play down to our
opponents. I don't know. They got a result against
Miami just this last week. So that is something
we are still searching for to find. We've got
to go to break and when we return, we're going
to talk about how RFC kicks the tires and lights
the fires to get ready for their first game in
21 days. Don't go anywhere. It's the raising
anchor soccer show. Thank you for listening to
tonight's broadcast powered by Sprout Coworking.
For all your business needs, large or small,
visit sproutcoworking .com. Powering 990 WBOB,
that's sproutcoworking .com. Now, let's get back
to the raising anchor soccer ship on 990 WBOB
with Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey. Back here
on the raising anchor soccer show talking about
this Rhode Island of seaside now They're returning
from a lengthy break It felt like it was almost
structured between an additional bye week the
mental health break sprinkling in some World
Cup time We saw several of the players at many
of the World Cup watch parties They were enjoying
their are and are but listen this team was heading
into a fantastic Direction right before the break.
They were two two and one in their last five
games in that stretch The biggest takeaway though
the goals 10 goals in the last five games They've
outscored their opponents 11 to 3 in the last
six this team has started to come alive And then
the one you see coming off of loud and we called
them the boogeyman for almost three seasons now
And they completely route completely dismantle
that loud inside with it I'd argue a starting
11 that maybe we thought was a little unconventional
Especially with some of the shakeup and some
departures from a recall this team seems like
they're doing everything right. And then we pump
the brakes. Yeah. And I think that's the encouraging
part, though, is we've seen this Rhode Island
team create chances consistently, especially
when they're playing with confidence. The attack
has looked dangerous from multiple areas of the
field. The question has been kind of finding
that balance between the margin of the championship
is very small, right? Even the bottom teams on
any given day can give you a fight. You score
four goals one week and then the next defensive
lapse. cost you a game and we saw that with Birmingham
Legion we saw just the 1 -1 draw against Tampa
Bay and then again we've seen us drop points
against those opponents that shouldn't really
have been dropped which have seen us and even
more could you imagine Jason if we had won the
sporting jacks game and we had won the Miami
game as most opponents have been running through
those teams we would be sitting in fifth place
with three games in hand like that is a much
easier final climb to crack the top four it's
an exciting time but again you go back even further
beyond loud and the three nil win against Westchester
that's also for me a sign of a team that you're
supposed to put away you're supposed to show
that you can demonstrate that you can put games
to bed Brooklyn FC another great example of that
but then you lose to Indy 11 and that's a team
where you start asking yourself they're gonna
be a contender they're gonna be a team that's
gonna fight for maybe that final home playoff
spot similar to what we saw in season one with
this club or at least just we're gonna have to
go through them potentially in some postseason
play that's not a team where you want to see
us not get a result as well so bit of a not i
won't say a mixed bag this team is consistently
doing better and better each week but we've also
seen this team struggle early on in the seasons
do we think we're past that hurdle yet It's hard
to say like I mentioned though a few moments
ago like our FC does Play well to to the top
opponents, right? We took the game to Louisville,
even though we didn't end up winning. We got
a 1 -1 draw against Tampa Bay Not many teams
in the league can say that especially what do
they have like 39 points or something like 36
but who's counting? Yeah, so now the challenges
though can't can we do that consistently and
especially against an Orange County side that
You know looks very strong here in regards to
to their offense. You know everything I've been
told about Orange County everything of the tape
I've watched it does not make sense to me I keep
continuing to get told this team is a tight compact
organized discipline team that doesn't give up
a lot of goals, but They do give up goals and
they give up goals pretty consistently across
the entirety of their season so far. So I'm not
sure if this is going to be a low scoring affair
or if the floodgates are going to open one direction
or another, but right now the direction for Rhode
Island FC, the mandate if you will, it's super
simple. Get back to that momentum you were at
21 days ago and just continue on, you know, keep
on keeping on as they say, and they should be
able to really put to test Orange County. Unfortunately,
media day is tomorrow, so I don't have the availability
reports. We'll probably just post those live
when we get to the training sessions. Right now,
we have to go off of the last availability report
we had, which was Omidy Jope and CJ Williams
still listed as questionable at that time. I
can imagine that if those players are not back,
if there's a new set of players we find out that
aren't available, so be it. But if those players
aren't back, that would have been two months.
of no availability, like there's a serious longer
term injury between those players then. Yeah,
that would be surprising not to see a pretty
much, let's say 99 % healthy squad, with the
exception of just maybe something that happened
in training in the last week or two. You know,
kind of looking here ahead to what we think this
projected lineup is going to be here. I assume
we're going to have Koke Vegas in that as we
always do. Okay, you know shocked will be the
first time Vegas isn't in that like there will
just be panic in the streets because it's like
what happened Is he okay? Yeah, I think there'll
be be concerns when we don't see him at least
this season um Nick Scardina Creafy y 'all Frank
no Darcy Kind of making up the the back line
there all day your Sanchez probably as well probably
to their Clay Holstad and Hugo Baccarac as you're
holding midfielders with Joe J. Aquezera, Amos
Shapiro -Thompson, and Augustin Rodriguez as
kind of your attacking midfielders with JJ Williams
up top. Now the last time we saw the starting
11 for this side against Loudon, Aldear Sanchez
not in the lineup. Instead, it was Frank Modarci
out on the left side, Grant Stoneman in the center.
Do we think that that experiment will continue
or are we going to get back to what we know?
And that is a Sanchez on the left or is there
a case to be made that stoneman in a game like
this? Because if if there's one player that knows
the OCSC, at least particularly the system changes,
they go through a lot of turn and burn like a
lot of championship sides. But stoneman was a
loyal man for a very long time. There's a between
him and and Koke Vegas. There's a lot of grief
between those two sides is like a local rivalry.
Is stoneman maybe a better choice on the night?
I could see it, but I, I would prefer the creativity
that having all day or Sanchez brings to the
team. Let's just kind of how I would line up
with it. Kano is going to Kano. So, and then,
you know, I think the big surprise on the last
lineup we saw too, Afonso relegated to the bench.
He had been on the bench a couple of times now,
whether that was through, uh, Pring's tires,
cup action, but now Augustine Rodriguez playing
out on the wing. and then Amos Shapiro -Thompson
occupying that central midfielder role. One,
I mean, we've seen the goals. We've seen the
combinations. They all came, ironically, from
the substitutes in the last game. But do we want
to see more of that, or is it time for Afonso
to reclaim the left wing? What would you want
to see? Is it the combination of Amos Shapiro
-Thompson and Pitti, or is it Pitti back in the
middle with Afonso, or is Pitti the one that
gets relegated to the bench? I think right now
it's still AST and Augustine. until leo proves
that maybe he kind of deserves that spot i think
he got got a lot of minutes earlier on there
and he had some we we kept arguing like being
apologists is like the goals coming the goals
coming the goals coming and it kind of They've
been, you know, few here and there, but I don't
think he's convinced. I mean, he's back to back
goals as a substitute. Is that not enough? He's
I know he's only got three and, you know, 10,
11 appearances. Is that his curse? It's the Joe
Brito effect, right? Like I should have asked
him when he was just on the show for the interview.
I mean, it was recorded like three weeks earlier,
but like I should have asked him, how does he
feel about changing his name to Joe Brito? I
mean, you put him on in the sub and he brings
on energy and he scores a goal, but then you
start him and you just don't get the same effect.
I mean, he's obviously going to get opportunities.
It's a long season. We have plenty of games in
hand, so there's a lot of opportunity for this
to kind of change. And Kano's very fluid with
his lineups. One thing I learned in that interview
is Afonso has every... expectation to use the
championship as a stepping stone to get back
into either division one whether that's with
Rhode Island or back into the MLS like his is
he said himself his time his story in MLS has
not ended yet so I don't know how how content
he will be if he's relegated to that you know
that substitute striker role. I think we're going
to see that be one of the cases we need to watch
and monitor through the second half of the season
is what exactly does Afonso's dominance and his
role look like inside the squad? If that's our
starting 11 then, Jason, who do we think the
X -Factors are on the match against this OCSC
side? I don't know if it's going to be one specific
player. I think it can be a bit of a double -edged
sword, but we just had a... pretty sizable rest
that a lot, not a lot of other teams have. And
I think that can kind of rejuvenate the squad
to give them that maybe momentum to push into
the rest of the squad. At the same time, you
could argue that it kind of breaks on momentum,
but we're coming up against a OCSTC team who's
been on the road for quite some time now. So
I think in this case, I think it can play to
our favor. I don't disagree with that. I think
also too, when you look at the lack of playing
time and from what I've been told, they've still
been playing scrimmages against international
clubs have been coming in. So we knew about the
Bermuda one. Someone told me they played Cape
bird, but I have no way of validating that. And
I didn't even reach out. So I probably shouldn't
be saying that without confirmation, but I've
heard that one. I've also heard teams. Trust
me, bro. I've also heard teams around New England
have been playing other teams that have been
flying in that didn't even qualify for World
Cup, but like they were on it like breaks and
they're like, hey, we just want to keep our guys
fit. And so, yeah, I mean, that makes sense.
You know, especially the North American teams
that are still playing in active windows, even
if there's a pause or not, they still have to
find competitive time. I wouldn't be surprised
if like. Brooklyn F .C. drove up or we drove
down there and they just had a scrimmage at some
park field and it was all hush hush. You know,
like again, those are the things that matter.
But having said that, there is still going to
be that first almost preseason jitter of like,
you know, when players need that first game to
really get back into it, grow their legs again.
I think we may see a little bit of that. Like
you're just coming back a little lethargic. You
partied too hard. Your vacation was too peaceful.
We tend to start games slow anyways. Right, and
when you look at where the goals have been coming,
you look not just in the half, because we have
scored so many in the second half as a team,
but then you look at who's been making those
contributions lately. It's been Noah Fisan, it's
been Dwayne Atkinson, it's been Leo Afonso. Those
are the guys that are going to come in in the
second half of these games to either get Rhode
Island FC out of their rut or close the games
down. I think that's the X factor here, more
than one particular player. I think that those
three guys really have a spotlight on them to
do some significant damage, especially considering
how stingy we can be in those first half productions
at times. So I wouldn't be surprised if we don't
see the fireworks to the second half. And yes,
sir, that was a pun because, of course, it is
the Fourth of July with the fireworks show. We've
got to go to break. And when we return, we're
going to talk all things about Orange County
Soccer Club and how they may be a thorn in our
side here on this Fourth of July match. Don't
go anywhere. It's the Raising Anchor Soccer Show.
Fans, as the weather becomes more and more unpredictable,
be sure to check out 990 WBOB's weather page
for all your temperature, storm, and travel info.
Stay prepared for whatever Mother Nature has
in store with the 990 WBOB weather page. Now,
let's get back to the raising anchor soccer ship
on 990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey.
All right back here on the raising anchor soccer
show and getting into this OCSC side They've
quietly put together probably one of the strongest
first halves of the USL Championship season so
far Danny stone side Entering this stretch of
the campaign sitting amongst the top of all these
other teams I'm not sure I'd have to go back
and listen to the rest of the pundits on where
they had rated this team in the preseason with
the acquisitions we know Orange County is very
much a Academy feeder team to move talent on
to Europe and other places You know, they've
never been a team to ignore It's a little bit
harder maybe for Rhode Island because we see
them so infrequently but it's never been a team
that like sits or echoes like I think of the
top and my mind instantly always wanders to like
teams like New Mexico United teams like Sacramento
Republic and I know neither one of those teams
are in the top four right now, but like that's
Orange County doesn't have that that luster just
yet. I'd say there's a lack of it if you will
but What a balanced team this has been one of
the fewest recorded goals against in the league
their offense is clicking in all the ways you'd
want to see after a 1415 matches in the championship
and they're like you said earlier Jason They're
doing all of it on the road right now Yeah, and
I think the reason and similar I would not think
of them as maybe one of the perennial top teams
is that it's the consistency But that's what
they've got going on this year. That's made them
so difficult to play against They're very comfortable
defending. They can be very compact before quickly
kind of breaking in transition. But they've got
the quality to control the possession as well
when the game calls for it so that there's some
flexibility there with them. And that's produced
wins against several playoff caliber opponents
so far. It's keeping them near the top of the
conference table despite a demanding schedule
from them. Even after early exit from the US
Open Cup and a disappointing USL Cup campaign.
They've kept their focus squarely on league play
where they've continued to collect results, and
even now they come away to us. They then have
to go away to Hartford a few days later, so it's
kind of a tough schedule for them. I mean, we
have a little bit of a tight schedule ourselves.
We'll talk about that in just a second. But I
agree. I mean, and again, the challenge here
feels like it's very obvious for this team. On
one hand, Orange County is at the peak. They're
at the hottest that they could possibly be. So
it's a good pressure test. Maybe it's the wrong
time to test how their momentum has carried them
versus us needing to rebuild that. But either
way, it's going to build confidence. Even if
this game ends up as a draw, holding one of the
hottest teams, then you've done it to Tampa.
then you've done it to Orange County like there's
a lot of room here to kind of pat yourself on
the back should this game not be a win in Rhode
Island FC's favor it's just you just don't want
to see a loss you don't want to see a systemic
breakdown of all the hard defensive work that
this Rhode Island side has put in over this last
10 -11 games especially considering you know
probably not making it out of pranks now we're
probably you know not going to see us get easily
past some of these high -flying teams like Tampa
Bay. Maybe we'll find some revenge against Louisville
when they come back our way. But this is an opportunity
to really test the mettle of the squad. And I
still think there's fatigue. I mean, Orange County's
on their own mental health break right now, and
they're coming in. So they've had a week off,
and they have a stretch of games, but they still
have to start with us, and they've never been
here. And that has to say something. The Orange
County guys from Orange & Black, they're like,
what does the stadium do? like as an impact and
it's like well for the fans it's great for our
team it's great too but for some reason also
the opponents when they show up and they play
in such an incredible setting it kind of gets
them you know dialed up to an 11 as well so it
doesn't always work out the way we think it would
i still continue to think we need to break the
ac and the visitor locker rooms and really make
them sweat a little bit more but you know i nevertheless
i digress so we're going to change things up
here because We got some feedback and for the
listeners, if you disagree with this, we're in
an experimental phase, let us know, send us some
comments, show us some love or hate. But we found
that a lot of the times we are making guesses
or educated guesses around the player formations
for the away team. And the players, they might
be there and they're not usually right. I mean,
we're almost never right with Rhode Island side.
They're very rarely out of the way. They're very
they're very rarely correct unless we have a
guest who can speak to it. And then that's a
different story. But it's us, you know, pontificating
what we think. We kind of think it might be a
waste of time for you guys to hear us name the
starting eleven and the formation that they might
pick on the day. So instead, what we want to
do is just highlight who we think really are.
the X Factor players, whether they play or not.
These are the players making waves for Orange
County. So if you like this change to the format,
let us know. And if you don't like it, you want
us to go back to the other one. Also let us know.
But Jason, open us up with who's the player that
you did some deep reconnaissance on and who might
be an X Factor for Orange County? Yeah, it's
going to be Chris Haggard here. They're their
playmaker. Everything kind of tends to flow through
him in the attacking third, whether he's operating
a 10 or kind of dropping deeper to collect the
ball. He's a player who dictates Orange County's
rhythm. It's dangerous because he doesn't need
much space to unlock a defense with a through
ball or switch the point of attack. I think to
kind of, you know, watch after him, Rhode Island's
going to need to kind of stay compact between
the midfield and the back line there. Don't give
him a lot of room to operate. Prevent him from,
you know, turning into open space. Don't allow
ourselves to get countered there. Kind of force
him to play sideways or backwards rather than
forward. Yeah, I think I heard on a broadcast
of haggard is comfortable Orange County is comfortable
and I really like that because when a player
sets the tone like a Modric for Croatia when
you think about it, right like when that happens
the team the momentum carries through a playmaker's
decisions and how they want to set pace so i
think i agree with that i i cheated on this i
should have i should have warned you i took the
low -hanging fruit here in uh bazini because
of course we're going to talk bazini on this
show because why didn't he play for rod Island
fc ever um but listen bazini it was lighting
up in university of vermont he's lighting it
up with uh south georgia tormenta last season
in the usl1 it should be no surprise that he
is one of the hottest attacking players coming
out of the western conference especially in these
most recent weeks uh he is a player if you haven't
watched anyone before he thrives when his team
is moving quickly like you win the ball you transition
and go i would say that his build -up or his
running into the game is not as good as his ability
to make quick decisions. Take a look at net and
just find the back of the net when he shoots.
He's an incredible player. He has a lot of athleticism.
He loves to make challenging runs. Again, when
the ball's in transition and it's at pace. And
he can just absolutely punish back lines if they're
caught unaware. That's one of the biggest scariest
things for me. Again, we talked about Will Rhode
Island fall asleep in those first five, 10, 20
minutes. Krifa, yeah, was going to have to be
on his A game trying to lock down Bazzini in
this case because we don't want to see him remind
us why we didn't sign him back in 2024. As far
as what Rhode Island is going to do to contain
him, you've got to be really selective in how
you are moving the game and winning those second
balls in the midfield. You can't be turning it
over in the middle field either. That's not something
Rhode Island historically does. Usually we are
pretty good about moving the ball wide. Very
rarely do we go through the midfield, at least
in the central channel, I should say. but that's
going to be a critical one and The other thing,
too, I think that the best way to suppress Bazzini
is and not let him get out there in front is
make him have to defend. And that's something
we've done really good. Recycling the possession
in the opponent's final third, smothering those
those teams where, you know, we're taking shots,
we're sending crosses. Maybe they're not goals,
but then we're collecting possession again. We're
recovering those shots, those efforts and keeping
those teams pinned. You don't want Bazzini to
be able to stretch the back line or get into
spaces where he can take a route one over the
top. So the thing with a player like this, he
just needs one moment and he's going to unlock
the entire match for Orange County that he's
got to be mission one to shut down. Yeah. Last
one here. Uh, kind of a difference maker for,
for OCSE here is Alex Rando, you know, a goalkeeper.
Yeah. Let me always talk about goalkeepers, but
he does deserve it here. Uh, he's been capable
of stealing points with multiple high quality
saves here. Has been one of the more dependable
keepers in the USL championship so far this season.
um you know if they settle for if rfc settles
for hopeful shots from distance you know he's
likely to be able to deal with those so gonna
have to kind of make him uncomfortable here there's
gonna we need to create some traffic in front
of goal you know we have a big team so we know
we can we can kind of do that here aria needs
to generate some second chance opportunities
something that you know a lot of other teams
we've seen do well and rfc Getting better at
it. But Afonso's goal. I mean, that was a second
chance. Yeah, absolutely. But it's something
we've asked for for this team, you know, in previous
seasons, which maybe been lacking a bit. Try
and force and try and force Lando to or Rando,
I should say, to kind of move laterally with
cook combinations rather than just always kind
of being kind of a little more clean and straightforward
there. You know, I think if they can screen him,
make him uncomfortable, challenge him in the
air, don't make don't let him see the first shot.
You could definitely get get at him. We saw in
the going back and watching tape against Las
Vegas You know, they actually they put some goals
up in front of and despite the defense that they
have There are opportunities to score against
this team I'm not convinced they're the real
deal the orange and black guys are saying they
were the real deal But they were going off of
shots against and goals conceded Vegas is not
really a great team right now. I'm not trying
to disrespect them, but Vegas had way too many
dangerous looks for a team that's like supposed
to be shutting down offenses. And Vegas is at
like, they're like ninth in the Western Conference
right now. So like, I'm a little suspicious.
I know we're ninth. So that maybe isn't the best.
Maybe maybe they're like 11th. Where's Monterey
Bay at? All right, moving on. You know, Danny
Stoneman or Danny Stone, excuse me, because he
is not related to Grant Stoneman is kind of a
talisman for Rhode Island to see to not find
success. Famously, He's one of the few coaches
in this league that coach Kano Smith has never
found a victory against. First of his time with
Phoenix Rising when he was at Bern and defeated
us there. And then in his time with Orange County,
is there like, do we need that Ghanaian voodoo
shaman to put a curse on? I mean, the Ghanaians
are here with us in Rhode Island. Do we just
need to ask him to come over and curse Orange
County this weekend? I mean, we thought the same
thing about Loudon. So I. it's something to kind
of watch out for. You know, if we aren't able
to get a result, you know, we can blame it on
on the curse of Danny Stone. You know, if by
the way, that same voodoo shaman has said that
Argentina will not win. He's put all of his good
voodoo on Cape Bird. So do we take that away
from Cape Bird and selfishly use it so that we
win against Orange County? I don't know. I don't
know. But getting serious here for a second.
What are the key takeaways really quickly for
Rhode Island of Sea and how They can get three
points here. I'll go quickly. They got to dictate
tempo at home. It's a home crowd. It's fireworks
night. It can be the 12th man for them. And we
don't want Orange County to play the way that
they want to play. I think they're going to have
to stay disciplined in transition with a player
like the Zini. They're going to be watching,
waiting, looking for those dangerous challenges.
And then it's really down. And we've seen this,
right? We've heard Kano say when they score a
goal. Play for the next five minutes. Well now
i'm going to say the first five seconds after
losing possession May be the most important five
seconds of the night You cannot let this they
are too clinical and they're too quick at moving
the ball to get caught in transition and then
be clinical but I think we we're going to see
more of this because Our our team is no longer
just collecting shots for the sake of collecting
shots They're converting them or they're looking
even more dangerous. They're no longer just sitters
They're no longer just kicked directly at the
keeper. We're starting to see that finesse and
so you know, strikers don't have to be perfect
for 90 minutes. They just have to get one at
the right time, right place. So make that make
the most of it. That's what I've got. Yeah, um,
I think it's gonna be important to win space
around Chris Hager. I mean, you know, we just
talked about how key he is for the team. I think
if we can kind of not necessarily need to man
mark him, but deny him space, don't let him kind
of run at us forcing to go backwards. I think
that's going to be huge for us. Attack the space
behind the fullbacks. I think if we can get Quisera
out down there on the way, if Pitti can get some
space, even Sanchez, I think we can create some
really good opportunities. I think we're going
to need to make set pieces count here. Especially
we just talked about kind of making their goalkeeper
uncomfortable, getting into those spaces, attacking
those second balls. really could give our AFC
a good opportunity to pick up some goals and
hopefully go for all the points here. Yeah, I
mean like you said earlier, they haven't kept
a clean sheet since April 18th. We're going to
find a way to score a goal. They just probably
have to be the first to do it in this match,
whether it's in the first half or deep into the
second, but we've got to go to break and when
we get back we've got everyone's favorite segment.
It's the mail bag here on the raising anchor
soccer show. Now let's get back to the raising
anchor soccer ship. on 990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett
and Jason Carey. All right, back here on the
Raising Anchor Soccer Show with Mailbag. Remember,
you can get your questions, comments, or concerns
for our show. You can reach out to us on any
of the social media handles at Raising Anchor
or at our RFC podcast. You can email us raisinganchorpodcast
at gmail .com or you can just... watch the show
live and send in comments and we'll talk about
them in real time where we don't have time to
prep them because when you send them to us three
weeks ago we get to stew on them for a long time.
Kind of like this first question Jason. Yeah
Ben S says here what are your thoughts on the
Matthew and Dongo deal now that Logan Dorsey
is gone? It seems even worse now that one of
the best young players out there was let go for
peanuts. What was Kano thinking? So, you know,
it's funny, Ben asked this one in person and
I was like, I'm going to add this to the mailbag.
I think he's spot on. I mean, when we thought
of the Logan Dorsey deal, no one was really looking
back in time to preseason when we had let Machu
and Dango go for an undisclosed fee, probably
less than $20 ,000 if we're being completely
honest, to go down to Miami FC. At the time,
Dango had played 72 minutes for the club and
that was when we were You know incapable of fielding
more than 17 people in a squad at a time. So
when you look at it At the time I was like, yeah,
this makes sense. He's uh, he's cameroonian his
cameroonian, you know side friend in in chico
He also left the club. So maybe it was wrong
time wrong place It was always it felt weird
because the club always said this guy is going
to be a real threat This guy's going to be a
big deal at some point in his career, but then
we never see that moment And it's eclipsed by
the fact that we go and get one of MLS Next Pro's
best strikers, so you just don't think about
it at the time. But now you see it, it's like,
okay, we lost Logan Dorsey because he wanted
to leave because Kano wasn't giving him minutes.
It's kind of like, Coach Kano, I'm good with.
General Manager Kano, I'm really good with, like,
when he grabs players, he finds value, he knows
how to get it. But like, when it's keeping these
players, like, how did we not think, like, was
it really worth getting rid of Endongo at that
point? You know, like, no offense to Gogo, but,
like, Ndongo has to be a better upgrade than
that. Should we have really pulled the trigger
on that, knowing that all of our hopes and prayers
were settling in with a loaned player at the
time? It just makes this all feel a little bit
more yucky, because we keep asking ourselves,
Jason, where do we find this next player? Where
do we find this next striker? Well, we had one,
and I didn't realize that we gave him away at
the beginning of the season. Yeah, it's rough,
too, because, you know... We've been blessed.
So here I'm not superstitious, but knock on wood,
but you know, JJ has had some health problems
in the, in the past. So what if he goes down?
What if he has another kid we don't know about
and he just has to go to the birth of his child,
right? Like he's, I think he's working on four
cause he's going to name his fourth child quad,
right? Or is that it? Yeah, that'd be his fourth
child. That was a bad joke. Anyway, moving on
here, Matt H writes in can torn beyond more.
I specifically said, People needed to stop asking
this question. I would love for torn to be on
more, but he's also a very busy young man. He
goes to university. He coaches like a youth team,
like for Chelsea, for Chelsea or something. He's,
he's got a lot to do. He doesn't want to, he's
too cool to hang out with us at the watch party.
So, I mean, it's, we'll, we'll, we'll try and
get as much torn as we can on, but he's got a
lot going on in his world too busy. uh rachel
m says team messy or team rinaldo why are we
doing this rachel like i saw this question come
in it's like this is like asking me what my political
alignments are like you know like what what are
we doing all right i'm right now i'm team kate
bird and that's all you need to know and we already
know that we already know that jason's team rinaldo
so uh next is the goat next i mean messy is the
goat there i said it uh i was always teams latan
now i'm probably team holland like that's that'll
be the next conversation in like one more year
these two players will retire, and it'll be Team
Holland or Team Mbappe? That's probably gonna
be the next, I imagine, one that we would have
the conversation about. So stop living in the
past, Rachel, start living towards the future.
Are you Team Holland or are you Team Mbappe?
Kyle L. writes in, how do we get Vazina from
Cape Verde to sign with this club? I love this
question. I mean, I think that would be a fantastic
publicity thing, I think, considering that Kokei
always starts. Uh, I mean, I, it's also really
weird because was India played in world cup and
has made some really good saves, but at the same
time he is 40 years old. So you know, you can't
get a lot out of them. I think considering the
response we've seen from the Cape Verdean population
in the state makes you really think like, you
don't want to go full MLS, but like, How do you
sign a Cape Verdean player ownership ownership?
There's one Cape Verdean. I know I think he plays
for Columbus. There's one Cape Verdean defender
that I know. I think he plays for the Columbus
crew, but Brad Johnson. Look at me right now,
OK? I don't know how much he wants, but you'll
make it up in Jersey sales alone. If you do it
right now, he's looking for his next club. There's
no rule in the USL championship that we can't
have four keepers. OK, there's no rule. There's
no rule. He does not have to play for us. He
just is looking for a home. Make it make sense.
Get a deal going profit. And you know, maybe
a year after this, he, you know, maybe he becomes
a goalkeeping coach and he stays with his Cape
burning community. I shouldn't have to tell you
how easy this is the best financial decision
you could ever make. Brett Johnson, pull the
trigger. Uh, Andy R says, when do the new England
revolution send down Wilson Harris to us on loan?
there's there's a lot of smart fans they're all
curious there's another one in here about like
loans and stuff and like signings like everyone's
just so hungry for the next player acquisition
because we're almost at that point where world
cup cycle is over and like players start moving
around um wilson harris for those that don't
know famously from louisville city scored a ton
of goals with louisville and then i think he
went to like the israeli premier league or something
like that. I don't know how well he did, but
then he just pops back up on our radars and he
now just recently signed with New England Revolution.
Don't know what role he'll have in that side,
hashtag not an MLS soccer show. But yeah, Revolution,
whenever you're ready to loan out one of your
players, send them down. We have a really good
relationship of giving you back exactly what
you want whenever you want. So just send them
down and we'll give them right back six weeks
later. It'll be fine. Do you have an open cup
game you need to get to? We'll give them to you
right when you need them the most. Who cares
about Rhode Island FC and what they need? Gosh,
I'm a little saucy tonight. This World Cup just
got me. It's because Croatia should have tied
that game anyways. Brad K writes in. Oh, here's
the mood killer, Jason. Sorry I gave you this
question. Attendance seems to be suffering in
the USL right now as every market is down. Do
you think that the USL should have just taken
a break like the rest of the sport? I think.
Hindsight will be 2020 if those attendances continue
to suffer if we as the tournament is starting
to to kind of wind down here, right? We're gonna
get Spread out like fewer games. They're not
gonna be every single day Does the focus shift
and turn back to your local team do attendance
to start to jump with the summer? Is it just
kind of a coincidence? I think it's too soon
to say right now if we go into the summer continue
to have poor attendance results then Maybe there's
also something else to play. Maybe heat, maybe
the economy, you know. First it was the snow
and cold. Now it's the heat. I will say this.
I've heard that the 4th of July game is very
closely approaching the sellout. They may already
be there and they just haven't announced it yet,
or they may need to like get a few more. And
that's a that's a 4th of July where other people
may want to be doing other things like the fact
that it's Pawtucket's fireworks show is also
probably helping, but that's a good boon in at
least Rhode Island of Seas direction to say,
hey, like the warm weather is finally here. we're
in the middle of world cup and you could be anywhere
but you're gonna watch this game with us like
well the games also are before earlier in the
day so you can watch all the world cup games
and still attend rfc right but they would have
had that game at that time for fireworks if like
if the world cup it said hey our world cup game
is at 7 30 at night rhod island still would have
stubbornly had that game at the exact same time
for fireworks so but i agree i think this will
be a good uh pressure test against the rest of
the league and for all intent it sounds like
it's going to be a sellout yeah Alex J. says,
I don't know if you're aware, but Cal Jennings
is a free agent again. Is it realistic that we
could sign him? Should I tell the story about
what I texted you earlier today? Or do you think
that that could get me in trouble with the club?
I don't know what you're talking about. All right,
I'm going to text. I'm going to say it. So no,
I'm not going to say it. Sorry, guys. And that
just sets this up so terribly. Now everyone's
going to think Cal Jennings is coming to Rhode
Island FC. Yes, I am. I am completely aware that
Cal Jennings is a free agent. And I have heard
not through Rhode Island FC contacts, but I have
heard that there is conversations that he possibly
could make a championship return somewhere like
there are. There's a lot of championship squads
right now that would absolutely scoop Cal Jennings
up. That's all I can say. I should just I just
should smile and wave at this point, but Cal
Jennings will most likely. I would say it's a
50 % chance that he's coming to a USL squad.
Or he might be trying to like workshop getting
into an MLS squad where they have needs, but
like don't be surprised if he at least returns
to North America. That was such a weird move
that didn't. pan out at all. So it does. Maybe
he had a Japanese girlfriend. You know, let's
let's let's not judge. Maybe maybe he dresses
like a Jedi. Maybe he's just a big like nerd
and he wanted to get to like the heart of anime
and he needs city pop music or something. Yeah.
And you know, maybe he just wanted to buy a vending
machine like sodas and alcohol at like three
in the morning because he can in Japan. Who are
we to judge? you know hey if he's living his
best life why not maybe he was trying to get
cap tied for japan because he was never going
to make it to the american squad could he still
do that i don't know uh what's the next question
alicia v writes in now that we're in the elimination
rounds who do you think will win the world cup
has your opinion changed um i've before the tournament
i was a little i felt like there was a little
bit of questions in regards to france's let's
say defense i don't think they've been Tested
at all. They're still eviscerating people. I
think they look like they could easily win the
World Cup But I also don't think they played
anyone who's really tested them Until they go
them up against like Argentina or Spain like
someone who can really take it to them. I don't
I Feel like they're probably favorites, but it's
hard to say I kind of had a little more faith
and in Portugal because on paper they have such
good squad and watching them bare. They're on
live support. They just keep scraping by somehow.
Them and Belgium just keep scraping by. Belgium
is tanked. I mean, I actually didn't, I think
before, I did not think that the U .S. would
do this well. I've never seen the U .S. play
this well. Yeah, because they haven't won a knockout
round since 2002. Nobody has. I mean, this is
the most exciting, like, fun U .S. team I've
ever seen play. I enjoy watching them play. I'm
not sitting there thinking, the boys just got
to hold on and scrape for a scrappy header. I
will say this. I said France to win it in our
initial. I said Morocco was my dark horse. The
problem is they're going to run into each other
very quickly here, so I'm going to have to really
sit on one side of the fence with the other.
The team that I quietly am starting to really
keep attention to, Mexico. Mexico doesn't have
stars like Colin or Mbappe or Messi But they
they are so fluid. They are so much fun to watch
that like you can knock out of England Here's
the thing. I think what I am what I do too I
think they're gonna beat England the crazy thing
is I want to know how much of that is the advantage
of Azteca both at its altitude and It's having
90 ,000 home fans in your in your quarter like
obviously the next game in the quarterfinals
would take them to Miami, which is like home
number three for Mexican fans, at least inside
the United States. So, like, it's not a terrible
jump, but, like, they've lived in Azteca for
the last, what, five weeks, and it is an altitude,
and if we complain about Kolo Spigs in that final,
I can't imagine how, you know, these international
countries, these national teams are coming in
and acclimating as quickly as possible. So, but
Mexico has been an incredibly fun team to watch.
I think that's one that you want to keep your
eye on. Can they win it all? Don't know about
that, but it's been a fun team to watch. Yeah,
absolutely. Matt J says here, if you had to compare
players in the RFC roster to countries in the
World Cup, other than the countries they represent,
who would they be? So this is like a personality
to a country or a performance like playing style.
Matthew Gene's question not concise enough. So
I'm going to go off of vibes. I'm just going
to go strictly off of vibes. So from a party
perspective, I don't care. I know this isn't
the way he wants it, but Koke Vegas embodies
Spain. He looks like a Spaniard. He talks like
a Spaniard. He acts like a Spaniard. He must
be a Spaniard, right? He is a Spanish player.
But for the sake of what they're asking, I'm
going to go a little different here. And I feel
like when you look at a player like Clay Holstead,
Clay Holstead to me, not an American player.
He suits his vibe, suits more like a Sweden.
or even like a Belgian team. I feel like Clay
Holstead could tear things up if he was a Belgian
player. It's just vibe checks purely. No, if
you saw him, also Belgian player. We get both
of them onto that team together, magic happens.
Perfect. Don't want any magic to happen. JJ Williams,
by the way, Cape Verdean, because he's a party
and we need to keep that party. If JJ Williams
is Cape Verdean in our population, do you know
how fun that would be? That'd be amazing. The
city would pop. The city would never sleep. We'd
become Vegas 2 .0. Not cocaine Vegas, but Las
Vegas 2 .0. You get it. You get it. How about
you? Do you want to take a shot of this? It's
a very tough question. Yeah, I'm kind of also
not 100 % sure exactly what he's trying to ask
us here. Maybe when we run into him, we can clarify.
So that's a no, by the way. He doesn't want to
answer your question, Matt. Oh, my question then.
Eric N, who's ready for a repeat of the 2014
showdown between the United States and Belgium?
My heart can't take it. Oh, I'm ready. I'm leaving.
I, I do have a lot more confidence in our team,
but also this Belgium team like Portugal for
some reason is just like, it's like, how was
this team getting by? They're really not convincing
anybody. They're just somehow stumbling into
results. We played them not too long ago and
they, and I know it's just a friendly, but they,
they did put the hurt on us. So I, you know,
it's, it's, I, I would have felt probably a little
more confident against Senegal. I feel like Senegal,
despite their good attack, they kind of fall
apart very easily. Whereas Belgium is almost
like if you give them enough of opportunities,
they will build into something cohesive, even
though a lot of times they just look like they're
constantly a shell of like they're less than
the sum of their parts. There's so much talent
on that team, but how do you turn that to anything
that's cohesive? I mean, is it say anything that
we just played Senegal to in that friendly right
before the tournament kicked off? Is that an
advantage or would that have done us a disadvantage
and we actually want this game? We just don't
realize it. I mean, but that's the thing. We
played both of them in the last within the last
few months, so I don't know if that would kind
of either way. It just felt like Senegal was
the more beatable team and somehow they went
up two nil against Belgium. But Belgium is is,
you know. They're both they're bald frauds, too.
So So fun fact you want to take a guess how many
of the players from the 2014 squad? Still remain
with this team. There's an easy one Courtois.
Yep to brune. Yep There's probably like one or
two others I'm forgetting so I'm just gonna say
five Five let's see. So yeah, you're right. You've
got Qatar I can't talk with what that De Bruyne
and then No, that's it. That's the starting population.
Yeah, I mean I see you you've got Lukaku somewhere
in there. Well, he's not used as a starter. So
that's three But yeah, a lot of the other guys
that the defenders there. They're just not there
anymore Yeah, a lot of new blood. So to to team
guess how many from the USA side of things though?
Zero I mean right because it's it really is not
it's not the same generation at all. So Yeah,
that's uh, maybe they'll reactivate tim howard
one last time Hey, if we can have old keepers
for a cape bird, we can have old keepers for
the u .s Uh next question. Yeah samantha are
if you guys were giving out mid -season awards
Who would be your candidates for best new signing
and best defender for this team right now? Uh
best new signing gotta be nix cardina. I think
I think right now he's really showing His case
and then best defender Also next next card, you
know, well, I don't I feel like he hasn't played
as many he hasn't started with the matches I
creepy. Yeah. Yeah, it's gotta be creepy. Yeah
easily Rich W asks has any player impressed you
enough in this World Cup cycle? At the level
of championship play that we should be trying
to get Connor Smith to sign them It's a really
good question. I I've seen Way too many soccer
matches in the last three, three weeks. Um, but
the thing is what I've, this has been a very
exciting world cup, but we were talking about
this earlier off, off pod, but like, I don't
know if I've really seen a player announce himself.
It's very much like the players who we thought
they were are good. It turns out they're very
good. So you see messy Holland in a bop, a putting
up numbers. I mean, even Ronaldo, not as much,
but he's He's come up clutch here with a penalty
and a few goals there Oly say, you know did very
well for Byron get turns out. He's also very
good for friends, too I mean you could look at
and this is the problem to his championship level,
right? So you look at to Vazina I mean that would
probably if we're looking at any championship
level players You'd have to look at the probably
the Cape Verdean team and the Curacao team are
the only teams That would probably have players
that we could actually look at and realistically
have any chance of going for. And Miami has half
of the Curacao players, so... Yeah, so I mean...
What about Lukaku? We could get Lukaku in, right?
He's not doing much these days. Alright, Ronaldo's
41 now, right? He wants to... Does it count if
he scores a bunch of goals in the U .S. Championship?
Doesn't he want to own the team? He wants to
get to 1 ,000, right? Yeah. Brett Johnson, again,
here's another question for the night for you.
Just give Ronaldo, sell Ronaldo half of the controlling
interest in the club. I'm sure Michael parkhurst
and everyone else will be fine with it and let
him be a player owner for like a year You know
turn this entire town portuguese and it'll be
fine All right. Well, that's great mailbag. Thanks
for all of you guys. It's fun Don't forget to
get your questions in each week always a blast
talking to everyone. Let's get this Let's get
this let's let's get the show home Jason It's
been a long night and there's more soccer to
happen here in just a few minutes What's the
ref report looking like for this game ahead?
Yeah Head ref is going to be J .C. Griggs. We've
gotten assistant referees of Ian McKay and Marcus
Moss with the fourth official of Gurren Dolgen.
And a reminder as you get to this game, it will
be a fantastic evening for soccer on the Seekonk
River. Temperatures in the low 80s. The rain
has all moved. into later into the week. So we're
going to have a sunny weekend for the first time
that I can remember. Tailgating does open at
4 .30 with the rest of parking at 5 .30. Gates
to the stadium open at 6 .30 p .m. for that 7
.30 kickoff. And don't forget to stay for the
fireworks after the match. If you can't make
it because you have obligations somewhere else
or you don't want to go when it's warm and you
only enjoy rainy games, so you're going to watch
it from the comfort of your home or somewhere
else, you can catch the action on MyRT. or WPRI
12 plus app and of course you can always get
it on ESPN plus or listen along with Tom and
Nick on 790 the score Tom has been on every single
like like World Cup broadcast that I've seen
on my TV lately I think he's trying to make the
jump into we have to look at his face when he
talks and not just hear his voice inside our
ears So it's good to see him putting some work
in on that side Who do you got for Algeria, Switzerland
that drops in 30 minutes? You know what? There's
a guy that's been on. He's he's like blowing
up on TikTok and Instagram. He basically shows
up on his live wearing a kit and whichever kit
he's wearing. That team does not win. He is like
now predicted the last 10 matches in a row since
South Korea like got knocked out and like he's
just gotten them all right. Or I guess he's gotten
them all wrong. So like people are like sabotaging
other nations teams by sending this guy like
actual kits. People are like offering to pay
him money to not say their team and but he is
and they're all live. He's not like doing both
and like he's just like if you wanted to do sports
betting for the first time in your life and I'm
not saying to just go find that dude's feed.
Listen to which team he's saying will win and
then just do the opposite. So. I think for the
fun of it, I think it's going to be Switzerland,
but it'd be fun to see Algeria get it upset.
We need one more upset here. Another Paraguay
team kind of style. You know, we need an upset.
Okay. So Riyadmar is masterclass. He's only like
35, right? He can do it. If anyone can do it,
it'll be him. How about you? What do you got?
I think Switzerland probably has got it, but
you know, so far this World Cup has been wild.
So got to stay tuned to see what happens. One
for the ages. All right, everyone. It's been
fun as always. Thanks for joining us. We'll catch
you soon. Anchor's up. Anchor's up. You've been
listening to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show.
You can follow the show on Twitter, Reds, Blue
Sky, and TikTok at RISC Podcast and at Raising
Anchor on Instagram. And be sure to check out
and subscribe to Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, or
wherever you listen by searching for Raising
Anchor. Make sure to check out all of our coverage
over at The Blazing Musket for all your New England
soccer coverage, including RAFC news at theblazingmusket
.com. Fans, we thank you for listening. We ask
you to be kind and courteous to your neighbors
as you leave the show. We thank you for joining
us and look forward to seeing you again. Until
then, I'm your main man Juju. And on behalf of
the Racing Anchor crew, goodbye for now. And
as always, we are Rhode Island FC.