WEBVTT

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You're listening to Raising Anchor on 990 WBOB.

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Welcome to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show with

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Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey. Your home for

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news, analysis, and everything Rhode Island FC.

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Each week they take you inside the locker room,

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inside the tactics, and inside the storyline

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shaping R -I -F -C. Here's Matt and Jason. Rhode

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Island FC return to action after not playing

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a competitive match in 21 days against Orange

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County Soccer Club as they head in from the Western

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Conference. It's a team that Rhode Island has

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not seen since its initial season in 2024 and

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they currently sit at the top of that Western

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Conference. Can RAFC pick up back where they

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left off before the break and get their first

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result in club history against the side, making

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fireworks of their own, or will coach Danny Stone

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of Orange County have different plans as we celebrate

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the nation's 250th birthday? Jason, we're right

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in the middle of World Cup cycle. I mistakenly

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set this up right in the middle of that incredible

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Croatia -Portugal game. Hashtag not a World Cup

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soccer show, but it's going to be difficult not

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to talk about it. How are you doing, my friend?

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Oh man, that was a game. That was exhausting.

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Was a very crazy into this game and it's been

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a very long World Cup It feels like a lifetime

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since we've done a podcast like I've seen a thousand

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games Yeah, I mean we will talk a little bit

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here in a second Obviously, we've got people

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coming in that are attending the live show here

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from that Portugal Croatia result But you know,

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I think a lot of people Jason might be wanting

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to have a conversation and it's not which legendary

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Real Madrid player was kind of hanging up their

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boots to their international career tonight Instead

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it's comparing the goals and who did it better

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between Ronaldo and Rio Hope Gunn, the RAFC alumni

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legend as he opened his Detroit City FC account

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in a 1 -1 current draw with Birmingham Legion

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FC. Who did it better? I admit I was too busy

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watching the Portugal game. I did not see Hope

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Gunn's goal. I'll check that game later out after

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maybe, you know, all these other World Cup games

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when we do the next scouting report for Detroit

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or Birmingham. Yeah. Yeah. Remember that game

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had a little bit of consequence. If Birmingham

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does get a result, we could see them potentially

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jump us and drop us in the table settings while

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we're talking live. So we'll kind of keep an

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eye on that. And when we get to the table settings,

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maybe we'll have an accurate snapshot. But getting

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quickly and I do mean quickly into this World

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Cup overall thoughts and impressions so far,

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I think this has been the best World Cup ever.

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Yeah, I mean in in the modern era here it's hard

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to argue against that obviously the last final

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Argentina France, maybe one of the best World

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Cup games ever So, you know, I think we'll have

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to see how the tournament kind of pans out I

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mean last last night we saw USA knockout Bosnia

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and Herzegina at the same time. How dare they

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make us play two countries at the same time like

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that? So I did one goal count against one and

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one the other. So we beat two teams, one nil.

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Is it like an aggregate from that? Which one

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did we get the red card against then, right?

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By the way, a couple questions came in in the

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mail bag about that. That's a red card, right?

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Like we don't need to have that discussion. It

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unfortunately is. I think the problem is if you

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look at the way that this tournament has been

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reffed. It probably would be more like a yellow

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because it's been it's been one of those tournaments

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where they're kind of letting them play if you

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will With the exception of the first game where

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the ref was maybe a little red card happy We

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haven't really seen much since then and for the

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ref to go that long without carding anybody and

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Then to like go back and retro walk retroactively

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immediately go straight to red felt kind of harsh

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Hear me out because everyone's comparing it to

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the messy red that didn't get called We retro

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the messy red as well. Gives Cape bird an even

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better chance to advance in the round 16. It's

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a win win. There we go. Can't hate it. What's

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been your favorite match so far of the knockout

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round besides the US game? Or did we just watch

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it five seconds ago? I mean that that was a good

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one. We disagreed at the end of that match. about

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whether or not contact was made by the Croatian

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attacker. I still don't think the angles are

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not conclusive enough for VAR to make it clear

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and obvious in my opinion. You disagree with

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me, but hey, sometimes we're not going to be

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on the same page about that. Croatia was robbed.

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I'm just going to say it right now. I mean, I,

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you know, we wouldn't be doing that as this podcast

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actually right now because we'd still be watching

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the extra time if that would happen. I mean,

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I kind of was, I didn't really have any skin

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in the game. I was open to any either team kind

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of progressing and just kind of here for the

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enjoyment. Um, but it's one of those things where,

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you know, I, I see it and unfortunately is probably

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the right call. Um, so maybe the last for the

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record, but everyone that doesn't know Jason

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was, is a Real Madrid fan. So of course he's

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going to root for CR seven there on that one.

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No, no. I mean, Modric. Also, Real Madrid legend

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there. So I mean, if you're saying I'm a stan,

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I like, you know, which side do I pick? Do you

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have either one of their kits in your in your

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locker? No. Okay, just checking. I want to get

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really quickly into the last bit of FIFA, you

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know, news and having a conversation. Last time

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we did one of these shows, which feels like it

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was over a month ago, we talked about the new

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rules and some of the changes that were going

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to be experienced in this World Cup. Overall

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thoughts, how have you felt about those so far?

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Have they had a tremendous impact on the game,

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either negatively or positively? Because the

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most common question, and we're just going to

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answer it now, is our feelings and thoughts on

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the hydration break. Overall, I'm curious, how

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have you seen this tournament unfold by the new

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changes that FIFA's put in? So I've so far liked

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the rural changes. I think the hand covering

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the mouth one is hilarious. I love seeing players

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get sent off for that. We've seen it twice so

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far in in the most recent Mexico game and then

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we also saw Miguel Morrone From Atlanta United

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fame, you know gets sent off to that was hilarious

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But yeah the commercial breaks like let's just

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be honest, you know, I mean to be fair There

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is a heatwave going on right now in the East

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Coast. It was it was very unpleasant outside

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today so unpleasant almost the entire week like

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we were at Gillette for the paraguay germany

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game and that we were consuming adult beverages

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just to stay alive in that heat so i listen the

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hydration breaks i look at them as if you've

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had a lot to consume their perfect restroom stops

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then along the way i the hydration breaks i just

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think everyone's gonna be used to it Some people

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actually have talked and reached out to us and

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said they like how it stifles the momentum. It

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can change the direction. If a team is starting

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to struggle, they can kind of change shape. I

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don't really think you're going to get a lot

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of tactical wizardry out of those breaks. So

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far, the only break that I've seen, I think that

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actually had a kind of an impact was in the England

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game right now in that second half where they

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came back and scored those two goals or I guess

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second quarter of the fourth quarter. I guess

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if you will, I don't know. We're in the quarters

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now with football. Yeah, exactly. But I do like

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what I what I have loved the most though is the

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injury time like they are reducing that so significantly

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everyone's so afraid to be off the pitch for

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30 seconds to a minute or even longer depending

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on the refs pension for how much time they want

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to you know deliver there I have like the change

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of speed on getting players off the pitch and

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also like outside of serious injuries and of

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course like head -to -head I have, I have enjoyed

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watching players just like kind of get back up

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and get back into the game. But I think overall

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it's all moving in the right direction. And I

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just think for those of you that hate hydration

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breaks, I'm not really a fan, but they're not

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going to go away because FIFA probably just made

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$2 billion in advertising revenue for them. So

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getting back into Rhode Island FC specific news

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while on break, I didn't even know this was a

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thing, Jason. Did you know that that USL is now

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assigning mid -season nominations and awards?

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I mean, I guess they do. I just I we've also

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our team has been on break so I feel like we've

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just kind of been removed and being enjoying

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the World Cup here and forget that oh yeah I

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guess all the other teams that are like decided

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to just keep playing for some reason. JJ Williams

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nominated for that midseason player of the year

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which maybe that's not the right way to say it

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but didn't win it it actually instead went to

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French forward Issan Sako from Phoenix Rising

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But Williams is in good company. He's amongst

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Saco, Darren Smith after he scored what four

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goals recently against one of the teams out here.

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Was it Sporting Jacks that he scored four goals

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against? Was it five goals? I just know he scored

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a ton of goals in that game. Also, though, alongside

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last year's Golden Boot winner and Peter Wilson.

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Overall thoughts on seeing a Rhode Island FC

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player, but specifically JJ, get the nod. It's

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good to see him get a nomination there. He has

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had a very good season so far. I think unfortunately

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he's losing out here just because of pure numbers.

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If you go take a look at soccer, I think it's

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what? Nine and four or something. So it's a little

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bit ahead of JJ there. Maybe the break doesn't

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help us either that we're not getting eyes on

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us. I'm not sure how this is voted by fans or.

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So the popularity vote I got the league nominates

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based on stats and Williams overlying numbers

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still earned him a spot on this list He's had

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a contribution every 89 .6 minutes record league

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-high 41 shots so far in this mid -season period.

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So what you're telling me is Rhode Island LFC

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fans have been enjoying the World Cup and not

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paying attention to mid -seasons and awards?

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That or just Phoenix Rising, like, you know,

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they put a QR code out one of their games that

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everybody scan this and vote for your boy. I

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mean, think about the MLS All -Stars when, like,

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players get nominated and some clubs don't want

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their player to go because they don't want to

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get injured. So they don't let it vote. But others

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are like, hey, we need the publicity. We need

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the social traffic, stuff like that. So, yeah,

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no, Williams very much there. And I do think,

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to your point, that It is a numbers game right

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now, and that's going to be a large conversation

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for a lot of the underlying stats. We continue

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to talk about it. I mentioned it on Orange and

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Black Soccer cast. We were on their show earlier

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this week. Go check that out. It's in our socials.

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If you want to listen where they're just interviewing

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us to learn about Rhode Island of Sea. But I

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think, yeah, when you look at the Williams impact,

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he just hasn't had the same amount of games like

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those three, four extra games really could catapult

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him to the top of the stack. And you'd love to

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see it. Yeah. Fun fact here. He's actually one

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goal away from cracking the top 10 goal scores

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since 2020 so So they're that's that's an insane

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stat now I didn't do any graphic packages for

00:10:45.230 --> 00:10:47.509
tonight because again World Cup, but like I have

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the list here since 2020 the top 11 So Williams

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right now sitting in 11th with 48 goals the list

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in front of him Cal Jennings, 82 goals. Augie

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Williams, who's been in this league for like

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15 years at 69. Russell Ciceroni, 65. Philip

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Goodrum, 63. Manuel Arteaga, 56. Albert Dekua,

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55. Wilson Harris, now going to the New England

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Revolution, by the way. He's at 53. Renato de

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Moose, 50. Sebastian Guanzani, 50. And Luis Solnyak,

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49. That is a list of lists when you want to

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talk about the all time since we've moved to

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this more modern pro era here. That's a good

00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:27.740
list to be a part of, and he's just now one goal

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away from passing Luis Sonia. Yeah, crazy to

00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:32.039
see Cal Janes at the top there, and he's not

00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:34.179
even the league anymore. At least not right now.

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We might talk about him a little bit later. Maybe

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he will be coming back to the team anymore. Crazy,

00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.159
crazy. Well, then let's jump into these table

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standings and just break it down. Walk us through

00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:47.179
where we're at with the with the Eastern Conference

00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:49.059
and the Western Conference. Yeah. The us all

00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:51.480
championship table continues to tighten as the

00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:54.460
calendar turns to July. And while there wasn't

00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:56.960
wholesale movement kind of across the standings

00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:59.500
this past week, there were a few clubs that made

00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:01.940
significant statements in the Eastern conference.

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Charleston battery strengthened their hold near

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the top after another victory while Detroit city

00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:09.399
of C and Louisville city remained firmly in the

00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.370
race behind conference leading Tampa Bay. Yeah,

00:12:12.370 --> 00:12:14.169
I mean if you think about we keep talking about

00:12:14.169 --> 00:12:16.750
the tightness of this race Especially again those

00:12:16.750 --> 00:12:19.129
games in hand Rhode Island still outside the

00:12:19.129 --> 00:12:21.269
playoff line could have even been lower In fact,

00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:23.789
let's just do a check -in on that game between

00:12:23.789 --> 00:12:26.580
Birmingham and Detroit City right now still tied

00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:30.519
in the 76th minute here but very much in control

00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:33.240
of their destiny here and in where they want

00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.120
to be in that postseason glory if you really

00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.740
think about it still sitting in that ninth position

00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:39.740
meanwhile Orange County Soccer Club where is

00:12:39.740 --> 00:12:42.659
this team Ben Jason not on my radar I knew they

00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:44.539
were a good team I knew they were a competent

00:12:44.539 --> 00:12:47.639
team did not know they were a top of the table

00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.279
having climbed the summit kind of team eclipsing

00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:54.590
San Antonio FC last week after finding victories

00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:57.809
against Miami FC and Las Vegas Lights in these

00:12:57.809 --> 00:13:00.269
last two weeks ahead of the mental health break.

00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:03.509
Behind them, Oakland Roots, they're still sitting

00:13:03.509 --> 00:13:05.309
in that top three. Ryan Martin doing incredible

00:13:05.309 --> 00:13:08.029
things there. Kolo Spiggs, New Mexico United

00:13:08.029 --> 00:13:10.450
trying to get back into that upper half, but

00:13:10.450 --> 00:13:13.470
it's very much right now a San Antonio and Oakland

00:13:13.470 --> 00:13:16.610
Roots and FC Tulsa and an Orange County fun fight

00:13:16.610 --> 00:13:19.269
at the top. Points -wise though, back to the

00:13:19.269 --> 00:13:20.909
East if we're going serious here for a second.

00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:23.179
31 points Tampa Bay. We're not talking about

00:13:23.179 --> 00:13:25.399
them anymore. We know what that looks like. They're

00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.539
running away with Charleston battery at 26. Three

00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:31.919
wins for Rhode Island puts them firmly in fourth

00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.720
place right now, and that still gives them a

00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.639
competitive edge to compete for as much as third,

00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:39.679
second, third or fourth here. So again, it's

00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.330
really anyone's game at this time. Yeah, and

00:13:43.330 --> 00:13:45.190
we've talked about this for a while, but coming

00:13:45.190 --> 00:13:47.210
to one of the biggest stories here for our FC

00:13:47.210 --> 00:13:50.129
is the their position in the standings. Ninth

00:13:50.129 --> 00:13:52.909
place is not going to jump off the page, you

00:13:52.909 --> 00:13:56.409
know, but played the least amount of matches

00:13:56.409 --> 00:13:58.429
around. We have to keep talking about that, right?

00:13:58.429 --> 00:14:02.129
Yeah. And so obviously you have to win your game

00:14:02.129 --> 00:14:04.809
in hand, but, you know, a win against the Western

00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:06.850
Conference leaders, which we do like to play

00:14:06.850 --> 00:14:09.389
good, play well, I should say against, you know,

00:14:09.490 --> 00:14:12.090
top opponents. I think that could really give

00:14:12.090 --> 00:14:13.950
us a boost into that second half of the season

00:14:13.950 --> 00:14:16.250
here. Yeah, and so we'll talk about that here

00:14:16.250 --> 00:14:18.909
in the head -to -head. Obviously, this game this

00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:20.610
weekend, for a lot of reasons, is going to kind

00:14:20.610 --> 00:14:23.409
of be a test against the league's current standard

00:14:23.409 --> 00:14:25.330
bearer, if you will, on the western side of things.

00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:26.950
But let's get into the head -to -head before

00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:29.529
we go to break. Yeah, and so despite both clubs

00:14:29.529 --> 00:14:31.610
enjoying recent success in the USL Championship,

00:14:31.769 --> 00:14:34.350
these organizations have crossed paths only one

00:14:34.350 --> 00:14:37.389
time. Orange County claimed that first meeting

00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:40.480
in Southern California back in 2024. courtesy

00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:44.000
of a goal from Bryce Jameson X LA Galaxy player

00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.820
there. So Saturday night marks Rhode Island FC's

00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:50.220
first opportunity to even the all time series

00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:53.120
there. We don't get to play the West Coast teams

00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.259
too often. Sometimes the way our schedule works

00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:56.899
out, we sometimes only get to see them once a

00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:58.820
year. So this is the first time they're come

00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:00.840
out and visit us. Yeah, I mean we didn't even

00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.820
see them in 2025 to your point. And I think last

00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:07.409
year they didn't do well. if i remember we didn't

00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:08.889
so it would have been a better year to play that

00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:10.429
would have been the year to have them etc but

00:15:10.429 --> 00:15:12.610
then again sometimes we don't play down to our

00:15:12.610 --> 00:15:14.389
opponents. I don't know. They got a result against

00:15:14.389 --> 00:15:16.769
Miami just this last week. So that is something

00:15:16.769 --> 00:15:19.110
we are still searching for to find. We've got

00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:20.590
to go to break and when we return, we're going

00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:23.590
to talk about how RFC kicks the tires and lights

00:15:23.590 --> 00:15:26.330
the fires to get ready for their first game in

00:15:26.330 --> 00:15:29.370
21 days. Don't go anywhere. It's the raising

00:15:29.370 --> 00:15:34.230
anchor soccer show. Thank you for listening to

00:15:34.230 --> 00:15:36.850
tonight's broadcast powered by Sprout Coworking.

00:15:36.950 --> 00:15:39.190
For all your business needs, large or small,

00:15:39.450 --> 00:15:43.950
visit sproutcoworking .com. Powering 990 WBOB,

00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:47.509
that's sproutcoworking .com. Now, let's get back

00:15:47.509 --> 00:15:51.190
to the raising anchor soccer ship on 990 WBOB

00:15:51.190 --> 00:15:55.279
with Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey. Back here

00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.340
on the raising anchor soccer show talking about

00:15:57.340 --> 00:15:59.759
this Rhode Island of seaside now They're returning

00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:02.220
from a lengthy break It felt like it was almost

00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:05.080
structured between an additional bye week the

00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:07.440
mental health break sprinkling in some World

00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:09.919
Cup time We saw several of the players at many

00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.940
of the World Cup watch parties They were enjoying

00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:15.539
their are and are but listen this team was heading

00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:19.100
into a fantastic Direction right before the break.

00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:21.460
They were two two and one in their last five

00:16:21.460 --> 00:16:24.889
games in that stretch The biggest takeaway though

00:16:24.889 --> 00:16:27.649
the goals 10 goals in the last five games They've

00:16:27.649 --> 00:16:30.710
outscored their opponents 11 to 3 in the last

00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:34.549
six this team has started to come alive And then

00:16:34.549 --> 00:16:36.789
the one you see coming off of loud and we called

00:16:36.789 --> 00:16:39.490
them the boogeyman for almost three seasons now

00:16:39.490 --> 00:16:42.370
And they completely route completely dismantle

00:16:42.370 --> 00:16:45.269
that loud inside with it I'd argue a starting

00:16:45.269 --> 00:16:47.549
11 that maybe we thought was a little unconventional

00:16:47.549 --> 00:16:49.370
Especially with some of the shakeup and some

00:16:49.370 --> 00:16:51.860
departures from a recall this team seems like

00:16:51.860 --> 00:16:53.700
they're doing everything right. And then we pump

00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:57.039
the brakes. Yeah. And I think that's the encouraging

00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:58.820
part, though, is we've seen this Rhode Island

00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:01.679
team create chances consistently, especially

00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.140
when they're playing with confidence. The attack

00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:06.079
has looked dangerous from multiple areas of the

00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.940
field. The question has been kind of finding

00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:10.759
that balance between the margin of the championship

00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:14.180
is very small, right? Even the bottom teams on

00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:17.319
any given day can give you a fight. You score

00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:19.460
four goals one week and then the next defensive

00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:23.240
lapse. cost you a game and we saw that with Birmingham

00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:26.059
Legion we saw just the 1 -1 draw against Tampa

00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:28.339
Bay and then again we've seen us drop points

00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:30.779
against those opponents that shouldn't really

00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:32.900
have been dropped which have seen us and even

00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:35.400
more could you imagine Jason if we had won the

00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:38.950
sporting jacks game and we had won the Miami

00:17:38.950 --> 00:17:40.970
game as most opponents have been running through

00:17:40.970 --> 00:17:44.470
those teams we would be sitting in fifth place

00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:47.289
with three games in hand like that is a much

00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:51.049
easier final climb to crack the top four it's

00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:53.349
an exciting time but again you go back even further

00:17:53.349 --> 00:17:55.930
beyond loud and the three nil win against Westchester

00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:58.650
that's also for me a sign of a team that you're

00:17:58.650 --> 00:18:01.349
supposed to put away you're supposed to show

00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:04.190
that you can demonstrate that you can put games

00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:07.390
to bed Brooklyn FC another great example of that

00:18:07.289 --> 00:18:09.569
but then you lose to Indy 11 and that's a team

00:18:09.569 --> 00:18:11.170
where you start asking yourself they're gonna

00:18:11.170 --> 00:18:13.029
be a contender they're gonna be a team that's

00:18:13.029 --> 00:18:15.430
gonna fight for maybe that final home playoff

00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:17.769
spot similar to what we saw in season one with

00:18:17.769 --> 00:18:19.789
this club or at least just we're gonna have to

00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:21.630
go through them potentially in some postseason

00:18:21.630 --> 00:18:23.529
play that's not a team where you want to see

00:18:23.529 --> 00:18:26.269
us not get a result as well so bit of a not i

00:18:26.269 --> 00:18:28.029
won't say a mixed bag this team is consistently

00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:30.690
doing better and better each week but we've also

00:18:30.690 --> 00:18:32.710
seen this team struggle early on in the seasons

00:18:32.710 --> 00:18:35.940
do we think we're past that hurdle yet It's hard

00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:38.480
to say like I mentioned though a few moments

00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:42.500
ago like our FC does Play well to to the top

00:18:42.500 --> 00:18:45.440
opponents, right? We took the game to Louisville,

00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:47.500
even though we didn't end up winning. We got

00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:51.200
a 1 -1 draw against Tampa Bay Not many teams

00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.660
in the league can say that especially what do

00:18:52.660 --> 00:18:55.440
they have like 39 points or something like 36

00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.039
but who's counting? Yeah, so now the challenges

00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:01.319
though can't can we do that consistently and

00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:03.319
especially against an Orange County side that

00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:07.140
You know looks very strong here in regards to

00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:09.019
to their offense. You know everything I've been

00:19:09.019 --> 00:19:10.759
told about Orange County everything of the tape

00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:13.519
I've watched it does not make sense to me I keep

00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.859
continuing to get told this team is a tight compact

00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:19.680
organized discipline team that doesn't give up

00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.619
a lot of goals, but They do give up goals and

00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:24.660
they give up goals pretty consistently across

00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:27.319
the entirety of their season so far. So I'm not

00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:29.720
sure if this is going to be a low scoring affair

00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.900
or if the floodgates are going to open one direction

00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:34.680
or another, but right now the direction for Rhode

00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:37.640
Island FC, the mandate if you will, it's super

00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:40.019
simple. Get back to that momentum you were at

00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:43.000
21 days ago and just continue on, you know, keep

00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.279
on keeping on as they say, and they should be

00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:49.490
able to really put to test Orange County. Unfortunately,

00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:51.890
media day is tomorrow, so I don't have the availability

00:19:51.890 --> 00:19:53.450
reports. We'll probably just post those live

00:19:53.450 --> 00:19:55.430
when we get to the training sessions. Right now,

00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:58.769
we have to go off of the last availability report

00:19:58.769 --> 00:20:01.309
we had, which was Omidy Jope and CJ Williams

00:20:01.309 --> 00:20:03.789
still listed as questionable at that time. I

00:20:03.789 --> 00:20:07.809
can imagine that if those players are not back,

00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:10.230
if there's a new set of players we find out that

00:20:10.230 --> 00:20:12.009
aren't available, so be it. But if those players

00:20:12.009 --> 00:20:14.069
aren't back, that would have been two months.

00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:17.000
of no availability, like there's a serious longer

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.519
term injury between those players then. Yeah,

00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.180
that would be surprising not to see a pretty

00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:25.759
much, let's say 99 % healthy squad, with the

00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.940
exception of just maybe something that happened

00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:31.119
in training in the last week or two. You know,

00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:33.339
kind of looking here ahead to what we think this

00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:36.500
projected lineup is going to be here. I assume

00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:38.839
we're going to have Koke Vegas in that as we

00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.890
always do. Okay, you know shocked will be the

00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:43.750
first time Vegas isn't in that like there will

00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:45.789
just be panic in the streets because it's like

00:20:45.789 --> 00:20:50.369
what happened Is he okay? Yeah, I think there'll

00:20:50.369 --> 00:20:53.109
be be concerns when we don't see him at least

00:20:53.109 --> 00:20:57.309
this season um Nick Scardina Creafy y 'all Frank

00:20:57.309 --> 00:21:01.690
no Darcy Kind of making up the the back line

00:21:01.690 --> 00:21:05.130
there all day your Sanchez probably as well probably

00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:08.799
to their Clay Holstad and Hugo Baccarac as you're

00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:12.359
holding midfielders with Joe J. Aquezera, Amos

00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:15.559
Shapiro -Thompson, and Augustin Rodriguez as

00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.200
kind of your attacking midfielders with JJ Williams

00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:21.259
up top. Now the last time we saw the starting

00:21:21.259 --> 00:21:24.599
11 for this side against Loudon, Aldear Sanchez

00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:27.799
not in the lineup. Instead, it was Frank Modarci

00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:31.460
out on the left side, Grant Stoneman in the center.

00:21:31.869 --> 00:21:34.250
Do we think that that experiment will continue

00:21:34.250 --> 00:21:36.430
or are we going to get back to what we know?

00:21:36.769 --> 00:21:39.190
And that is a Sanchez on the left or is there

00:21:39.190 --> 00:21:41.569
a case to be made that stoneman in a game like

00:21:41.569 --> 00:21:43.710
this? Because if if there's one player that knows

00:21:43.710 --> 00:21:47.049
the OCSC, at least particularly the system changes,

00:21:47.049 --> 00:21:48.930
they go through a lot of turn and burn like a

00:21:48.930 --> 00:21:51.029
lot of championship sides. But stoneman was a

00:21:51.029 --> 00:21:53.609
loyal man for a very long time. There's a between

00:21:53.609 --> 00:21:56.470
him and and Koke Vegas. There's a lot of grief

00:21:56.470 --> 00:21:58.490
between those two sides is like a local rivalry.

00:21:58.970 --> 00:22:00.930
Is stoneman maybe a better choice on the night?

00:22:01.150 --> 00:22:05.650
I could see it, but I, I would prefer the creativity

00:22:05.650 --> 00:22:08.470
that having all day or Sanchez brings to the

00:22:08.470 --> 00:22:11.529
team. Let's just kind of how I would line up

00:22:11.529 --> 00:22:15.910
with it. Kano is going to Kano. So, and then,

00:22:16.109 --> 00:22:18.130
you know, I think the big surprise on the last

00:22:18.130 --> 00:22:21.369
lineup we saw too, Afonso relegated to the bench.

00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:24.210
He had been on the bench a couple of times now,

00:22:24.210 --> 00:22:26.650
whether that was through, uh, Pring's tires,

00:22:26.650 --> 00:22:29.630
cup action, but now Augustine Rodriguez playing

00:22:29.630 --> 00:22:32.890
out on the wing. and then Amos Shapiro -Thompson

00:22:32.890 --> 00:22:35.890
occupying that central midfielder role. One,

00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:37.829
I mean, we've seen the goals. We've seen the

00:22:37.829 --> 00:22:39.990
combinations. They all came, ironically, from

00:22:39.990 --> 00:22:42.410
the substitutes in the last game. But do we want

00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:44.890
to see more of that, or is it time for Afonso

00:22:44.890 --> 00:22:47.109
to reclaim the left wing? What would you want

00:22:47.109 --> 00:22:49.190
to see? Is it the combination of Amos Shapiro

00:22:49.190 --> 00:22:52.190
-Thompson and Pitti, or is it Pitti back in the

00:22:52.190 --> 00:22:54.269
middle with Afonso, or is Pitti the one that

00:22:54.269 --> 00:22:57.089
gets relegated to the bench? I think right now

00:22:57.089 --> 00:23:01.980
it's still AST and Augustine. until leo proves

00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:04.640
that maybe he kind of deserves that spot i think

00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.200
he got got a lot of minutes earlier on there

00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:11.700
and he had some we we kept arguing like being

00:23:11.700 --> 00:23:13.599
apologists is like the goals coming the goals

00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:16.779
coming the goals coming and it kind of They've

00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:18.880
been, you know, few here and there, but I don't

00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:21.220
think he's convinced. I mean, he's back to back

00:23:21.220 --> 00:23:24.420
goals as a substitute. Is that not enough? He's

00:23:24.420 --> 00:23:27.079
I know he's only got three and, you know, 10,

00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:29.819
11 appearances. Is that his curse? It's the Joe

00:23:29.819 --> 00:23:32.740
Brito effect, right? Like I should have asked

00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:34.279
him when he was just on the show for the interview.

00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:36.460
I mean, it was recorded like three weeks earlier,

00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:38.480
but like I should have asked him, how does he

00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.089
feel about changing his name to Joe Brito? I

00:23:42.089 --> 00:23:44.390
mean, you put him on in the sub and he brings

00:23:44.390 --> 00:23:46.309
on energy and he scores a goal, but then you

00:23:46.309 --> 00:23:48.309
start him and you just don't get the same effect.

00:23:48.329 --> 00:23:50.970
I mean, he's obviously going to get opportunities.

00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:53.549
It's a long season. We have plenty of games in

00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:56.589
hand, so there's a lot of opportunity for this

00:23:56.589 --> 00:23:58.529
to kind of change. And Kano's very fluid with

00:23:58.529 --> 00:24:01.609
his lineups. One thing I learned in that interview

00:24:01.609 --> 00:24:05.339
is Afonso has every... expectation to use the

00:24:05.339 --> 00:24:07.480
championship as a stepping stone to get back

00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:09.920
into either division one whether that's with

00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:13.480
Rhode Island or back into the MLS like his is

00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:16.599
he said himself his time his story in MLS has

00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:20.000
not ended yet so I don't know how how content

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.839
he will be if he's relegated to that you know

00:24:22.910 --> 00:24:26.809
that substitute striker role. I think we're going

00:24:26.809 --> 00:24:28.970
to see that be one of the cases we need to watch

00:24:28.970 --> 00:24:30.750
and monitor through the second half of the season

00:24:30.750 --> 00:24:34.269
is what exactly does Afonso's dominance and his

00:24:34.269 --> 00:24:37.930
role look like inside the squad? If that's our

00:24:37.930 --> 00:24:39.809
starting 11 then, Jason, who do we think the

00:24:39.809 --> 00:24:42.210
X -Factors are on the match against this OCSC

00:24:42.210 --> 00:24:45.970
side? I don't know if it's going to be one specific

00:24:45.970 --> 00:24:48.309
player. I think it can be a bit of a double -edged

00:24:48.309 --> 00:24:52.329
sword, but we just had a... pretty sizable rest

00:24:52.329 --> 00:24:55.309
that a lot, not a lot of other teams have. And

00:24:55.309 --> 00:24:57.789
I think that can kind of rejuvenate the squad

00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:00.970
to give them that maybe momentum to push into

00:25:00.970 --> 00:25:02.970
the rest of the squad. At the same time, you

00:25:02.970 --> 00:25:05.430
could argue that it kind of breaks on momentum,

00:25:05.430 --> 00:25:08.849
but we're coming up against a OCSTC team who's

00:25:08.849 --> 00:25:12.230
been on the road for quite some time now. So

00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:15.009
I think in this case, I think it can play to

00:25:15.009 --> 00:25:18.369
our favor. I don't disagree with that. I think

00:25:18.369 --> 00:25:21.289
also too, when you look at the lack of playing

00:25:21.289 --> 00:25:23.289
time and from what I've been told, they've still

00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:25.569
been playing scrimmages against international

00:25:25.569 --> 00:25:27.670
clubs have been coming in. So we knew about the

00:25:27.670 --> 00:25:30.190
Bermuda one. Someone told me they played Cape

00:25:30.190 --> 00:25:32.150
bird, but I have no way of validating that. And

00:25:32.150 --> 00:25:33.930
I didn't even reach out. So I probably shouldn't

00:25:33.930 --> 00:25:36.029
be saying that without confirmation, but I've

00:25:36.029 --> 00:25:38.230
heard that one. I've also heard teams. Trust

00:25:38.230 --> 00:25:42.430
me, bro. I've also heard teams around New England

00:25:42.430 --> 00:25:44.150
have been playing other teams that have been

00:25:44.150 --> 00:25:46.630
flying in that didn't even qualify for World

00:25:46.630 --> 00:25:49.210
Cup, but like they were on it like breaks and

00:25:49.210 --> 00:25:50.630
they're like, hey, we just want to keep our guys

00:25:50.630 --> 00:25:53.269
fit. And so, yeah, I mean, that makes sense.

00:25:53.369 --> 00:25:55.289
You know, especially the North American teams

00:25:55.289 --> 00:25:57.309
that are still playing in active windows, even

00:25:57.309 --> 00:25:59.430
if there's a pause or not, they still have to

00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:01.930
find competitive time. I wouldn't be surprised

00:26:01.930 --> 00:26:04.509
if like. Brooklyn F .C. drove up or we drove

00:26:04.509 --> 00:26:06.309
down there and they just had a scrimmage at some

00:26:06.309 --> 00:26:08.589
park field and it was all hush hush. You know,

00:26:08.630 --> 00:26:10.470
like again, those are the things that matter.

00:26:11.069 --> 00:26:13.369
But having said that, there is still going to

00:26:13.369 --> 00:26:17.150
be that first almost preseason jitter of like,

00:26:17.150 --> 00:26:19.250
you know, when players need that first game to

00:26:19.250 --> 00:26:21.190
really get back into it, grow their legs again.

00:26:21.529 --> 00:26:23.609
I think we may see a little bit of that. Like

00:26:23.609 --> 00:26:25.910
you're just coming back a little lethargic. You

00:26:25.910 --> 00:26:28.609
partied too hard. Your vacation was too peaceful.

00:26:28.990 --> 00:26:31.809
We tend to start games slow anyways. Right, and

00:26:31.809 --> 00:26:33.730
when you look at where the goals have been coming,

00:26:33.950 --> 00:26:36.690
you look not just in the half, because we have

00:26:36.690 --> 00:26:38.529
scored so many in the second half as a team,

00:26:38.890 --> 00:26:40.230
but then you look at who's been making those

00:26:40.230 --> 00:26:42.430
contributions lately. It's been Noah Fisan, it's

00:26:42.430 --> 00:26:45.309
been Dwayne Atkinson, it's been Leo Afonso. Those

00:26:45.309 --> 00:26:46.750
are the guys that are going to come in in the

00:26:46.750 --> 00:26:49.250
second half of these games to either get Rhode

00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:51.309
Island FC out of their rut or close the games

00:26:51.309 --> 00:26:53.990
down. I think that's the X factor here, more

00:26:53.990 --> 00:26:56.440
than one particular player. I think that those

00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:58.339
three guys really have a spotlight on them to

00:26:58.339 --> 00:27:01.180
do some significant damage, especially considering

00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:03.259
how stingy we can be in those first half productions

00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:05.299
at times. So I wouldn't be surprised if we don't

00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:07.200
see the fireworks to the second half. And yes,

00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:09.640
sir, that was a pun because, of course, it is

00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:12.019
the Fourth of July with the fireworks show. We've

00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:14.019
got to go to break. And when we return, we're

00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:15.920
going to talk all things about Orange County

00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:19.240
Soccer Club and how they may be a thorn in our

00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:21.279
side here on this Fourth of July match. Don't

00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:23.539
go anywhere. It's the Raising Anchor Soccer Show.

00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.660
Fans, as the weather becomes more and more unpredictable,

00:27:29.940 --> 00:27:33.140
be sure to check out 990 WBOB's weather page

00:27:33.140 --> 00:27:35.900
for all your temperature, storm, and travel info.

00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.519
Stay prepared for whatever Mother Nature has

00:27:38.519 --> 00:27:43.339
in store with the 990 WBOB weather page. Now,

00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:45.579
let's get back to the raising anchor soccer ship

00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:50.200
on 990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey.

00:27:51.230 --> 00:27:53.490
All right back here on the raising anchor soccer

00:27:53.490 --> 00:27:56.950
show and getting into this OCSC side They've

00:27:56.950 --> 00:27:59.609
quietly put together probably one of the strongest

00:27:59.609 --> 00:28:03.369
first halves of the USL Championship season so

00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:06.789
far Danny stone side Entering this stretch of

00:28:06.789 --> 00:28:09.670
the campaign sitting amongst the top of all these

00:28:09.670 --> 00:28:11.809
other teams I'm not sure I'd have to go back

00:28:11.809 --> 00:28:13.410
and listen to the rest of the pundits on where

00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:15.890
they had rated this team in the preseason with

00:28:15.890 --> 00:28:18.710
the acquisitions we know Orange County is very

00:28:18.710 --> 00:28:22.029
much a Academy feeder team to move talent on

00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:25.009
to Europe and other places You know, they've

00:28:25.009 --> 00:28:27.369
never been a team to ignore It's a little bit

00:28:27.369 --> 00:28:28.609
harder maybe for Rhode Island because we see

00:28:28.609 --> 00:28:30.769
them so infrequently but it's never been a team

00:28:30.769 --> 00:28:32.869
that like sits or echoes like I think of the

00:28:32.869 --> 00:28:35.349
top and my mind instantly always wanders to like

00:28:35.349 --> 00:28:37.750
teams like New Mexico United teams like Sacramento

00:28:37.750 --> 00:28:39.549
Republic and I know neither one of those teams

00:28:39.549 --> 00:28:42.569
are in the top four right now, but like that's

00:28:42.569 --> 00:28:44.529
Orange County doesn't have that that luster just

00:28:44.529 --> 00:28:46.470
yet. I'd say there's a lack of it if you will

00:28:46.470 --> 00:28:49.970
but What a balanced team this has been one of

00:28:49.970 --> 00:28:52.190
the fewest recorded goals against in the league

00:28:52.190 --> 00:28:54.329
their offense is clicking in all the ways you'd

00:28:54.329 --> 00:28:57.970
want to see after a 1415 matches in the championship

00:28:57.970 --> 00:28:59.910
and they're like you said earlier Jason They're

00:28:59.910 --> 00:29:02.289
doing all of it on the road right now Yeah, and

00:29:02.289 --> 00:29:04.410
I think the reason and similar I would not think

00:29:04.410 --> 00:29:06.730
of them as maybe one of the perennial top teams

00:29:06.730 --> 00:29:09.130
is that it's the consistency But that's what

00:29:09.130 --> 00:29:11.089
they've got going on this year. That's made them

00:29:11.089 --> 00:29:14.089
so difficult to play against They're very comfortable

00:29:14.089 --> 00:29:17.299
defending. They can be very compact before quickly

00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:20.000
kind of breaking in transition. But they've got

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:22.380
the quality to control the possession as well

00:29:22.380 --> 00:29:24.559
when the game calls for it so that there's some

00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:27.200
flexibility there with them. And that's produced

00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:29.339
wins against several playoff caliber opponents

00:29:29.339 --> 00:29:32.420
so far. It's keeping them near the top of the

00:29:32.420 --> 00:29:34.579
conference table despite a demanding schedule

00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:37.400
from them. Even after early exit from the US

00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:39.859
Open Cup and a disappointing USL Cup campaign.

00:29:40.450 --> 00:29:43.710
They've kept their focus squarely on league play

00:29:43.710 --> 00:29:45.730
where they've continued to collect results, and

00:29:45.730 --> 00:29:47.990
even now they come away to us. They then have

00:29:47.990 --> 00:29:50.630
to go away to Hartford a few days later, so it's

00:29:50.630 --> 00:29:52.890
kind of a tough schedule for them. I mean, we

00:29:52.890 --> 00:29:54.829
have a little bit of a tight schedule ourselves.

00:29:54.910 --> 00:29:57.819
We'll talk about that in just a second. But I

00:29:57.819 --> 00:29:59.480
agree. I mean, and again, the challenge here

00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:02.200
feels like it's very obvious for this team. On

00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:04.799
one hand, Orange County is at the peak. They're

00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.799
at the hottest that they could possibly be. So

00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:09.039
it's a good pressure test. Maybe it's the wrong

00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:11.859
time to test how their momentum has carried them

00:30:11.859 --> 00:30:14.460
versus us needing to rebuild that. But either

00:30:14.460 --> 00:30:16.599
way, it's going to build confidence. Even if

00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:19.059
this game ends up as a draw, holding one of the

00:30:19.059 --> 00:30:20.839
hottest teams, then you've done it to Tampa.

00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:23.079
then you've done it to Orange County like there's

00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:25.920
a lot of room here to kind of pat yourself on

00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:28.140
the back should this game not be a win in Rhode

00:30:28.140 --> 00:30:30.079
Island FC's favor it's just you just don't want

00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:31.640
to see a loss you don't want to see a systemic

00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:34.619
breakdown of all the hard defensive work that

00:30:34.619 --> 00:30:37.160
this Rhode Island side has put in over this last

00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:40.559
10 -11 games especially considering you know

00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:43.539
probably not making it out of pranks now we're

00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:48.079
probably you know not going to see us get easily

00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:51.000
past some of these high -flying teams like Tampa

00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:53.480
Bay. Maybe we'll find some revenge against Louisville

00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:56.359
when they come back our way. But this is an opportunity

00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:59.500
to really test the mettle of the squad. And I

00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:01.400
still think there's fatigue. I mean, Orange County's

00:31:01.400 --> 00:31:02.980
on their own mental health break right now, and

00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:04.980
they're coming in. So they've had a week off,

00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:07.480
and they have a stretch of games, but they still

00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:09.059
have to start with us, and they've never been

00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:11.880
here. And that has to say something. The Orange

00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:13.680
County guys from Orange &amp; Black, they're like,

00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:16.740
what does the stadium do? like as an impact and

00:31:16.740 --> 00:31:19.440
it's like well for the fans it's great for our

00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:21.400
team it's great too but for some reason also

00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:23.500
the opponents when they show up and they play

00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:25.160
in such an incredible setting it kind of gets

00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:28.799
them you know dialed up to an 11 as well so it

00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:30.720
doesn't always work out the way we think it would

00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:33.480
i still continue to think we need to break the

00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:35.339
ac and the visitor locker rooms and really make

00:31:35.339 --> 00:31:38.200
them sweat a little bit more but you know i nevertheless

00:31:38.200 --> 00:31:40.799
i digress so we're going to change things up

00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:43.450
here because We got some feedback and for the

00:31:43.450 --> 00:31:46.009
listeners, if you disagree with this, we're in

00:31:46.009 --> 00:31:48.410
an experimental phase, let us know, send us some

00:31:48.410 --> 00:31:51.029
comments, show us some love or hate. But we found

00:31:51.029 --> 00:31:53.009
that a lot of the times we are making guesses

00:31:53.009 --> 00:31:55.930
or educated guesses around the player formations

00:31:55.930 --> 00:31:58.329
for the away team. And the players, they might

00:31:58.329 --> 00:32:00.130
be there and they're not usually right. I mean,

00:32:00.150 --> 00:32:01.890
we're almost never right with Rhode Island side.

00:32:02.109 --> 00:32:04.210
They're very rarely out of the way. They're very

00:32:04.210 --> 00:32:06.089
they're very rarely correct unless we have a

00:32:06.089 --> 00:32:08.109
guest who can speak to it. And then that's a

00:32:08.109 --> 00:32:10.369
different story. But it's us, you know, pontificating

00:32:10.369 --> 00:32:12.730
what we think. We kind of think it might be a

00:32:12.730 --> 00:32:14.730
waste of time for you guys to hear us name the

00:32:14.730 --> 00:32:17.190
starting eleven and the formation that they might

00:32:17.190 --> 00:32:18.970
pick on the day. So instead, what we want to

00:32:18.970 --> 00:32:21.490
do is just highlight who we think really are.

00:32:21.690 --> 00:32:23.589
the X Factor players, whether they play or not.

00:32:23.869 --> 00:32:25.990
These are the players making waves for Orange

00:32:25.990 --> 00:32:28.250
County. So if you like this change to the format,

00:32:28.269 --> 00:32:30.309
let us know. And if you don't like it, you want

00:32:30.309 --> 00:32:32.329
us to go back to the other one. Also let us know.

00:32:32.470 --> 00:32:34.890
But Jason, open us up with who's the player that

00:32:34.890 --> 00:32:37.349
you did some deep reconnaissance on and who might

00:32:37.349 --> 00:32:39.369
be an X Factor for Orange County? Yeah, it's

00:32:39.369 --> 00:32:40.890
going to be Chris Haggard here. They're their

00:32:40.890 --> 00:32:43.789
playmaker. Everything kind of tends to flow through

00:32:43.789 --> 00:32:46.990
him in the attacking third, whether he's operating

00:32:46.990 --> 00:32:49.430
a 10 or kind of dropping deeper to collect the

00:32:49.430 --> 00:32:52.250
ball. He's a player who dictates Orange County's

00:32:52.250 --> 00:32:54.670
rhythm. It's dangerous because he doesn't need

00:32:54.670 --> 00:32:57.029
much space to unlock a defense with a through

00:32:57.029 --> 00:33:00.529
ball or switch the point of attack. I think to

00:33:00.529 --> 00:33:02.990
kind of, you know, watch after him, Rhode Island's

00:33:02.990 --> 00:33:04.829
going to need to kind of stay compact between

00:33:04.829 --> 00:33:06.589
the midfield and the back line there. Don't give

00:33:06.589 --> 00:33:09.910
him a lot of room to operate. Prevent him from,

00:33:09.910 --> 00:33:12.430
you know, turning into open space. Don't allow

00:33:12.430 --> 00:33:14.990
ourselves to get countered there. Kind of force

00:33:14.990 --> 00:33:17.609
him to play sideways or backwards rather than

00:33:17.609 --> 00:33:20.140
forward. Yeah, I think I heard on a broadcast

00:33:20.140 --> 00:33:23.319
of haggard is comfortable Orange County is comfortable

00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:25.259
and I really like that because when a player

00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:27.700
sets the tone like a Modric for Croatia when

00:33:27.700 --> 00:33:30.259
you think about it, right like when that happens

00:33:30.259 --> 00:33:34.029
the team the momentum carries through a playmaker's

00:33:34.029 --> 00:33:36.250
decisions and how they want to set pace so i

00:33:36.250 --> 00:33:38.509
think i agree with that i i cheated on this i

00:33:38.509 --> 00:33:40.410
should have i should have warned you i took the

00:33:40.410 --> 00:33:43.190
low -hanging fruit here in uh bazini because

00:33:43.190 --> 00:33:44.910
of course we're going to talk bazini on this

00:33:44.910 --> 00:33:47.029
show because why didn't he play for rod Island

00:33:47.029 --> 00:33:50.450
fc ever um but listen bazini it was lighting

00:33:50.450 --> 00:33:52.890
up in university of vermont he's lighting it

00:33:52.890 --> 00:33:55.789
up with uh south georgia tormenta last season

00:33:55.789 --> 00:33:58.670
in the usl1 it should be no surprise that he

00:33:58.670 --> 00:34:01.150
is one of the hottest attacking players coming

00:34:01.150 --> 00:34:02.950
out of the western conference especially in these

00:34:02.950 --> 00:34:06.849
most recent weeks uh he is a player if you haven't

00:34:06.849 --> 00:34:10.690
watched anyone before he thrives when his team

00:34:10.690 --> 00:34:12.969
is moving quickly like you win the ball you transition

00:34:12.969 --> 00:34:15.650
and go i would say that his build -up or his

00:34:15.650 --> 00:34:18.699
running into the game is not as good as his ability

00:34:18.699 --> 00:34:21.099
to make quick decisions. Take a look at net and

00:34:21.099 --> 00:34:23.719
just find the back of the net when he shoots.

00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.079
He's an incredible player. He has a lot of athleticism.

00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:30.500
He loves to make challenging runs. Again, when

00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:33.500
the ball's in transition and it's at pace. And

00:34:33.500 --> 00:34:35.519
he can just absolutely punish back lines if they're

00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:37.480
caught unaware. That's one of the biggest scariest

00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:39.280
things for me. Again, we talked about Will Rhode

00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:41.599
Island fall asleep in those first five, 10, 20

00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:43.469
minutes. Krifa, yeah, was going to have to be

00:34:43.469 --> 00:34:46.110
on his A game trying to lock down Bazzini in

00:34:46.110 --> 00:34:48.809
this case because we don't want to see him remind

00:34:48.809 --> 00:34:53.010
us why we didn't sign him back in 2024. As far

00:34:53.010 --> 00:34:54.309
as what Rhode Island is going to do to contain

00:34:54.309 --> 00:34:56.829
him, you've got to be really selective in how

00:34:56.829 --> 00:34:59.929
you are moving the game and winning those second

00:34:59.929 --> 00:35:02.489
balls in the midfield. You can't be turning it

00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:03.969
over in the middle field either. That's not something

00:35:03.969 --> 00:35:06.269
Rhode Island historically does. Usually we are

00:35:06.269 --> 00:35:08.050
pretty good about moving the ball wide. Very

00:35:08.050 --> 00:35:10.489
rarely do we go through the midfield, at least

00:35:10.489 --> 00:35:13.159
in the central channel, I should say. but that's

00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:15.650
going to be a critical one and The other thing,

00:35:15.710 --> 00:35:17.929
too, I think that the best way to suppress Bazzini

00:35:17.929 --> 00:35:20.590
is and not let him get out there in front is

00:35:20.590 --> 00:35:22.150
make him have to defend. And that's something

00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:24.429
we've done really good. Recycling the possession

00:35:24.429 --> 00:35:27.369
in the opponent's final third, smothering those

00:35:27.369 --> 00:35:29.769
those teams where, you know, we're taking shots,

00:35:29.989 --> 00:35:32.170
we're sending crosses. Maybe they're not goals,

00:35:32.170 --> 00:35:34.170
but then we're collecting possession again. We're

00:35:34.170 --> 00:35:37.010
recovering those shots, those efforts and keeping

00:35:37.010 --> 00:35:39.170
those teams pinned. You don't want Bazzini to

00:35:39.170 --> 00:35:41.469
be able to stretch the back line or get into

00:35:41.469 --> 00:35:43.989
spaces where he can take a route one over the

00:35:43.989 --> 00:35:46.940
top. So the thing with a player like this, he

00:35:46.940 --> 00:35:48.840
just needs one moment and he's going to unlock

00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:51.239
the entire match for Orange County that he's

00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:54.219
got to be mission one to shut down. Yeah. Last

00:35:54.219 --> 00:35:57.320
one here. Uh, kind of a difference maker for,

00:35:57.320 --> 00:36:00.679
for OCSE here is Alex Rando, you know, a goalkeeper.

00:36:00.940 --> 00:36:03.860
Yeah. Let me always talk about goalkeepers, but

00:36:03.860 --> 00:36:06.280
he does deserve it here. Uh, he's been capable

00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:08.380
of stealing points with multiple high quality

00:36:08.380 --> 00:36:10.960
saves here. Has been one of the more dependable

00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:13.500
keepers in the USL championship so far this season.

00:36:14.190 --> 00:36:17.130
um you know if they settle for if rfc settles

00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:19.909
for hopeful shots from distance you know he's

00:36:19.909 --> 00:36:23.030
likely to be able to deal with those so gonna

00:36:23.030 --> 00:36:26.150
have to kind of make him uncomfortable here there's

00:36:26.150 --> 00:36:27.969
gonna we need to create some traffic in front

00:36:27.969 --> 00:36:30.690
of goal you know we have a big team so we know

00:36:30.690 --> 00:36:33.730
we can we can kind of do that here aria needs

00:36:33.730 --> 00:36:35.730
to generate some second chance opportunities

00:36:35.730 --> 00:36:38.550
something that you know a lot of other teams

00:36:38.550 --> 00:36:41.389
we've seen do well and rfc Getting better at

00:36:41.389 --> 00:36:43.889
it. But Afonso's goal. I mean, that was a second

00:36:43.889 --> 00:36:46.349
chance. Yeah, absolutely. But it's something

00:36:46.349 --> 00:36:49.510
we've asked for for this team, you know, in previous

00:36:49.510 --> 00:36:53.070
seasons, which maybe been lacking a bit. Try

00:36:53.070 --> 00:36:55.949
and force and try and force Lando to or Rando,

00:36:55.989 --> 00:36:58.170
I should say, to kind of move laterally with

00:36:58.170 --> 00:37:01.230
cook combinations rather than just always kind

00:37:01.230 --> 00:37:03.449
of being kind of a little more clean and straightforward

00:37:03.449 --> 00:37:06.130
there. You know, I think if they can screen him,

00:37:06.210 --> 00:37:08.150
make him uncomfortable, challenge him in the

00:37:08.150 --> 00:37:09.949
air, don't make don't let him see the first shot.

00:37:10.539 --> 00:37:13.960
You could definitely get get at him. We saw in

00:37:13.960 --> 00:37:16.260
the going back and watching tape against Las

00:37:16.260 --> 00:37:19.480
Vegas You know, they actually they put some goals

00:37:19.480 --> 00:37:22.059
up in front of and despite the defense that they

00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:24.880
have There are opportunities to score against

00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:26.699
this team I'm not convinced they're the real

00:37:26.699 --> 00:37:28.880
deal the orange and black guys are saying they

00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:31.119
were the real deal But they were going off of

00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:34.780
shots against and goals conceded Vegas is not

00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:37.039
really a great team right now. I'm not trying

00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:40.190
to disrespect them, but Vegas had way too many

00:37:40.190 --> 00:37:42.489
dangerous looks for a team that's like supposed

00:37:42.489 --> 00:37:45.389
to be shutting down offenses. And Vegas is at

00:37:45.389 --> 00:37:48.510
like, they're like ninth in the Western Conference

00:37:48.510 --> 00:37:50.710
right now. So like, I'm a little suspicious.

00:37:50.809 --> 00:37:52.429
I know we're ninth. So that maybe isn't the best.

00:37:52.550 --> 00:37:54.250
Maybe maybe they're like 11th. Where's Monterey

00:37:54.250 --> 00:37:58.449
Bay at? All right, moving on. You know, Danny

00:37:58.449 --> 00:38:00.590
Stoneman or Danny Stone, excuse me, because he

00:38:00.590 --> 00:38:02.809
is not related to Grant Stoneman is kind of a

00:38:02.809 --> 00:38:06.090
talisman for Rhode Island to see to not find

00:38:06.090 --> 00:38:08.789
success. Famously, He's one of the few coaches

00:38:08.789 --> 00:38:11.110
in this league that coach Kano Smith has never

00:38:11.110 --> 00:38:13.869
found a victory against. First of his time with

00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:16.130
Phoenix Rising when he was at Bern and defeated

00:38:16.130 --> 00:38:19.010
us there. And then in his time with Orange County,

00:38:20.010 --> 00:38:22.449
is there like, do we need that Ghanaian voodoo

00:38:22.449 --> 00:38:25.309
shaman to put a curse on? I mean, the Ghanaians

00:38:25.309 --> 00:38:27.289
are here with us in Rhode Island. Do we just

00:38:27.289 --> 00:38:29.449
need to ask him to come over and curse Orange

00:38:29.449 --> 00:38:32.489
County this weekend? I mean, we thought the same

00:38:32.489 --> 00:38:36.530
thing about Loudon. So I. it's something to kind

00:38:36.530 --> 00:38:40.150
of watch out for. You know, if we aren't able

00:38:40.150 --> 00:38:42.250
to get a result, you know, we can blame it on

00:38:42.250 --> 00:38:46.369
on the curse of Danny Stone. You know, if by

00:38:46.369 --> 00:38:49.409
the way, that same voodoo shaman has said that

00:38:49.409 --> 00:38:52.130
Argentina will not win. He's put all of his good

00:38:52.130 --> 00:38:55.690
voodoo on Cape Bird. So do we take that away

00:38:55.690 --> 00:38:57.630
from Cape Bird and selfishly use it so that we

00:38:57.630 --> 00:38:59.670
win against Orange County? I don't know. I don't

00:38:59.670 --> 00:39:01.050
know. But getting serious here for a second.

00:39:01.489 --> 00:39:03.489
What are the key takeaways really quickly for

00:39:03.489 --> 00:39:05.719
Rhode Island of Sea and how They can get three

00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:07.880
points here. I'll go quickly. They got to dictate

00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:10.820
tempo at home. It's a home crowd. It's fireworks

00:39:10.820 --> 00:39:13.719
night. It can be the 12th man for them. And we

00:39:13.719 --> 00:39:15.300
don't want Orange County to play the way that

00:39:15.300 --> 00:39:16.980
they want to play. I think they're going to have

00:39:16.980 --> 00:39:18.420
to stay disciplined in transition with a player

00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:20.000
like the Zini. They're going to be watching,

00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:23.039
waiting, looking for those dangerous challenges.

00:39:23.619 --> 00:39:25.639
And then it's really down. And we've seen this,

00:39:25.719 --> 00:39:28.019
right? We've heard Kano say when they score a

00:39:28.019 --> 00:39:30.210
goal. Play for the next five minutes. Well now

00:39:30.210 --> 00:39:32.070
i'm going to say the first five seconds after

00:39:32.070 --> 00:39:34.610
losing possession May be the most important five

00:39:34.610 --> 00:39:36.650
seconds of the night You cannot let this they

00:39:36.650 --> 00:39:39.010
are too clinical and they're too quick at moving

00:39:39.010 --> 00:39:41.610
the ball to get caught in transition and then

00:39:41.610 --> 00:39:43.809
be clinical but I think we we're going to see

00:39:43.809 --> 00:39:46.829
more of this because Our our team is no longer

00:39:46.829 --> 00:39:48.550
just collecting shots for the sake of collecting

00:39:48.550 --> 00:39:51.030
shots They're converting them or they're looking

00:39:51.030 --> 00:39:53.289
even more dangerous. They're no longer just sitters

00:39:53.289 --> 00:39:55.230
They're no longer just kicked directly at the

00:39:55.230 --> 00:39:57.690
keeper. We're starting to see that finesse and

00:39:57.690 --> 00:40:00.599
so you know, strikers don't have to be perfect

00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:02.719
for 90 minutes. They just have to get one at

00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:05.260
the right time, right place. So make that make

00:40:05.260 --> 00:40:08.139
the most of it. That's what I've got. Yeah, um,

00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:10.340
I think it's gonna be important to win space

00:40:10.340 --> 00:40:12.699
around Chris Hager. I mean, you know, we just

00:40:12.699 --> 00:40:16.400
talked about how key he is for the team. I think

00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:18.800
if we can kind of not necessarily need to man

00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:21.739
mark him, but deny him space, don't let him kind

00:40:21.739 --> 00:40:24.340
of run at us forcing to go backwards. I think

00:40:24.340 --> 00:40:27.219
that's going to be huge for us. Attack the space

00:40:27.219 --> 00:40:30.820
behind the fullbacks. I think if we can get Quisera

00:40:30.820 --> 00:40:33.519
out down there on the way, if Pitti can get some

00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:36.320
space, even Sanchez, I think we can create some

00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:38.639
really good opportunities. I think we're going

00:40:38.639 --> 00:40:41.239
to need to make set pieces count here. Especially

00:40:41.239 --> 00:40:43.739
we just talked about kind of making their goalkeeper

00:40:43.739 --> 00:40:46.260
uncomfortable, getting into those spaces, attacking

00:40:46.260 --> 00:40:49.980
those second balls. really could give our AFC

00:40:49.980 --> 00:40:52.300
a good opportunity to pick up some goals and

00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:54.699
hopefully go for all the points here. Yeah, I

00:40:54.699 --> 00:40:56.079
mean like you said earlier, they haven't kept

00:40:56.079 --> 00:40:59.219
a clean sheet since April 18th. We're going to

00:40:59.219 --> 00:41:01.219
find a way to score a goal. They just probably

00:41:01.219 --> 00:41:02.900
have to be the first to do it in this match,

00:41:02.900 --> 00:41:05.300
whether it's in the first half or deep into the

00:41:05.300 --> 00:41:07.039
second, but we've got to go to break and when

00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:09.039
we get back we've got everyone's favorite segment.

00:41:09.260 --> 00:41:11.719
It's the mail bag here on the raising anchor

00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:14.280
soccer show. Now let's get back to the raising

00:41:14.280 --> 00:41:18.590
anchor soccer ship. on 990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett

00:41:18.590 --> 00:41:22.110
and Jason Carey. All right, back here on the

00:41:22.110 --> 00:41:24.369
Raising Anchor Soccer Show with Mailbag. Remember,

00:41:24.710 --> 00:41:27.869
you can get your questions, comments, or concerns

00:41:27.869 --> 00:41:30.730
for our show. You can reach out to us on any

00:41:30.730 --> 00:41:32.869
of the social media handles at Raising Anchor

00:41:32.869 --> 00:41:36.570
or at our RFC podcast. You can email us raisinganchorpodcast

00:41:36.570 --> 00:41:40.090
at gmail .com or you can just... watch the show

00:41:40.090 --> 00:41:42.090
live and send in comments and we'll talk about

00:41:42.090 --> 00:41:43.969
them in real time where we don't have time to

00:41:43.969 --> 00:41:45.710
prep them because when you send them to us three

00:41:45.710 --> 00:41:48.730
weeks ago we get to stew on them for a long time.

00:41:48.769 --> 00:41:51.210
Kind of like this first question Jason. Yeah

00:41:51.210 --> 00:41:53.550
Ben S says here what are your thoughts on the

00:41:53.550 --> 00:41:55.869
Matthew and Dongo deal now that Logan Dorsey

00:41:55.869 --> 00:41:58.630
is gone? It seems even worse now that one of

00:41:58.630 --> 00:42:00.690
the best young players out there was let go for

00:42:00.690 --> 00:42:03.500
peanuts. What was Kano thinking? So, you know,

00:42:03.500 --> 00:42:05.539
it's funny, Ben asked this one in person and

00:42:05.539 --> 00:42:07.039
I was like, I'm going to add this to the mailbag.

00:42:07.500 --> 00:42:10.500
I think he's spot on. I mean, when we thought

00:42:10.500 --> 00:42:12.920
of the Logan Dorsey deal, no one was really looking

00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:15.800
back in time to preseason when we had let Machu

00:42:15.800 --> 00:42:18.840
and Dango go for an undisclosed fee, probably

00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:21.219
less than $20 ,000 if we're being completely

00:42:21.219 --> 00:42:24.500
honest, to go down to Miami FC. At the time,

00:42:24.579 --> 00:42:28.099
Dango had played 72 minutes for the club and

00:42:28.099 --> 00:42:31.099
that was when we were You know incapable of fielding

00:42:31.099 --> 00:42:34.159
more than 17 people in a squad at a time. So

00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:36.719
when you look at it At the time I was like, yeah,

00:42:36.739 --> 00:42:39.659
this makes sense. He's uh, he's cameroonian his

00:42:39.659 --> 00:42:42.880
cameroonian, you know side friend in in chico

00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:45.340
He also left the club. So maybe it was wrong

00:42:45.340 --> 00:42:47.639
time wrong place It was always it felt weird

00:42:47.639 --> 00:42:49.139
because the club always said this guy is going

00:42:49.139 --> 00:42:50.780
to be a real threat This guy's going to be a

00:42:50.780 --> 00:42:53.780
big deal at some point in his career, but then

00:42:53.780 --> 00:42:56.500
we never see that moment And it's eclipsed by

00:42:56.500 --> 00:42:58.699
the fact that we go and get one of MLS Next Pro's

00:42:58.699 --> 00:43:00.159
best strikers, so you just don't think about

00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:02.400
it at the time. But now you see it, it's like,

00:43:02.480 --> 00:43:05.199
okay, we lost Logan Dorsey because he wanted

00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:07.619
to leave because Kano wasn't giving him minutes.

00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:10.739
It's kind of like, Coach Kano, I'm good with.

00:43:11.019 --> 00:43:13.500
General Manager Kano, I'm really good with, like,

00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:16.559
when he grabs players, he finds value, he knows

00:43:16.559 --> 00:43:18.679
how to get it. But like, when it's keeping these

00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:22.059
players, like, how did we not think, like, was

00:43:22.059 --> 00:43:23.800
it really worth getting rid of Endongo at that

00:43:23.800 --> 00:43:27.519
point? You know, like, no offense to Gogo, but,

00:43:27.519 --> 00:43:29.199
like, Ndongo has to be a better upgrade than

00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:31.159
that. Should we have really pulled the trigger

00:43:31.159 --> 00:43:33.579
on that, knowing that all of our hopes and prayers

00:43:33.579 --> 00:43:36.400
were settling in with a loaned player at the

00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:38.059
time? It just makes this all feel a little bit

00:43:38.059 --> 00:43:39.360
more yucky, because we keep asking ourselves,

00:43:39.440 --> 00:43:41.519
Jason, where do we find this next player? Where

00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:44.280
do we find this next striker? Well, we had one,

00:43:44.280 --> 00:43:45.780
and I didn't realize that we gave him away at

00:43:45.780 --> 00:43:48.739
the beginning of the season. Yeah, it's rough,

00:43:48.920 --> 00:43:51.940
too, because, you know... We've been blessed.

00:43:51.940 --> 00:43:54.260
So here I'm not superstitious, but knock on wood,

00:43:54.699 --> 00:43:57.380
but you know, JJ has had some health problems

00:43:57.380 --> 00:44:01.119
in the, in the past. So what if he goes down?

00:44:01.639 --> 00:44:03.300
What if he has another kid we don't know about

00:44:03.300 --> 00:44:04.960
and he just has to go to the birth of his child,

00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:07.380
right? Like he's, I think he's working on four

00:44:07.380 --> 00:44:10.019
cause he's going to name his fourth child quad,

00:44:10.019 --> 00:44:12.840
right? Or is that it? Yeah, that'd be his fourth

00:44:12.840 --> 00:44:15.340
child. That was a bad joke. Anyway, moving on

00:44:15.340 --> 00:44:18.480
here, Matt H writes in can torn beyond more.

00:44:18.719 --> 00:44:21.760
I specifically said, People needed to stop asking

00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:24.400
this question. I would love for torn to be on

00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:26.800
more, but he's also a very busy young man. He

00:44:26.800 --> 00:44:30.579
goes to university. He coaches like a youth team,

00:44:30.780 --> 00:44:33.500
like for Chelsea, for Chelsea or something. He's,

00:44:33.619 --> 00:44:36.840
he's got a lot to do. He doesn't want to, he's

00:44:36.840 --> 00:44:38.659
too cool to hang out with us at the watch party.

00:44:38.780 --> 00:44:41.440
So, I mean, it's, we'll, we'll, we'll try and

00:44:41.440 --> 00:44:43.639
get as much torn as we can on, but he's got a

00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:46.989
lot going on in his world too busy. uh rachel

00:44:46.989 --> 00:44:49.730
m says team messy or team rinaldo why are we

00:44:49.730 --> 00:44:51.889
doing this rachel like i saw this question come

00:44:51.889 --> 00:44:54.510
in it's like this is like asking me what my political

00:44:54.510 --> 00:44:56.769
alignments are like you know like what what are

00:44:56.769 --> 00:44:58.750
we doing all right i'm right now i'm team kate

00:44:58.750 --> 00:45:01.070
bird and that's all you need to know and we already

00:45:01.070 --> 00:45:03.250
know that we already know that jason's team rinaldo

00:45:03.250 --> 00:45:07.369
so uh next is the goat next i mean messy is the

00:45:07.369 --> 00:45:09.750
goat there i said it uh i was always teams latan

00:45:09.750 --> 00:45:11.869
now i'm probably team holland like that's that'll

00:45:11.869 --> 00:45:13.530
be the next conversation in like one more year

00:45:13.739 --> 00:45:16.199
these two players will retire, and it'll be Team

00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:18.780
Holland or Team Mbappe? That's probably gonna

00:45:18.780 --> 00:45:21.300
be the next, I imagine, one that we would have

00:45:21.300 --> 00:45:23.320
the conversation about. So stop living in the

00:45:23.320 --> 00:45:24.980
past, Rachel, start living towards the future.

00:45:25.360 --> 00:45:27.099
Are you Team Holland or are you Team Mbappe?

00:45:27.679 --> 00:45:30.360
Kyle L. writes in, how do we get Vazina from

00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:32.960
Cape Verde to sign with this club? I love this

00:45:32.960 --> 00:45:36.639
question. I mean, I think that would be a fantastic

00:45:36.639 --> 00:45:39.900
publicity thing, I think, considering that Kokei

00:45:39.900 --> 00:45:44.090
always starts. Uh, I mean, I, it's also really

00:45:44.090 --> 00:45:47.389
weird because was India played in world cup and

00:45:47.389 --> 00:45:50.349
has made some really good saves, but at the same

00:45:50.349 --> 00:45:53.949
time he is 40 years old. So you know, you can't

00:45:53.949 --> 00:45:57.690
get a lot out of them. I think considering the

00:45:57.690 --> 00:46:01.769
response we've seen from the Cape Verdean population

00:46:01.769 --> 00:46:05.150
in the state makes you really think like, you

00:46:05.150 --> 00:46:07.650
don't want to go full MLS, but like, How do you

00:46:07.650 --> 00:46:09.929
sign a Cape Verdean player ownership ownership?

00:46:10.090 --> 00:46:11.750
There's one Cape Verdean. I know I think he plays

00:46:11.750 --> 00:46:14.769
for Columbus. There's one Cape Verdean defender

00:46:14.769 --> 00:46:16.630
that I know. I think he plays for the Columbus

00:46:16.630 --> 00:46:19.969
crew, but Brad Johnson. Look at me right now,

00:46:19.969 --> 00:46:23.630
OK? I don't know how much he wants, but you'll

00:46:23.630 --> 00:46:26.110
make it up in Jersey sales alone. If you do it

00:46:26.110 --> 00:46:28.630
right now, he's looking for his next club. There's

00:46:28.630 --> 00:46:30.710
no rule in the USL championship that we can't

00:46:30.710 --> 00:46:33.980
have four keepers. OK, there's no rule. There's

00:46:33.980 --> 00:46:36.159
no rule. He does not have to play for us. He

00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:39.139
just is looking for a home. Make it make sense.

00:46:39.460 --> 00:46:42.460
Get a deal going profit. And you know, maybe

00:46:42.460 --> 00:46:44.500
a year after this, he, you know, maybe he becomes

00:46:44.500 --> 00:46:46.519
a goalkeeping coach and he stays with his Cape

00:46:46.519 --> 00:46:48.300
burning community. I shouldn't have to tell you

00:46:48.300 --> 00:46:50.480
how easy this is the best financial decision

00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:53.039
you could ever make. Brett Johnson, pull the

00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:56.239
trigger. Uh, Andy R says, when do the new England

00:46:56.239 --> 00:46:58.599
revolution send down Wilson Harris to us on loan?

00:46:58.860 --> 00:47:01.119
there's there's a lot of smart fans they're all

00:47:01.119 --> 00:47:02.840
curious there's another one in here about like

00:47:02.840 --> 00:47:04.880
loans and stuff and like signings like everyone's

00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:07.159
just so hungry for the next player acquisition

00:47:07.159 --> 00:47:09.239
because we're almost at that point where world

00:47:09.239 --> 00:47:11.400
cup cycle is over and like players start moving

00:47:11.400 --> 00:47:14.239
around um wilson harris for those that don't

00:47:14.239 --> 00:47:17.039
know famously from louisville city scored a ton

00:47:17.039 --> 00:47:18.940
of goals with louisville and then i think he

00:47:18.940 --> 00:47:21.320
went to like the israeli premier league or something

00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:23.199
like that. I don't know how well he did, but

00:47:23.199 --> 00:47:25.860
then he just pops back up on our radars and he

00:47:25.860 --> 00:47:28.039
now just recently signed with New England Revolution.

00:47:28.599 --> 00:47:31.000
Don't know what role he'll have in that side,

00:47:31.179 --> 00:47:34.480
hashtag not an MLS soccer show. But yeah, Revolution,

00:47:34.679 --> 00:47:36.500
whenever you're ready to loan out one of your

00:47:36.500 --> 00:47:38.639
players, send them down. We have a really good

00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:40.500
relationship of giving you back exactly what

00:47:40.500 --> 00:47:42.599
you want whenever you want. So just send them

00:47:42.599 --> 00:47:44.000
down and we'll give them right back six weeks

00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:45.739
later. It'll be fine. Do you have an open cup

00:47:45.739 --> 00:47:47.900
game you need to get to? We'll give them to you

00:47:47.900 --> 00:47:49.719
right when you need them the most. Who cares

00:47:49.719 --> 00:47:52.079
about Rhode Island FC and what they need? Gosh,

00:47:52.239 --> 00:47:54.500
I'm a little saucy tonight. This World Cup just

00:47:54.500 --> 00:47:57.320
got me. It's because Croatia should have tied

00:47:57.320 --> 00:48:00.000
that game anyways. Brad K writes in. Oh, here's

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:02.840
the mood killer, Jason. Sorry I gave you this

00:48:02.840 --> 00:48:04.900
question. Attendance seems to be suffering in

00:48:04.900 --> 00:48:08.340
the USL right now as every market is down. Do

00:48:08.340 --> 00:48:10.440
you think that the USL should have just taken

00:48:10.440 --> 00:48:14.199
a break like the rest of the sport? I think.

00:48:14.349 --> 00:48:17.949
Hindsight will be 2020 if those attendances continue

00:48:17.949 --> 00:48:21.489
to suffer if we as the tournament is starting

00:48:21.489 --> 00:48:23.849
to to kind of wind down here, right? We're gonna

00:48:23.849 --> 00:48:26.809
get Spread out like fewer games. They're not

00:48:26.809 --> 00:48:30.269
gonna be every single day Does the focus shift

00:48:30.269 --> 00:48:33.329
and turn back to your local team do attendance

00:48:33.329 --> 00:48:35.210
to start to jump with the summer? Is it just

00:48:35.210 --> 00:48:38.750
kind of a coincidence? I think it's too soon

00:48:38.750 --> 00:48:41.630
to say right now if we go into the summer continue

00:48:41.630 --> 00:48:44.639
to have poor attendance results then Maybe there's

00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:47.559
also something else to play. Maybe heat, maybe

00:48:47.559 --> 00:48:49.699
the economy, you know. First it was the snow

00:48:49.699 --> 00:48:51.739
and cold. Now it's the heat. I will say this.

00:48:51.760 --> 00:48:54.300
I've heard that the 4th of July game is very

00:48:54.300 --> 00:48:56.480
closely approaching the sellout. They may already

00:48:56.480 --> 00:48:57.920
be there and they just haven't announced it yet,

00:48:57.920 --> 00:49:00.840
or they may need to like get a few more. And

00:49:00.840 --> 00:49:02.400
that's a that's a 4th of July where other people

00:49:02.400 --> 00:49:04.340
may want to be doing other things like the fact

00:49:04.340 --> 00:49:06.300
that it's Pawtucket's fireworks show is also

00:49:06.300 --> 00:49:09.519
probably helping, but that's a good boon in at

00:49:09.519 --> 00:49:11.159
least Rhode Island of Seas direction to say,

00:49:11.159 --> 00:49:13.869
hey, like the warm weather is finally here. we're

00:49:13.869 --> 00:49:16.190
in the middle of world cup and you could be anywhere

00:49:16.190 --> 00:49:17.849
but you're gonna watch this game with us like

00:49:17.849 --> 00:49:19.670
well the games also are before earlier in the

00:49:19.670 --> 00:49:21.590
day so you can watch all the world cup games

00:49:21.590 --> 00:49:23.829
and still attend rfc right but they would have

00:49:23.829 --> 00:49:27.530
had that game at that time for fireworks if like

00:49:27.530 --> 00:49:29.710
if the world cup it said hey our world cup game

00:49:29.710 --> 00:49:32.489
is at 7 30 at night rhod island still would have

00:49:32.489 --> 00:49:34.349
stubbornly had that game at the exact same time

00:49:34.349 --> 00:49:36.730
for fireworks so but i agree i think this will

00:49:36.730 --> 00:49:39.289
be a good uh pressure test against the rest of

00:49:39.289 --> 00:49:40.769
the league and for all intent it sounds like

00:49:40.769 --> 00:49:42.880
it's going to be a sellout yeah Alex J. says,

00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:44.920
I don't know if you're aware, but Cal Jennings

00:49:44.920 --> 00:49:47.579
is a free agent again. Is it realistic that we

00:49:47.579 --> 00:49:50.300
could sign him? Should I tell the story about

00:49:50.300 --> 00:49:52.619
what I texted you earlier today? Or do you think

00:49:52.619 --> 00:49:54.079
that that could get me in trouble with the club?

00:49:54.699 --> 00:49:56.679
I don't know what you're talking about. All right,

00:49:56.679 --> 00:49:59.320
I'm going to text. I'm going to say it. So no,

00:49:59.320 --> 00:50:01.139
I'm not going to say it. Sorry, guys. And that

00:50:01.139 --> 00:50:02.820
just sets this up so terribly. Now everyone's

00:50:02.820 --> 00:50:04.219
going to think Cal Jennings is coming to Rhode

00:50:04.219 --> 00:50:08.400
Island FC. Yes, I am. I am completely aware that

00:50:08.400 --> 00:50:11.869
Cal Jennings is a free agent. And I have heard

00:50:11.869 --> 00:50:14.769
not through Rhode Island FC contacts, but I have

00:50:14.769 --> 00:50:17.690
heard that there is conversations that he possibly

00:50:17.690 --> 00:50:20.090
could make a championship return somewhere like

00:50:20.090 --> 00:50:22.030
there are. There's a lot of championship squads

00:50:22.030 --> 00:50:24.789
right now that would absolutely scoop Cal Jennings

00:50:24.789 --> 00:50:27.690
up. That's all I can say. I should just I just

00:50:27.690 --> 00:50:29.909
should smile and wave at this point, but Cal

00:50:29.909 --> 00:50:32.510
Jennings will most likely. I would say it's a

00:50:32.510 --> 00:50:37.250
50 % chance that he's coming to a USL squad.

00:50:37.869 --> 00:50:40.030
Or he might be trying to like workshop getting

00:50:40.030 --> 00:50:42.050
into an MLS squad where they have needs, but

00:50:42.050 --> 00:50:44.010
like don't be surprised if he at least returns

00:50:44.010 --> 00:50:45.889
to North America. That was such a weird move

00:50:45.889 --> 00:50:48.679
that didn't. pan out at all. So it does. Maybe

00:50:48.679 --> 00:50:50.699
he had a Japanese girlfriend. You know, let's

00:50:50.699 --> 00:50:53.219
let's let's not judge. Maybe maybe he dresses

00:50:53.219 --> 00:50:55.579
like a Jedi. Maybe he's just a big like nerd

00:50:55.579 --> 00:50:57.820
and he wanted to get to like the heart of anime

00:50:57.820 --> 00:51:00.920
and he needs city pop music or something. Yeah.

00:51:01.119 --> 00:51:03.260
And you know, maybe he just wanted to buy a vending

00:51:03.260 --> 00:51:05.960
machine like sodas and alcohol at like three

00:51:05.960 --> 00:51:08.739
in the morning because he can in Japan. Who are

00:51:08.739 --> 00:51:10.750
we to judge? you know hey if he's living his

00:51:10.750 --> 00:51:12.050
best life why not maybe he was trying to get

00:51:12.050 --> 00:51:13.449
cap tied for japan because he was never going

00:51:13.449 --> 00:51:14.809
to make it to the american squad could he still

00:51:14.809 --> 00:51:17.389
do that i don't know uh what's the next question

00:51:17.389 --> 00:51:20.849
alicia v writes in now that we're in the elimination

00:51:20.849 --> 00:51:23.570
rounds who do you think will win the world cup

00:51:23.570 --> 00:51:28.050
has your opinion changed um i've before the tournament

00:51:28.050 --> 00:51:30.170
i was a little i felt like there was a little

00:51:30.170 --> 00:51:34.789
bit of questions in regards to france's let's

00:51:34.789 --> 00:51:38.489
say defense i don't think they've been Tested

00:51:38.489 --> 00:51:41.070
at all. They're still eviscerating people. I

00:51:41.070 --> 00:51:43.550
think they look like they could easily win the

00:51:43.550 --> 00:51:45.449
World Cup But I also don't think they played

00:51:45.449 --> 00:51:48.449
anyone who's really tested them Until they go

00:51:48.449 --> 00:51:50.690
them up against like Argentina or Spain like

00:51:50.690 --> 00:51:54.250
someone who can really take it to them. I don't

00:51:54.250 --> 00:51:57.050
I Feel like they're probably favorites, but it's

00:51:57.050 --> 00:52:01.610
hard to say I kind of had a little more faith

00:52:01.610 --> 00:52:05.070
and in Portugal because on paper they have such

00:52:05.070 --> 00:52:08.510
good squad and watching them bare. They're on

00:52:08.510 --> 00:52:11.750
live support. They just keep scraping by somehow.

00:52:12.170 --> 00:52:15.090
Them and Belgium just keep scraping by. Belgium

00:52:15.090 --> 00:52:18.650
is tanked. I mean, I actually didn't, I think

00:52:18.650 --> 00:52:20.489
before, I did not think that the U .S. would

00:52:20.489 --> 00:52:23.130
do this well. I've never seen the U .S. play

00:52:23.130 --> 00:52:25.750
this well. Yeah, because they haven't won a knockout

00:52:25.750 --> 00:52:29.969
round since 2002. Nobody has. I mean, this is

00:52:29.969 --> 00:52:34.650
the most exciting, like, fun U .S. team I've

00:52:34.650 --> 00:52:37.949
ever seen play. I enjoy watching them play. I'm

00:52:37.949 --> 00:52:41.090
not sitting there thinking, the boys just got

00:52:41.090 --> 00:52:46.349
to hold on and scrape for a scrappy header. I

00:52:46.349 --> 00:52:48.530
will say this. I said France to win it in our

00:52:48.530 --> 00:52:51.630
initial. I said Morocco was my dark horse. The

00:52:51.630 --> 00:52:53.070
problem is they're going to run into each other

00:52:53.070 --> 00:52:55.190
very quickly here, so I'm going to have to really

00:52:55.190 --> 00:52:56.530
sit on one side of the fence with the other.

00:52:57.090 --> 00:53:00.670
The team that I quietly am starting to really

00:53:00.670 --> 00:53:04.639
keep attention to, Mexico. Mexico doesn't have

00:53:04.639 --> 00:53:09.000
stars like Colin or Mbappe or Messi But they

00:53:09.000 --> 00:53:12.579
they are so fluid. They are so much fun to watch

00:53:12.579 --> 00:53:15.780
that like you can knock out of England Here's

00:53:15.780 --> 00:53:18.460
the thing. I think what I am what I do too I

00:53:18.460 --> 00:53:20.440
think they're gonna beat England the crazy thing

00:53:20.440 --> 00:53:22.500
is I want to know how much of that is the advantage

00:53:22.500 --> 00:53:25.800
of Azteca both at its altitude and It's having

00:53:25.800 --> 00:53:28.820
90 ,000 home fans in your in your quarter like

00:53:28.820 --> 00:53:30.900
obviously the next game in the quarterfinals

00:53:30.900 --> 00:53:33.079
would take them to Miami, which is like home

00:53:33.079 --> 00:53:35.960
number three for Mexican fans, at least inside

00:53:35.960 --> 00:53:38.519
the United States. So, like, it's not a terrible

00:53:38.519 --> 00:53:41.139
jump, but, like, they've lived in Azteca for

00:53:41.139 --> 00:53:44.019
the last, what, five weeks, and it is an altitude,

00:53:44.300 --> 00:53:46.900
and if we complain about Kolo Spigs in that final,

00:53:46.920 --> 00:53:49.579
I can't imagine how, you know, these international

00:53:49.579 --> 00:53:51.599
countries, these national teams are coming in

00:53:51.599 --> 00:53:53.500
and acclimating as quickly as possible. So, but

00:53:53.500 --> 00:53:56.239
Mexico has been an incredibly fun team to watch.

00:53:56.300 --> 00:53:57.539
I think that's one that you want to keep your

00:53:57.539 --> 00:54:00.599
eye on. Can they win it all? Don't know about

00:54:00.599 --> 00:54:02.639
that, but it's been a fun team to watch. Yeah,

00:54:02.739 --> 00:54:06.239
absolutely. Matt J says here, if you had to compare

00:54:06.239 --> 00:54:08.500
players in the RFC roster to countries in the

00:54:08.500 --> 00:54:10.820
World Cup, other than the countries they represent,

00:54:10.980 --> 00:54:13.880
who would they be? So this is like a personality

00:54:13.880 --> 00:54:19.400
to a country or a performance like playing style.

00:54:19.880 --> 00:54:22.679
Matthew Gene's question not concise enough. So

00:54:22.679 --> 00:54:25.000
I'm going to go off of vibes. I'm just going

00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:27.360
to go strictly off of vibes. So from a party

00:54:27.360 --> 00:54:30.679
perspective, I don't care. I know this isn't

00:54:30.679 --> 00:54:33.840
the way he wants it, but Koke Vegas embodies

00:54:33.840 --> 00:54:37.880
Spain. He looks like a Spaniard. He talks like

00:54:37.880 --> 00:54:40.059
a Spaniard. He acts like a Spaniard. He must

00:54:40.059 --> 00:54:43.960
be a Spaniard, right? He is a Spanish player.

00:54:44.460 --> 00:54:46.659
But for the sake of what they're asking, I'm

00:54:46.659 --> 00:54:48.980
going to go a little different here. And I feel

00:54:48.980 --> 00:54:51.559
like when you look at a player like Clay Holstead,

00:54:51.699 --> 00:54:54.760
Clay Holstead to me, not an American player.

00:54:55.539 --> 00:55:00.099
He suits his vibe, suits more like a Sweden.

00:55:00.789 --> 00:55:03.769
or even like a Belgian team. I feel like Clay

00:55:03.769 --> 00:55:07.150
Holstead could tear things up if he was a Belgian

00:55:07.150 --> 00:55:10.550
player. It's just vibe checks purely. No, if

00:55:10.550 --> 00:55:12.909
you saw him, also Belgian player. We get both

00:55:12.909 --> 00:55:15.969
of them onto that team together, magic happens.

00:55:16.710 --> 00:55:18.730
Perfect. Don't want any magic to happen. JJ Williams,

00:55:18.909 --> 00:55:21.110
by the way, Cape Verdean, because he's a party

00:55:21.110 --> 00:55:23.269
and we need to keep that party. If JJ Williams

00:55:23.269 --> 00:55:25.550
is Cape Verdean in our population, do you know

00:55:25.550 --> 00:55:28.429
how fun that would be? That'd be amazing. The

00:55:28.429 --> 00:55:30.369
city would pop. The city would never sleep. We'd

00:55:30.369 --> 00:55:33.210
become Vegas 2 .0. Not cocaine Vegas, but Las

00:55:33.210 --> 00:55:35.090
Vegas 2 .0. You get it. You get it. How about

00:55:35.090 --> 00:55:36.530
you? Do you want to take a shot of this? It's

00:55:36.530 --> 00:55:39.349
a very tough question. Yeah, I'm kind of also

00:55:39.349 --> 00:55:42.409
not 100 % sure exactly what he's trying to ask

00:55:42.409 --> 00:55:44.949
us here. Maybe when we run into him, we can clarify.

00:55:46.329 --> 00:55:48.030
So that's a no, by the way. He doesn't want to

00:55:48.030 --> 00:55:50.570
answer your question, Matt. Oh, my question then.

00:55:50.889 --> 00:55:54.530
Eric N, who's ready for a repeat of the 2014

00:55:54.530 --> 00:55:57.050
showdown between the United States and Belgium?

00:55:57.519 --> 00:56:00.719
My heart can't take it. Oh, I'm ready. I'm leaving.

00:56:00.880 --> 00:56:03.480
I, I do have a lot more confidence in our team,

00:56:03.480 --> 00:56:07.119
but also this Belgium team like Portugal for

00:56:07.119 --> 00:56:09.579
some reason is just like, it's like, how was

00:56:09.579 --> 00:56:11.880
this team getting by? They're really not convincing

00:56:11.880 --> 00:56:15.039
anybody. They're just somehow stumbling into

00:56:15.039 --> 00:56:18.820
results. We played them not too long ago and

00:56:18.820 --> 00:56:21.179
they, and I know it's just a friendly, but they,

00:56:21.179 --> 00:56:25.219
they did put the hurt on us. So I, you know,

00:56:25.239 --> 00:56:28.199
it's, it's, I, I would have felt probably a little

00:56:28.199 --> 00:56:31.219
more confident against Senegal. I feel like Senegal,

00:56:31.420 --> 00:56:33.440
despite their good attack, they kind of fall

00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:36.360
apart very easily. Whereas Belgium is almost

00:56:36.360 --> 00:56:38.699
like if you give them enough of opportunities,

00:56:39.320 --> 00:56:42.559
they will build into something cohesive, even

00:56:42.559 --> 00:56:46.199
though a lot of times they just look like they're

00:56:46.199 --> 00:56:50.099
constantly a shell of like they're less than

00:56:50.099 --> 00:56:52.239
the sum of their parts. There's so much talent

00:56:52.239 --> 00:56:54.500
on that team, but how do you turn that to anything

00:56:54.500 --> 00:56:57.679
that's cohesive? I mean, is it say anything that

00:56:57.679 --> 00:57:00.300
we just played Senegal to in that friendly right

00:57:00.300 --> 00:57:02.800
before the tournament kicked off? Is that an

00:57:02.800 --> 00:57:04.860
advantage or would that have done us a disadvantage

00:57:04.860 --> 00:57:06.880
and we actually want this game? We just don't

00:57:06.880 --> 00:57:10.139
realize it. I mean, but that's the thing. We

00:57:10.139 --> 00:57:11.900
played both of them in the last within the last

00:57:11.900 --> 00:57:14.380
few months, so I don't know if that would kind

00:57:14.380 --> 00:57:17.320
of either way. It just felt like Senegal was

00:57:17.320 --> 00:57:19.400
the more beatable team and somehow they went

00:57:19.400 --> 00:57:23.400
up two nil against Belgium. But Belgium is is,

00:57:23.519 --> 00:57:25.880
you know. They're both they're bald frauds, too.

00:57:25.960 --> 00:57:30.039
So So fun fact you want to take a guess how many

00:57:30.039 --> 00:57:34.079
of the players from the 2014 squad? Still remain

00:57:34.079 --> 00:57:37.539
with this team. There's an easy one Courtois.

00:57:37.559 --> 00:57:43.000
Yep to brune. Yep There's probably like one or

00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:44.619
two others I'm forgetting so I'm just gonna say

00:57:44.619 --> 00:57:48.360
five Five let's see. So yeah, you're right. You've

00:57:48.360 --> 00:57:53.320
got Qatar I can't talk with what that De Bruyne

00:57:53.320 --> 00:57:58.760
and then No, that's it. That's the starting population.

00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:02.099
Yeah, I mean I see you you've got Lukaku somewhere

00:58:02.099 --> 00:58:04.739
in there. Well, he's not used as a starter. So

00:58:04.739 --> 00:58:07.980
that's three But yeah, a lot of the other guys

00:58:07.980 --> 00:58:10.380
that the defenders there. They're just not there

00:58:10.380 --> 00:58:14.019
anymore Yeah, a lot of new blood. So to to team

00:58:14.019 --> 00:58:16.119
guess how many from the USA side of things though?

00:58:18.880 --> 00:58:21.800
Zero I mean right because it's it really is not

00:58:21.800 --> 00:58:25.000
it's not the same generation at all. So Yeah,

00:58:25.219 --> 00:58:27.460
that's uh, maybe they'll reactivate tim howard

00:58:27.460 --> 00:58:29.559
one last time Hey, if we can have old keepers

00:58:29.559 --> 00:58:31.340
for a cape bird, we can have old keepers for

00:58:31.340 --> 00:58:34.199
the u .s Uh next question. Yeah samantha are

00:58:34.199 --> 00:58:36.179
if you guys were giving out mid -season awards

00:58:36.179 --> 00:58:38.420
Who would be your candidates for best new signing

00:58:38.420 --> 00:58:42.119
and best defender for this team right now? Uh

00:58:42.119 --> 00:58:44.619
best new signing gotta be nix cardina. I think

00:58:44.619 --> 00:58:47.610
I think right now he's really showing His case

00:58:47.610 --> 00:58:52.610
and then best defender Also next next card, you

00:58:52.610 --> 00:58:54.909
know, well, I don't I feel like he hasn't played

00:58:54.909 --> 00:58:57.690
as many he hasn't started with the matches I

00:58:57.690 --> 00:58:59.570
creepy. Yeah. Yeah, it's gotta be creepy. Yeah

00:58:59.570 --> 00:59:03.090
easily Rich W asks has any player impressed you

00:59:03.090 --> 00:59:05.469
enough in this World Cup cycle? At the level

00:59:05.469 --> 00:59:07.429
of championship play that we should be trying

00:59:07.429 --> 00:59:10.650
to get Connor Smith to sign them It's a really

00:59:10.650 --> 00:59:14.769
good question. I I've seen Way too many soccer

00:59:14.769 --> 00:59:18.690
matches in the last three, three weeks. Um, but

00:59:18.690 --> 00:59:21.969
the thing is what I've, this has been a very

00:59:21.969 --> 00:59:25.349
exciting world cup, but we were talking about

00:59:25.349 --> 00:59:28.530
this earlier off, off pod, but like, I don't

00:59:28.530 --> 00:59:31.070
know if I've really seen a player announce himself.

00:59:31.070 --> 00:59:33.070
It's very much like the players who we thought

00:59:33.070 --> 00:59:36.730
they were are good. It turns out they're very

00:59:36.730 --> 00:59:40.289
good. So you see messy Holland in a bop, a putting

00:59:40.289 --> 00:59:42.530
up numbers. I mean, even Ronaldo, not as much,

00:59:42.590 --> 00:59:44.929
but he's He's come up clutch here with a penalty

00:59:44.929 --> 00:59:48.769
and a few goals there Oly say, you know did very

00:59:48.769 --> 00:59:51.130
well for Byron get turns out. He's also very

00:59:51.130 --> 00:59:55.389
good for friends, too I mean you could look at

00:59:55.389 --> 00:59:57.389
and this is the problem to his championship level,

00:59:57.389 --> 01:00:00.170
right? So you look at to Vazina I mean that would

01:00:00.170 --> 01:00:03.369
probably if we're looking at any championship

01:00:03.369 --> 01:00:05.550
level players You'd have to look at the probably

01:00:05.550 --> 01:00:07.550
the Cape Verdean team and the Curacao team are

01:00:07.550 --> 01:00:11.090
the only teams That would probably have players

01:00:11.609 --> 01:00:14.989
that we could actually look at and realistically

01:00:14.989 --> 01:00:17.329
have any chance of going for. And Miami has half

01:00:17.329 --> 01:00:20.909
of the Curacao players, so... Yeah, so I mean...

01:00:20.909 --> 01:00:22.909
What about Lukaku? We could get Lukaku in, right?

01:00:22.909 --> 01:00:26.269
He's not doing much these days. Alright, Ronaldo's

01:00:26.269 --> 01:00:29.269
41 now, right? He wants to... Does it count if

01:00:29.269 --> 01:00:31.150
he scores a bunch of goals in the U .S. Championship?

01:00:31.690 --> 01:00:32.710
Doesn't he want to own the team? He wants to

01:00:32.710 --> 01:00:34.630
get to 1 ,000, right? Yeah. Brett Johnson, again,

01:00:34.650 --> 01:00:36.110
here's another question for the night for you.

01:00:36.289 --> 01:00:39.210
Just give Ronaldo, sell Ronaldo half of the controlling

01:00:39.210 --> 01:00:41.429
interest in the club. I'm sure Michael parkhurst

01:00:41.429 --> 01:00:43.289
and everyone else will be fine with it and let

01:00:43.289 --> 01:00:46.530
him be a player owner for like a year You know

01:00:46.530 --> 01:00:48.769
turn this entire town portuguese and it'll be

01:00:48.769 --> 01:00:51.730
fine All right. Well, that's great mailbag. Thanks

01:00:51.730 --> 01:00:53.969
for all of you guys. It's fun Don't forget to

01:00:53.969 --> 01:00:56.489
get your questions in each week always a blast

01:00:56.489 --> 01:00:58.949
talking to everyone. Let's get this Let's get

01:00:58.949 --> 01:01:00.909
this let's let's get the show home Jason It's

01:01:00.909 --> 01:01:03.050
been a long night and there's more soccer to

01:01:03.050 --> 01:01:05.510
happen here in just a few minutes What's the

01:01:05.510 --> 01:01:07.110
ref report looking like for this game ahead?

01:01:07.510 --> 01:01:10.230
Yeah Head ref is going to be J .C. Griggs. We've

01:01:10.230 --> 01:01:12.530
gotten assistant referees of Ian McKay and Marcus

01:01:12.530 --> 01:01:15.610
Moss with the fourth official of Gurren Dolgen.

01:01:16.050 --> 01:01:19.630
And a reminder as you get to this game, it will

01:01:19.630 --> 01:01:22.809
be a fantastic evening for soccer on the Seekonk

01:01:22.809 --> 01:01:25.090
River. Temperatures in the low 80s. The rain

01:01:25.090 --> 01:01:27.989
has all moved. into later into the week. So we're

01:01:27.989 --> 01:01:30.510
going to have a sunny weekend for the first time

01:01:30.510 --> 01:01:33.889
that I can remember. Tailgating does open at

01:01:33.889 --> 01:01:36.650
4 .30 with the rest of parking at 5 .30. Gates

01:01:36.650 --> 01:01:39.989
to the stadium open at 6 .30 p .m. for that 7

01:01:39.989 --> 01:01:42.929
.30 kickoff. And don't forget to stay for the

01:01:42.929 --> 01:01:45.329
fireworks after the match. If you can't make

01:01:45.329 --> 01:01:47.309
it because you have obligations somewhere else

01:01:47.309 --> 01:01:49.469
or you don't want to go when it's warm and you

01:01:49.469 --> 01:01:51.650
only enjoy rainy games, so you're going to watch

01:01:51.650 --> 01:01:53.090
it from the comfort of your home or somewhere

01:01:53.090 --> 01:01:57.010
else, you can catch the action on MyRT. or WPRI

01:01:57.010 --> 01:01:59.750
12 plus app and of course you can always get

01:01:59.750 --> 01:02:02.469
it on ESPN plus or listen along with Tom and

01:02:02.469 --> 01:02:06.150
Nick on 790 the score Tom has been on every single

01:02:06.150 --> 01:02:09.849
like like World Cup broadcast that I've seen

01:02:09.849 --> 01:02:12.070
on my TV lately I think he's trying to make the

01:02:12.070 --> 01:02:13.849
jump into we have to look at his face when he

01:02:13.849 --> 01:02:16.190
talks and not just hear his voice inside our

01:02:16.190 --> 01:02:18.530
ears So it's good to see him putting some work

01:02:18.530 --> 01:02:22.099
in on that side Who do you got for Algeria, Switzerland

01:02:22.099 --> 01:02:24.659
that drops in 30 minutes? You know what? There's

01:02:24.659 --> 01:02:27.139
a guy that's been on. He's he's like blowing

01:02:27.139 --> 01:02:29.400
up on TikTok and Instagram. He basically shows

01:02:29.400 --> 01:02:33.000
up on his live wearing a kit and whichever kit

01:02:33.000 --> 01:02:36.059
he's wearing. That team does not win. He is like

01:02:36.059 --> 01:02:40.320
now predicted the last 10 matches in a row since

01:02:40.320 --> 01:02:43.420
South Korea like got knocked out and like he's

01:02:43.420 --> 01:02:45.440
just gotten them all right. Or I guess he's gotten

01:02:45.440 --> 01:02:48.820
them all wrong. So like people are like sabotaging

01:02:48.820 --> 01:02:51.659
other nations teams by sending this guy like

01:02:51.659 --> 01:02:54.199
actual kits. People are like offering to pay

01:02:54.199 --> 01:02:57.460
him money to not say their team and but he is

01:02:57.460 --> 01:02:59.480
and they're all live. He's not like doing both

01:02:59.480 --> 01:03:02.340
and like he's just like if you wanted to do sports

01:03:02.340 --> 01:03:03.840
betting for the first time in your life and I'm

01:03:03.840 --> 01:03:06.539
not saying to just go find that dude's feed.

01:03:06.639 --> 01:03:08.960
Listen to which team he's saying will win and

01:03:08.960 --> 01:03:11.739
then just do the opposite. So. I think for the

01:03:11.739 --> 01:03:13.519
fun of it, I think it's going to be Switzerland,

01:03:13.659 --> 01:03:15.460
but it'd be fun to see Algeria get it upset.

01:03:15.679 --> 01:03:18.460
We need one more upset here. Another Paraguay

01:03:18.460 --> 01:03:20.179
team kind of style. You know, we need an upset.

01:03:20.579 --> 01:03:22.840
Okay. So Riyadmar is masterclass. He's only like

01:03:22.840 --> 01:03:25.059
35, right? He can do it. If anyone can do it,

01:03:25.059 --> 01:03:26.739
it'll be him. How about you? What do you got?

01:03:27.900 --> 01:03:30.340
I think Switzerland probably has got it, but

01:03:30.340 --> 01:03:32.460
you know, so far this World Cup has been wild.

01:03:33.360 --> 01:03:36.239
So got to stay tuned to see what happens. One

01:03:36.239 --> 01:03:39.539
for the ages. All right, everyone. It's been

01:03:39.539 --> 01:03:42.239
fun as always. Thanks for joining us. We'll catch

01:03:42.239 --> 01:03:47.460
you soon. Anchor's up. Anchor's up. You've been

01:03:47.460 --> 01:03:49.420
listening to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show.

01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:52.460
You can follow the show on Twitter, Reds, Blue

01:03:52.460 --> 01:03:56.880
Sky, and TikTok at RISC Podcast and at Raising

01:03:56.880 --> 01:03:58.980
Anchor on Instagram. And be sure to check out

01:03:58.980 --> 01:04:02.119
and subscribe to Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, or

01:04:02.119 --> 01:04:04.460
wherever you listen by searching for Raising

01:04:04.460 --> 01:04:07.079
Anchor. Make sure to check out all of our coverage

01:04:07.079 --> 01:04:09.639
over at The Blazing Musket for all your New England

01:04:09.639 --> 01:04:13.800
soccer coverage, including RAFC news at theblazingmusket

01:04:13.800 --> 01:04:17.440
.com. Fans, we thank you for listening. We ask

01:04:17.440 --> 01:04:19.219
you to be kind and courteous to your neighbors

01:04:19.219 --> 01:04:21.579
as you leave the show. We thank you for joining

01:04:21.579 --> 01:04:24.219
us and look forward to seeing you again. Until

01:04:24.219 --> 01:04:26.699
then, I'm your main man Juju. And on behalf of

01:04:26.699 --> 01:04:29.380
the Racing Anchor crew, goodbye for now. And

01:04:29.380 --> 01:04:32.300
as always, we are Rhode Island FC.
