You're listening to Raising Anchor on 990 WBOB.
Welcome to the Raising Anchor Soccer Show with
Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey. Your home for
news, analysis, and everything Rhode Island FC.
Each week they take you inside the locker room,
inside the stacks, and inside the storyline shaping
RIFC. Rhode Island FC are set to take on the
Pittsburgh Riverhounds this weekend. Can RFC
get a result against a team that they have struggled
against? We're going to break down this Eastern
Conference Finals rematch and discuss the significance
that this game holds over the rest of the season.
Returning back by popular demand and the fact
that Matt is still out is the one and only producer
Torn Kelly. Welcome back Torn. Hey, I'm feeling
good, man. I'm feeling good. That's my first
double header, you know, still mentally recovering
from both the World Cup final and an El Clamaco
win, but I'm feeling good for this weekend. Okay.
You sure you so you've got enough fitness to
do, you know, back to back games here. Yeah,
yeah. You know, I've I've trained a lot with
the you know, the under 18s, but I finally made
my way up to the big leagues. I'm feeling good.
Awesome. Awesome. Speaking of the World Cup.
Just a quick Kind of like recap on on some things
here. It's still lingering in some of our minds
I've been seeing a lot of talk online about the
fan zone and the experience specifically and
like honestly I was really happy to see a lot
of positive reactions to it And a little especially
considering a lot of that is regards to the providence
fan zone Uh, we know boston's closed down early
as soon as like well, there's no more games here.
We don't want to do this anymore Um, but like
we watched the final in the fan zone of Providence
and it was a great experience. There was a ton
of people there. And then tying that into Fox
Sports actually released a list of the top local
markets. And I guess who cracked into the top
10? Providence coming in there at number nine,
beating out some big markets here like Seattle,
Denver, Los Angeles. Apparently, Rhode Islanders
enjoy themselves some soccer. Maybe someone should
tell Brett Johnson, maybe we could open up a
soccer team or something here. That'd be crazy,
right? Yeah, that'd be pretty crazy. I mean,
yeah, some of those city names are crazy. I can't
believe you beat LA. I mean, I think soccer in
this state, I've always known it's been big,
but especially in New England has been growing
like crazy, whether that's through the USL or
just through you know, the import of soccer in
this country in general. And I think the idea
to keep that fan fest open all the way to the
final was such an amazing idea. It was so good
for the people. I guarantee you it made some
money for the city as well. And yeah, I remember
we ran into so many people. I think it was the
final and one of the quarterfinal games that
were all the way down from like Boston, all these
places in Massachusetts were like, I want to
watch the game, but I can't go to the Boston
fans. I'm going to come all the way down to Providence.
So just an amazing idea to keep that open. And
it was an amazing experience. All around. Yeah,
it was a lot of fun. I'm glad they did it I hope
that for future, you know large soccer events
that we can kind of do something like this again
Moving on to our a FC news here though. We have
one of our players making the team of the week
Looking here at Rhode Island FC announced today
that defender Frank No Darcy has been named to
the USL championship team of the week for week
1920 The Defender earns the honor after scoring
the ninth goal of his RAFC career to lift Rhode
Island FC to a 1 -0 win over regional rivals
Hartford Athletic on July 18th. Jojaya Quisera
was also named to the bench after providing the
assist to Nodarce's derby -winning goal. The
selection marks the third weekly honor of the
20 -26 season for Nodarce and Quisera, tying
them with JJ Williams for the team lead. The
honor is the sixth of Nodarce's RAFC career and
the ninth of Quisera's RAFC career. The pair
represent the 10th and 11th Rhode Island FC selections
to the league's best 11 through week 20 Great
to see the boys getting some nods here Yeah,
I think it's huge and I think it's both deserved.
I think Frank was super on the week You know,
I think him getting the to find some out of the
match from the players was fully deserved. He
was absolutely incredible, both defending and
going forward. And I think it was funny. I think
it came as a shock to me that he was tied with
Kuzera and JJ at the top. But I think when I
think back on it in detail, I think he's been
great this season. I think that sort of sums
up, I think, his last Two two seasons even at
RFC a very underrated player that continues sort
of week in week out put in great performances
and I think it's time that You know the rest
of us start to put some real respect on his name
as you know, uh, one of the first names in that
team sheet Yeah, I I think the tough thing here
with frank nodarse and matt kind of mentioned
this here in the last press conference when he
was talking to kano like Where do you see this
guy playing like you you played him in basically
every position on the back line? he Kind of a
utility in that regards, he doesn't get a consistent
starting role. So I think because of that, maybe
I think we forget about how valuable he can be
because there are probably times when he's playing
in a position that's maybe he's not the most
comfortable in and he's given it his a hundred
percent, but maybe we're not seeing the best
version of Frank No Darcy because of that. Yeah,
which is so funny to me as well because it was
in that press conference when I think Conor Smith
I'd not to direct quote but said that at his
best Frank Nadar say in his opinion is one of
the best defenders in the entire league and honestly
as much as again when I first started, I was
a little bit like, all right, let's, you know,
let's settle down a bit. At the same time, when
you see him at his best, he's out here getting,
you know, man of the matches, team of the weeks,
three times already the season. I think that's
fully deserved. And is it maybe time to stop
using him as that Swiss army knife and maybe
building around him instead? Or, or maybe some
other people's need to pick up some other skills.
Stoneman, Yao, come on. What else, what other
position can you guys play? You know? Good point.
Some more news here. An actual injury update.
This is wild here. Got a press release here from
our RFC. Rhode Island FC announced updates today
on long -term lower bodily injuries sustained
by Ford Jamin Gogo -Peters and midfielder Zachary
Herevo. Gogo -Peters suffered an anterior cruciate
ligament tear and underwent successful ACL reconstruction
surgery. at Rhode Island FC official orthopedic
partner, Orthura Rhode Island. Gogo Peters will
miss the remainder of the 2026 USL championship
season and is expected to be out for nine months.
Ouch. Jerevo suffered an ankle injury in June
and underwent successful surgery at Massachusetts
General Hospital. Jerevo is expected to return
in two to six weeks. What the transparency is
this? Any any reason you think they're being
kind of open with us all of a sudden? I mean
part of me is I don't say worried a part of me
thinks that at least the go -go Peters one is
maybe a slight little ad from Rhode Islander's
Seed to tag in their official orthopedic partner
in North Rhode Island. But at the same time,
then why would you release the Harrivo info?
So who knows? Maybe this is a bit of a marked
change in the front office. I mean, hey, we all
love it. Getting to know that, sadly, Hugo Peters
isn't going to be with us for the rest of the
season. Hopefully, he recovers well, and we'll
be able to see him for next year. And then same
with Harrivo. Hopefully, he can return as quick
as possible, and hopefully get him back in that
two, three weeks period. Yeah, absolutely and
that not to derail from the fact that you know,
it's unfortunate to see these guys sidelined
I wish both of them speedy recoveries, but it
is kind of a new look for communication from
our FC It's generally not something we see from
them to be so transparent I was gonna ask you
if you think this guarantees reinforcements spoiler
They announced something today Why don't you
take it away here torn? So, of course, I'm assuming
most of you have heard the news. There is a new
signing, as Rhode Island FC have announced new
signing today. Osman Foyo, the 21 -year -old
Dutch forward, who spent the last four seasons
in the English Football League pyramid clubs,
such as Ipswich Town, AFC Wimbledon, Sutton United.
I'm actually, funny enough, wearing a Sutton
United kit at the moment, so I may not have RFC
on, but I am repping one of our players. And
Chelmford City FC, spanning all the way from
the sixth to the second division of English football.
Now, to kind of give my own analysis on it, Foyo
to me is sort of your typical well -rounded center
forward. In a lot of ways, he can be that physical
presence up front. He is standing at six foot
four. And if anyone's actually seen him play,
he is absolutely massive. And he does have a
lot of pace in behind as well with that. Kano
did state that he is a player that can offer,
quote, speed and physicality to our attack. So
we definitely hope to see that moving forward.
You know, diving a little deeper, I do think
Foyer really thrives in a more double striker
formation rather than what we currently play
at the moment, where he's allowed to roam into
those half spaces, pick up the ball and make
things happen with it. He can also play in the
wider areas if needed, but his best season at
Chelmsford came when he was playing in this two
striker formation. Yeah, I think the signing
makes a lot of sense for both the club and Kano
Smith, right? He is a multi -positional player.
Like you say, it gives us something different
in terms of formation options. Now we've seen
where, you know, uh, like we'll kind of play
to strikers to a certain extent. Like we don't
always have the same formation going forward
as we do in defense. We've seen a few 4 -4 -2,
so it's good to have that option there. Another
left -footed player, very similar profile to
JJ. I assume this is kind of a natural backup,
or do you think there's maybe some potential
here for some starting minutes? I mean, I think
that's the big question that I have going into
this, is that as much as, again, he does feel
like a very natural backup to JJ, there has,
I feel like, been a lot of people who have been
starting to ask, is it right for us to try a
double striker formation? Our best season in
terms of winning the Eastern Conference final
was in a double striker with Fusan and JJ. So
is it time to try and revert back to that? As
much as I love Petty Rodriguez and a lot of other
players, I don't think anyone's really solidified
themselves in that number 10 role. So I think.
This is a good time to bring in someone that
maybe we try experimenting a little bit with
the tactics. But at the bare minimum, I think
he is a near perfect backup for JJ. And as much
as there's a lot of good about this players,
it's probably right that we do address the bad
information that has been going around Defiance
recently. And that is that Osman Fayo did have
a bit of a betting scandal in the past couple
of years. It came out that he placed 252 bets
on soccer matches between October 22nd and March
2025. During his time at Ipswich Town, he was
given a five -month ban by the FA and a £1 ,000
fine, and in result, his loan was concluded due
to this ban which expired in January of 2026.
There's some good with the bad. I mean again,
this did expire in in January of 2026 So we do
hope that he is past this moving forward, but
what's your sort of read on this Jason? Yeah,
not that we're gonna turn into a betting analysis
podcast all of a sudden But so it there I've
seen a lot of mixed kind of like positions on
this, right? I think there's one thing that we
have to kind of point out is betting has kind
of got its fingers into Football or soccer if
you will right especially in in England in the
Premier League There are so many teams that have
betting sponsorships right on the front of the
shirt I've I've watched some you know streams
where they're maybe from England or something
and there's betting commercials during that like
it is I Mean even young people in the commit
like betting has kind of gotten its hands into
sports It's even become a little bit more prevalent
here in the US that being said from what I understand
I look at what he bet place bets on and from
what I like I don't claim to have all the information
but from what has been told to me it's not match
fixing in the way that like I bet on myself to
have a yellow card and I'm gonna go out there
and make sure I get a yellow card like he bet
on himself to win like Which is one of those
things like sure. There's 11 other guys who are
Not gonna let you do that And then you also have
to make the other ten guys on your team have
to help you like there's not a sport where one
person can literally win the game Right. We saw
that and you know the World Cup and bop a and
messy cannot Make up for deficiencies in their
team to win. It's it's very much a complete unit
So while I'm not a fan of it per se, I think
it could be much worse I think it could be in
a situation where he was trying to manipulate
matches. It seems like, I mean, 252 bets is a
lot. I mean, I don't want to say this guy's got
a betting addiction, but like maybe he needs
help if anything. And I think there's a lot of
young people out there who maybe spend a little
bit too much of their disposable income kind
of going into that. What do you, how do you see
this? Yeah, I fully agree. I think at the end
of the day you have to remember that he's young
I know a lot of times you view these players
as not being people and not being like young
people especially But he's 21 and in 2022 that
would have made him 18 You know like between
17 and 18 That that's a very young age for someone
to come in with again with a higher disposable
income terms of being a professional player and
at the same time not being paid enough where
you need to find other ways to get that income.
So I do just want to stress that he is a young
player. I do have more of an insider view as
someone that does work for Sutton United at the
moment. that this was a bit of a shock coming
in, that there was no sort of knowledge that
we had up front about this. Sadly, because his
loan was concluded, I can't speak to whether
or not he did receive any sort of professional
help from the club, because his loan did shut
down as soon as the ban happened, and he went
back to AFC Wimbledon. So again, I cannot speak
to whether or not he got professional help. We
hope he did, and hopefully that is all behind
him, so he can come back to our AFC and start
helping us win more games. Absolutely. We got
to take a quick break. When we return, we're
going to take a look at RFC and how they're going
to prepare for the upcoming match. Don't go anywhere.
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990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett and Jason Carey.
All right, no midweek games played this week,
so that's going to keep RFC in eighth place for
the time being. Hartford plays after us on the
weekend, so we'll have the opportunity to either
climb higher, depending on how the results go.
or at least potentially maintain our spot depending
on what Hartford does there that's very close
right now. Hartford does have to travel out to
Phoenix Rising who have been kind of up and down
so I don't think that's going to be a very straightforward
game for them. Oh, definitely not. Phoenix Rising
is always a very difficult team, especially having
to travel all the way out to Phoenix. But if
we look up at the standings, we currently sit
two points off of Miami FC and in D11, as well
as being three games in hand now on Miami after
their midweek game against uh, call of spigs,
uh, indy will host loud in as Miami will host
local rivals, Tampa Bay. So those will have some
pretty difficult games. Loudon can always be
a tough game and Tampa Bay are still flying at
the moment. So hopefully some drops points in
those games could see us shoot even farther up
in the table with an away weekend away win this
weekend. Yeah. Uh, and so looking ahead to this
weekend here, Pittsburgh river hounds, historically
a team that we have not done well against the
All time series has seen Pittsburgh victorious
four times One draw in one rafc win and that
one draw actually comes from our very first meetup
back in burn stadium Uh nil nil, you know very
much classic draw kings. Um And the one victory
that we got comes from a jaeger meister cut meeting
where there was a bit of rotation and it saw
albert diqua kind of you know, crap houses way
to a performance for us. It was very much one
of those games where I don't say we got a lucky
goal, but we were able to get ahead. And he was
harassing their back lines, getting fouled, slowing
down the game, very much making it very difficult
for Pittsburgh to get back into the game. When
we look back to our last match against the Riverhounds,
it was the twenty twenty five Eastern Conference
final, which saw us drive a bunch of us drive
what? Ten hours away. and unfortunately have
to take a 1 -0 defeat home. Sleeper agent Marky
Barra, I'm just joking. He was good for us, but
he got sent off. They scored. We could not get
back into the game with 10 men. It was a rough
match. And honestly, that's kind of how most
of our games against them have been. They've
been rough matches. Yeah, I think that's a good
way of putting it. Pittsburgh is a very difficult
team to play against. That's kind of the way
they play. They just want to make it incredibly
difficult. But it is important to know that when
you look back at that last match in the Eastern
Conference Final, this is a drastically different
Pittsburgh side compared to last year's USL Championships.
In my opinion, the best players in the day included
Eric Dick, who is the goalkeeper of the year,
who made five saves on the night. He's now at
Indy 11. Augie Williams, who I think had a very
good game against Hamidi Diop and really sort
of capitalized on his physical presence. Obviously,
he's now at Hartford. And Robbie Mertz, who is
the goal scorer on the night, has actually yet
to net a goal for Pittsburgh since that match.
So I do think this is a very different Pittsburgh
side in terms of the players, but the game is
still going to be a very difficult one. They
still seem to play with that same sort of play
style. Absolutely. Taking a look at RFC's current
form as they head over to Pittsburgh with their
win over RFC. They're now 2 -2 -1 in all comps.
Technically, we could argue that maybe there's
another win there with the Prinks Cup going to
a shootout, but for all intents and purposes,
it's a draw, right? So during that time, they've
scored eight goals and let in four. When we look
at the Riverhounds, they're 2 -1 -2 in their
last five. Scoring 6 in giving up 5. Yeah, I
think both teams are coming off statement wins
at the moment. I think RAFC, Hartford is less
of a statement than Louisville, that's for sure,
but it is a derby, it is at home, so that is
still a statement win. Obviously Pittsburgh coming
off of a huge win against Louisville 3 -1, and
both teams I think will be looking to gain some
momentum with a second straight 3 -point game.
Absolutely. Looking at the roster construction
here for the weekend, just touching upon the
availability. So we just talked about Zach Haraveau
here, two to six weeks. We're not going to see
him here. Jamin Peters, obviously out for the
season now. Amadi Joop and Clay Holstad are pretty
close. I don't expect to see either of them.
Maybe for Bad Bunny Night that's coming up. I
think maybe they'll be ready for that. Didn't
have time to make a graphic here for the the
lineup, but we're thinking it's gonna be essentially
the same here We're gonna have Coque Vegas and
net with a back four of Nick Scardina Carifa
Yow, Grant Stoneman, Frank Nodarse Amos Shapiro
Thompson and Hugo Baccarac and that holding midfielder
as Clay is still out with Joe J Equizzara Petey
Rodriguez and Leo Alfonso with JJ Williams up
top Kano likes to tinker his lineup to kind of
cater towards different matches. Sometimes it
works, sometimes it leaves some of our fans kind
of scratching heads thinking like, what is this?
But to be fair, hindsight is 20 -20. Is there
any reason you think that we shouldn't be looking
for a consistent lineup here from last time?
I mean, in all honesty, I fully agree with Kleino
in terms of tinkering in catering to different
matches. But honestly, I think in terms of tactically,
this is going to be a very similar game to Hartford.
I think again, Hartford are similar to Pittsburgh,
want to make things ugly, want to make things
difficult and rough and physical on the night.
So I think for me, the lineup has to stay the
same from what came with such a commanding win
against a similar team. You know, Pittsburgh
are going to be very structured defensively,
and they're going to enjoy very long periods
without the wall. Therefore, it's really important
that we have that dynamic attack with Pitti,
Leo, Quisera, and JJ. But also it's important
to have that structured back line with Frank
Nadarse in there rather than Aldair. And I think
this is kind of the perfect solution to getting
one over Pittsburgh. You talked about that structured
back line and it's kind of infamous in a way,
but there's been quite a change here too, though.
You talk about all the players that were missing.
To me, Part of it. Like was it just Eric dick?
I mean we went to Indy not too long ago and Honestly,
I think he still proved didn't do Indy that he's
still least a thorn in our side Can't speak for
the rest of the league, but we do not have success
against him Do you think there's any possibility
that without him? Maybe there's kind of some
option for our FC to maybe kind of get past this
Pittsburgh defense Definitely. I mean, I think
that's for sure. Again, when you have the best
the literal best goalkeeper in the league last
year, obviously, when you don't have them, you're
going to be a little bit worse defensively. But
at the same time, when you look at our record,
we scored once in six matches against Pittsburgh,
whether or not Dick is there or not. That's more
to that than just one player and. This is our
best statistical attack, however, you know, the
oceans of layout and pity and Quasar and JJ are
certainly in purple patches. So for me, I think
there's a couple of things this year that make
me believe we have a bit more of a chance. I
think set piece is a huge one. It's as we saw
with Arsenal all season in the Premier League
again. not a Premier League podcast. When you're
struggling to score and have good set pieces,
that can be a huge way to unlock a game, as well
as having more creative players, having Leo in
Pity Now, as well as Quisera being higher up
the pitch. This could definitely be a solution
for us, and hopefully we can make it more than
one in seven, at least two or three. So what
you're saying is just get into the box and foul
everyone, and they don't call it, right? That
doesn't count if it's in the box? As long as
you're offense. OK, perfect. Yeah, sounds good
with me. Who knew it was that easy? You know,
we, we talk about like trying to score on this
team, trying to get one over them and, and kind
of a history of not being very good against them.
You brought up that kind of in a way this team
has gone through some transition, right? Players
like Eric Dick, Augie Williams, Sean Subber,
Luke Biasi and Burton Jackison to name a few
like are not there anymore. And all of those
players too played against us there in that final.
They've gotten through their transition away
from Bob Lily and come away with the championship
But Rob Vincent is no stranger to their system,
right? He's he's played for them He's the assistant
coach there and and honestly this transition
hasn't been too unkind to them But we also look
at some of their form There are some losses here
that kind of a bit of a head scratcher, right?
They lost to Brooklyn a team so far I mean, maybe
you know, we haven't really had too much of a
problem with them We tied against them with a
heavily rotated squad Sporting Jacks, we tied
against. I feel like if we played them right
now, we'd probably get past them. But also, who
knows? It's Rhode Island FC. But those kind of
stand out is a bit odd to me. They also drew
against Hartford, whose attack is basically nonexistent.
So it appears like there are still a little bit
of kinks in this Riverhound side. They've led
in 18 goals this season, which is the same as
us. So to say that they are the most elite of
defenses, well, our defense is pretty good here
too. They played one more game than us, but you
know, it's pretty close. I don't know, is this
Riverhounds team the same as they once were?
I would definitely say they're not the same.
Again, you list off those players, especially
Eric Dick and Sean Suber, I would arguably say
were their two most important players last year.
They were absolutely fantastic, as well as Augie
Williams, Luke Biasi, and Jackison, who I think
constantly, whether he was starting or coming
off the bench, was fantastic. I do think Rob
Vincent is very much sort of the padawan to Bob
Lilly. He is a very similar coach, and even when
Bob Lilly wasn't there, They played pretty much
the exact same under Rob Vincent, who was obviously
the assistant coach to Bob Lilly throughout that
time. So I do think that that isn't going to
change anything, but the players was a big mess.
And as much as we have talked about them dropping
points. It's still important to say that they
are still playing very well. They're still fifth
in the table. Again, we talked earlier that win
against Louisville was a huge statement to the
rest of the league to say that they're staying
in contention for that top four as that race
for the top four is getting closer and closer
for the home playoff spot. For anyone who's watching
more USL, that top five is getting very interesting.
And to get a win against Louisville, that was
a huge statement. And they're definitely going
to be looking to gain some momentum on that.
Yeah, definitely getting a little spicy there
in the kind of mix up the it's such a weird like
table though, because we're behind so many games
that it feels like we're in this constant situation
where until we catch up, do we actually know
where we really stand? So it's kind of tough.
We got to take another break here, though. When
we return, we will continue speaking about Pats
Pittsburgh here and unpack some of the biggest
storylines of the weekend. All here on the Raising
Acres soccer show. Fans, as the weather becomes
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weather page. Now, let's get back to the raising
anchor soccer show on 990 WBOB with Matt Entrickett
and Jason Carey. Albert? Chico Dequa. You ever
heard of that guy before? No, I never heard of
him. No, it doesn't ring a bell. Yeah. No bells.
No nothing. In RFC's first season, they had an
opportunity to sign the Golden Boot winner from
Pittsburgh River Hounds and they took that opportunity.
He spent two seasons with us playing 68 matches
and during that time he scored 19 goals and recorded
nine assists. That being said. It kind of felt
like he never really settled into Kano system.
And ultimately, when there was an opportunity
for him to return to the Riverhounds, I think
it's kind of been the best option for both clubs
in this regard, especially considering our attack
this year has been a lot better than last year.
Oh, did you meet yourself? Oh, there we go. All
set. There we go. All right. Sorry about that.
Again, just we need Matt Entriken back. Please
come back and have any technical difficulties
on a raising anchor show. But you just know he's
going to score. You just got that feeling. He's
coming back. He's in great form at the moment
as well. And, you know, I hold no malice towards
him. I love to see him in great form. I do think
he was very, I think he had a very unlucky time
at the club for most of it. He leads the team
at the moment with six goals in the league play
and seven overall. He's very quickly readjusted
to Pittsburgh style of play, which does make
you think like what really went wrong at RISC?
Why has he switched so quickly after the two
disappointing years that he had in Rhode Island
where he, again, as you said, never really fit
in, never really seemed to play his best. Do
you think it maybe it's just because as an arsenal
fan with with arsenal in the league, you know,
it kind of lifted his spirits and he's Maybe
maybe if that's what it was. We should have kept
it for another year Speaking of finishing though,
like tell me about this Pittsburgh offense. How
have they been like playing under the new manager
here? I mean, it's odd. I think it's similar
in a lot of ways to the way that they play under
Bob Lilly, where they're not great at creating
chances. They do rank 23rd in the entire league
for big chances created and 20th for touches
in the opposition box. Again, we said earlier,
they don't really like to have the ball for too
much. They prefer to sit a little bit deeper
and counter attack. But when it comes to when
they get those chances, They are on absolute
fire right now a man and deco up front are killing
it They have five and six goals respectively
in the league with a man Having his famous record
-breaking hat trick last game where he scored
three goals in three minutes And he currently
has five goals in his last three matches in all
competitions So even though they may not be the
best chance creation team when they get those
chances, they're gonna punish you You hate to
see it. What what what worries about me is a
team like this is RFC tend to give up a chances
that almost want to call like flukes at times,
right? They almost like no one would have scored
that, but the one opportunity we give up is like
a shot cross that just somehow floats over the
keeper into the back corner. And these teams
tend to capitalize on these. It's as if like
our luck stat is just poor. I don't know if we
need to like respect our character build or something,
but it's just like. It doesn't make it. Sometimes
it literally doesn't make any sense. Like how
did, how did we give up that goal? And then like
right into that game. So hearing about a team
who like, yeah, we never go, we have no touches
in the box. We never crossed the ball at all.
Why would we do that? We just somehow score goals.
Yeah, it's definitely worrying for sure. I think
that sort of if you go back and look at our games
against Pittsburgh previously, you'll definitely
see it's very long spells with us having the
ball, no real chances for them. And then out
of nowhere, bang, one, no Pittsburgh. And, and
to make things worse is I'd say our away performances
haven't been too great, um, especially compared
to the past. Like this year, RFC are two on four
on the road. 11 goals for 11 goals against in
the past. I think that RFC were actually a bit
better Than they were wrote on the road compared
to at home part of that Maybe I don't know if
they took them a while to really settle into
Centerville Bank Stadium And like make it feel
like no, this is actually our home But I think
at this point it's kind of become a bit more
of a fortress but away matches to a certain extent
feel like a dice roll. We were able to get wins
against Loudon, which is nice to finally get
that boogie off of our back. But Loudon is also
not the team before. Not without Martin Ryan
and his immaculate, you know, they just they
they don't play the same. Lexington is a bit
of a mess. They they're just kind of all over
the place. And for some reason, they're in the
West Coast. Who understands that? But we picked
up losses again. Indy Sacramento and Miami at
the same time though I kind of look at these
and think like Are these losses that are expected
in is there in a waveform issue? I mean, I kind
of thought that maybe we were get the best of
Sacramento But then also I went back and looked
at the form is like maybe they're kind of turning
the corner Louisville had just lost their coach.
So they've got the new manager bounce Indy were
like never good against And apparently Miami
has players who played in the World Cup. Like
what even is? What is this timeline right now?
So is there a waveform issue? Does or does it
even matter if we keep picking up points at home?
I mean, I think first off, we've sadly lost the
Road Warriors title that we had from last season.
I think that's no longer us. Apparently, we are
much better at home, which as far as is good
for the fans to see that we're picking up more
points at home than away. It depends on what
team we want to be. If we want to be a team that
is in the top four and wants a home playoff game,
then you've got to be able to do both. And I
really think in those games, it's sort of a mixed
bag. I think you look at Louisville, and you
look at Indy, I think those are sort of fair
enough. Indy, again, as you said, very difficult
team for us in the past. Louisville, still a
good team, and we're coming off the new manager
bounce. But at the same time, Sacramento and
Miami, maybe not the best, especially when you
look at those games. I think specifically the
Miami game, as much as they are in good form.
That was a pretty rough game for my same as Sacramento
I think you can look at the other team and their
performance and talk about that all you want
but ultimately it's important to look at yourself
and say Those were not good performances from
us and we need to improve away And I think there's
no better way to improve than to get a win against
a team that's famously been very difficult for
us in the past Absolutely, I think if we're able
to get something like this, I think this would
be an absolute statement win from RFC if they're
able to come away with three points. Continuing
to look ahead to the match here, the last two
matches against Pittsburgh have both seen red
cards. I joked earlier about sleeper agent Mark
Ibarra. No, no, no grief against him at all.
He was a consistently solid player for us, but
He unfortunately picked up two yellows and got
sent off in the Eastern Conference final. We
also saw JJ Williams maybe lose his cool a little
bit, throw some hands against some Pittsburgh
players and we're down a man, both losses. So
compare that to Hartford, if you will. There's
maybe, I don't want to say there's any bad blood
between these teams, but these matches maybe
can get a little physical, a little feisty, a
little fiery. Do you think this trend continues
at all? Do we see anyone get sent off this weekend
or do cooler heads prevail here? I Mean, first
of all, we hope not knock on wood But as you
said, it's certainly a match that has history
There is a buildup from whether or not it's us,
you know feeling that level of loss from losing
an Eastern Conference final last season But weirdly
I actually think as much as people are probably
gonna say oh we have a history I've read cards
this year that's gonna you know Hurt us and that's
gonna mean that we're more likely to get one
actually that might help us I think we've sort
of gotten that out of our system we have seen
what happens when you lose your head in the game
and you get yourself sent off and then We've
sort of seen the repercussions of that So I'm
hoping that by now Kano has sorted that out with
the players and a little bit with himself we
all saw that Louisville away game and Hopefully
going forward this as long as we can keep our
heads cool and play the way we've been playing
I don't see why we can't get three points in
this Speaking of three points, looking ahead
to the match here and how our FC can take all
three points. Pittsburgh's always been a tough
matchup for us, right? The one time we saw success
against them was in the Jaeger Meister cup where
there was a little bit of rotation. I think that
they are still, they've been a team that's always
had good depth though. So I don't want to take
too much away from what our FC did there. I think
we kind of essentially use their own tactics
against them very much. If it was a bit of a
smash and grab, slow the game down, kill any
sort of momentum that they have, is that something
we can do again? I don't think so. I don't think
it's part of this iteration of Kano Ball's kind
of DNA, if you will. I think what RFC need to
do here is they really need to win that midfield
battle. I think it's going to come up huge. giving
away a ball cheaply in poor areas is going to
give an opportunity to someone like Chico or
Amon to really capitalize on those scraps and
put away the one opportunity that we give. That's
what I was talking about earlier, like we can't
afford to do stuff like that. So midfield is
going to be very important. Obviously the back
line here is key to that too. It's going to be
a tough match, but I think that if RAFC can Be
calm and composed not let it get into some sort
of you know fight and You know try and take their
chances It's possibility. I think that they can
kind of sneak away with like a one -nil then
I don't I don't think this is something where
a team you score multiple goals against you got
a Get one and then to a certain extent not turtle,
but you know keep it play a clean game What about
your torn? No, I fully agree and and speaking
on that I think even just scoring that first
goal, that opens the game up because Pittsburgh
want to keep that game closed. They want to fight
from either a draw or a winning position. As
soon as they're losing and you sort of bait them
out of that defensive shape, that's when you
see the second, the third, even the fourth, maybe,
knock on wood, start to go in. So for me, though,
as you said earlier about that sort of smash
and grab tactics, and that's not exactly us.
I agree, and I honestly think that's because
of the creative players that we have now, and
this game is going to come down to that. I think
on the ball, those creative players need to find
a way to create chances against this famously
good low block, but then in turn, our attack
needs to be able to finish them off. We've seen
the shot conversion. We talked about it last
episode. We need to get better at finishing the
chances that we do actually have. So as long
as we can get our creative players like Jojaya,
Pity, Leo on the ball creating chances, we all...
and then hopefully JJ in turn can finish them
off. That's going to be where you see the best
RAFC. Off the ball, however, the defense needs
to be disciplined in the structure. We talked
about this is a team that's struggling to create
chances in Pittsburgh, but when they do get them,
they will hurt you and they will not let you
think twice about it. So you need to be defensively
structured. Very similar last week. I think hopefully
if we can keep that defensive structure like
we did in the second half, we could easily see
Koke having Yeah. Another week off, maybe one
to say is if he's feeling like it and CS claim
yet another clean sheet. Love to hear it. So
we got to take our final break here. Don't go
anywhere. When we return, it's the mail bag and
also maybe some breaking news here on the raising
anchor soccer show. Now let's get back to the
raising anchor soccer show on nine 90 WBOB with
Matt intricate and Jason. All right here breaking
news before we jump into the mailbag Where are
some rumors going around that? Unconfirmed unconfirmed
one of our players is going to be moving up to
the MLS So Who do you think that could be and
then also like when we look at this is this a
This is the point of frustration. Are we happy
to see them move? Like obviously we don't know
who this is right, but I mean, it's tough. Just
drop a bombshell on you. Yeah, we just got some
breaking news mid -podcast. I think at the end
of the day, as much as it hurts and it'll be
frustrating because I'd imagine it'll be one
of our best players, because again, they are
moving up, it is sort of important that we show
other players that we can help move them up.
Because as much as I would love for this to be,
I'd love to have players that stay here for their
whole career. If players are truly that good
on this team, they're going to use this team
as a stepping stone. And I think it's very tough
to come to grips with that. I don't think you
can ever fully come to grips with that, if I'm
being honest. It's important to be able to show
that especially for incoming players I mean we
talked about the fact that we've of course just
brought in a new player To be able to show them
that if you come to this club We can you know
help improve you and help give you the minutes
to make you the player You know you want to be
and then from there you can go on to bigger things
like the MLS Like you know higher divisions in
European football. That's gonna be big for us
moving forward So in the short term, it's gonna
hurt And it's going to hurt seeing a good player
gone. But in the long term, I do think that this
is probably a good thing for us. Oh, I can't
wait to watch the Fast and Furious meme where
he drives away and just just start crying while,
you know, one of our players just leaves us.
Yeah. Yeah, no, I I think it's good speculation
there. You look at players like. JJ Quisaro who
put it up are putting up good numbers like obviously
we don't want our attack has been good this year
like we don't want those players to go but Those
would be players. They would be looking at You
know, there's probably a few other there others
there Alfonso has previous experience. I don't
know if his performances have like Given him
that boost, but it's also one of those things
where they look at the familiarity. He's been
there before Yeah, it's going to be if it happens,
unconfirmed, it's going to be tough to see. But
it's one of those like things that will be very
good long term for the club. Players will look
at this as an opportunity to be a stepping stone.
And when you take a look at these teams and how
some of them like their entire rosters like blow
up, obviously, we've been very fortunate to keep
a squad of guys. their third season like together
and put a team that's like Sure, we're only an
eighth right now But we've been to two consecutive
Eastern Conference finals like this is a competitive
competitive team we know come playoff time The
boys will give it all and make a go out of it
and not a lot of other teams can say that and
when you can also Come back there and say well,
guess what? We've also promoted players to the
MLS I mean, that's huge in terms of selling your
value to players and getting the ability to bring
in players. And then even as you look at that,
as that ties into D1, right? Like that's the
reality. Like we're never going to be quote unquote
bigger than MLS, but can we be a, our own system,
our own competitive product and you know, generate
and sell talent to like keep the league afloat?
Like that would be. That's the place you want
to be in, honestly. And I would also say that
I think that it's also good in terms of forging
relationships because whatever club we are going
to sell this player to, that is forging a good
relationship with that club. We've talked several
times about our relationship with Minnesota United
and being able to loan players in from there.
And so to be able to show and make a good relationship
with an MLS club and in return maybe get a little
bit of preference on lone players, younger players
coming into our club. I think that's huge. And
in return, just to ask you a question and maybe,
you know, put a little bit of a personal spin
on this. Who is the one player that if you found
out it was them that you that you think would
like heart this team the most? Oh, I think it
has to be JJ. Really? I think so. I mean. Do
we like we just signed a striker but like is
that guy good enough to just immediately pick
up? Face where JJ left off like I I don't I really
don't think we're as good I think that we can
maybe beat some of bottom feeders but if we want
to be competitive and if we want to go up against
the Louisville and Be able to like beat them
in a playoff match if you don't have JJ like
I I just, I see, I struggle to see it, especially
with the form that kind of our, the rest of our,
our striker core is in, if you will, right? If
we had maybe 2024, no, if you saw him, I'd be
like, I don't know. Like, like, maybe like let
that man cook. Like maybe we're good to go, but
like, I just, I haven't seen enough goals come
from other places. We have, we have a cast of
supporting characters, but at the end of the
day, like the leading man right now is JJ Williams.
I mean, six goals, four assists. I, I just, you,
you can't replace that. We look at Quisaro one
assists, five goals, Alfonso one assists, three
goals, two assists for Rodriguez. Just no one
else comes close to the numbers that he has right
now. And if you immediately, like this team has
been scoring a lot more this year. Can we like,
do we have, we have to go sign another striker
if, if it's him, like we need to, right? You
can't just. And I'd say we need a ready made
striker too, not like someone who knows the USL
system and is ready to just plug and play, drop
into a team, hit the ground running within one
to two weeks, just start scoring. Cal Jennings.
Turn your volume up because I'm not going to
repeat that. I wonder what he's doing. I mean,
I agree to an extent that wasn't the first player
that came to my mind. I didn't even think about
in terms of what we have the options behind it.
I was thinking more about like purely their impact
on the team. And for me, the answer is very easily
who go back rack. I think that who go back rack
has changed this midfield completely. We spent
so many seasons playing a midfield three. because
we could not play with two. We did not have a
player that was able to do as much as he was.
And now that we have him, as good as Clay and
as good as ASTR, Hugo completes this team. And
every time we see him out of the lineup, we see
a marked down performance, and it's clear and
obvious. His ability to play out of the press,
his ability to defend, his height and physicality
off set pieces, his ability to drive forward
with the ball, these things are things that I
think Clay can do. a lot of these things, but
not all of them. Otherwise, these are things
that this team would drastically miss without
him. And the fact that he is younger makes me
very worried that it could be him. And of course,
he also has MLS ties as well. And I think he
is, in my opinion, been our best player and most
consistent player all season. I'm a little nervous
that it's Hugo. Think if not, I think a bit is
already in coming right now the MLS scouts Anyone
who goes an awful player MLS clubs click off.
This is not an MLS podcast All right, well we
don't have any confirmation of any moves here
so we could speculate all night So let's move
on to the mailbag here. Ah, Andrew M says we
need to pick up some points What's our near future
look like schedule wise? Are we feeling good?
I'm feeling all right. I think it's a lot of
big games But again as much as big games can
be scary because you may drop points if you can
get wins It really shows the mark of a newer
team right now because as much as we've played
well in my opinion all season We need to find
ways to get points in the games where we have
bad moments So at the moment we obviously have
Pittsburgh next week After that, we play Birmingham
Legion away. Then on August 8th, we have our
home game, the rematch against the Colorado Springs
switchbacks, which should be a fun game. Obviously,
it is Bad Bunny Night as well. And then after
that, we go away to the Tampa Bay Rowdies. That's
a tough schedule. Don't get me wrong. But again,
I love the fact that it's a chance for these
players to show. that we are a team that can
be in the top four, top five discussions. So
me personally, as much as I'm a little bit worried,
I think this is a team that's ready for it. Absolutely.
I look at these matches and think none of these
are easy per se, but I think that honestly it's
doable with the way that this team has been playing.
They just can't have a Sacramento Republic night
because that performance will not get them any
points. What would he got here next? From Matt
M. We have, is the reason Matt wasn't on the
last show because he asked this and was recovering
from a Kano throw punch. So for context, there
was a joke when Matt said, do we even practice
penalties? And then all of a sudden we're good
at them now. They were like, well, maybe you
willed it into existence. The joke was to ask
Kano, like, can you even win the USL championship?
to will that into existence obviously that never
happened and kano would not be happy about having
to answer that question we will he barely tolerates
us we would we would not never say that to him
but no he is uh he is spending time with family
so he is uh out having a good time here slacking
is the is the answer that you're looking for
i mean i wasn't gonna say it but Another Matt
here, Matt E says, Providence ninth largest market.
Does this translate to RFC? So this one is actually
coming in live from Matt Entrick and again, slacking.
He's watching the show, but not on it. You heard
it from not me. It depends. I think it's an interesting
one and I didn't think I really thought about
it. at first, I think it should, honestly. I
think, if I'm going to be honest, I do actually
think that us having a couple weeks off was a
bit of a missed opportunity in terms of growing
it. I know people would say the opposite because
there were World Cup games on, so who would come?
But at the same time, imagine having to tie an
army down for an RFC game. Do you know how amazing
that would have been? But I do think hopefully
this can translate. I do think the RFC need to
work off that. And as much as it happens with
You know the the media team is and all of that
and the actual team and board itself And I see
what the players as well again if we can pick
up a couple wins now with You know soccer being
so big in this state that I think we can easily
take this platform and keep growing Absolutely,
and I kind of spread my love around to a lot
of different watch parties And I went to a few
that were like quote -unquote official RFC ones
if you will and I saw them out there kind of
trying to get out there and spread the word but
i think what this shows is that there are a lot
of different communities in this state that all
love their team and like how do you grab their
attention then and say well you know of course
you can support Cape Verde of course you can
support Columbia but also you live in Rhode Island
we have a team here for you that's just like
10 minutes away like why don't you come down
i think it also could help if like it didn't
rain every single Saturday ever um because that
you know, hasn't been great for us. I think people
like look at the forecast and say, if you're
not a sicko, they're not going to just go stand
in the rain, you know, in shorts and a t -shirt
like I did last weekend. But there's still a
lot of work to do. And I think they need to continue
to like say, hey, we are here. Please come check
us out. But I think it's the bump is maybe not
going to be seen immediately. It's going to take
a little bit of time for that to to kind of pan
out. Yeah, I fully agree. Again, it's like you
can get them in the door, but can you kind of
get them to stay? And I think that is a lot on
the team itself and the players. And if we can
get those results and the weather, hopefully
August 8th, we get some sun. Bill S. asks, now
that RFC are in a playoff spot, where do you
see them finishing this season? Good question.
That's a good one. Yeah. So we're in eighth now.
Hopefully we can maintain that with a result
here on the weekend. um like if i look at the
table the the thing is here looking at teams
like all right we're not going to couch the rowdies
are we going to be like second or third probably
not i don't know if i'm convinced about louisville
they just got smacked around by the river hounds
their their form is a bit inconsistent miami
world cup fc like i To me, it's tough to see
this team really finishing in the top four. I
think there's a good opportunity for five or
six to be solid, but I just haven't seen enough
from the higher teams dropping form to really
give us the opportunity to sneak in there. What
are you thinking? Yeah, I fully agree. I think
for me, I'll give you two better, I'll give you
three predictions. My ceiling for us... I would
say is we creep into fourth and we get that home
playoff spot. Again, we are games in hand, so
if we do get two wins, that would actually put
us on one point above Louisville who's in fourth.
So that is a very big possibility and we're playing
very well. our floor for me is the worst I think
realistically we could do obviously barring any
injuries I would say it's probably eighth I don't
see us not making the playoffs I think last year
was my biggest worry of us not making the playoffs
and as per usual at the end of the season we
decided to turn up and got into that top eight
so I don't see that happening and if I'm gonna
be realistic and give my true prediction I think
I'm gonna agree with you and I'm gonna go fifth
I think we'll just barely miss that top four
but it'll have us a at a good point going into
the playoffs, playing the fourth team and being,
you know, the best of the bottom four, I definitely
think will be a big help for us going into the
playoff stretch. Yeah, I tend to agree too. I
don't see is there any opportunity that we miss
unless our team actually like crumbles apart
and everyone's injured. Yeah, we should maybe
not say this until this rumor is sorted out.
And then maybe we'll go back to this. Yeah, no,
I mean. You know, we'll edit it out didn't ever
happen. Yeah, we got it definitely not live or
anything. It's fine Yeah, no, it wasn't there.
Uh, zach t says is this a step down for foyo?
Isn't league one a better league than the usl
championship quick side note every time I see
his name. I want to say froyo Yeah, I saw people
I saw people the discord were saying that apothecary
needs to do like a froyo flavor a foyo froyo
Sold immediately sold It's a tough one. I think
it's very tough to look at the two different
leagues. As someone who does have a decent amount
of experience in the English pyramid, I do think
that it's one that hasn't been tested too much.
And I'm very interested to see how it tests up.
But it's important to also know that this isn't
a league one starter. This is a player that was
still struggling for minutes at Wimbledon. He
went on loan twice in order to sort of gain.
those minutes. So this isn't quite a League One
player. I'd say he's more of a League Two, kind
of in between a third and fourth division starter.
But again, I think it's going to be an interesting
way to find out. I think for him, you're looking
at getting minutes as a guarantee. But it also
does make me question, like, what did Connor
say to him? Because it is a big thing moving
all the way from England to the United States
to play a sport that isn't as big, you know,
I think, in League One. Having been dwindled
in games, the atmosphere is obviously incredible.
And you get near a sole out game every night
and we're not quite there yet not only as a club
but as a country so it is an interesting one
and i am wondering what sort of his buy -in was
from kano smith yeah what do we got here next
uh stacy l says a new forward yes is he supposed
to compete for jj's job or be a substitute i
take a look at this and say that um you know
Unless he's maybe trying and unless apparently
he's the one leaving who knows um then maybe
he's a starter if not I think he's a rotational
player, but I also think that because of his
flexibility there I think that Leo Alfonso's
position in this team which is already kind of
In flux in terms of him being a spit more of
a rotation player instead of a guaranteed starter
I think he could be vying for that spot, especially
if you've said that He could look like a player
who's better in a two -striker system. Maybe
we could see some kind of opportunity for him
to play as that second forward, if you will,
on one of the sides. Yeah, I certainly think
that he's, at a bare minimum, going to be competition
for JJ. I think it's important for every player,
no matter how good they're playing, to have some
sort of competition behind them. And I think
it's something we talked about a lot last year
on the podcast about how JJ didn't really have
any competition because Chico wasn't playing
to the highest of highs. So naturally, I think
it's going to help both of them be better. But
I certainly agree that it could be interesting.
He could start with J .J. That is a possibility.
He can play out wide and he can play a double
striker. But at a bare minimum, I think he's
going to be great to provide that competition
for J .J. Ben S says this new striker we brought
in seems to fit the build we like at that position.
He comes from an EFL league one side, but has
spent a majority of his time on loan in the lower
divisions. What type of impact are you expecting
to see from him in regards to the season? And
as well, do you see him as a future piece considering
we signed a long -term deal or is this more like
an Ndongo situation? I think this is a great
question and as someone that did a lot of research
on that Ndongo situation, I think it's very different.
I think Ndongo was coming in from a Cameroonian
league at 18. This is a player that's coming
from the English pyramid, you know, at his best.
He signed for Ipswich in the second division,
and he even got minutes for AFC Wimbledon in
the third division, and is 21. So these are two
very different things, where N'Dongo was definitely
a player that was for the future, as we mentioned
a lot. But this is a player that could certainly
come in and be an impact now. To what extent?
That's obviously tough to say. I think for me,
I expect him to be... As I said, bare minimum
competition for JJ. And I kind of think I see
that as the most for him. I think he maybe picks
up a couple of goals here and there off the bench.
I think we will see him every now and then playing
with JJ as a double striker, which I think it
will ever. mean that, you know, we start a game
with the both of them. I think that's maybe a
little bit far to say for this season, and I
don't think Kano will quite want to go with that,
as we've seen his love for the 4 -2 -3 -1 with
an attacking midfielder. So, again, for him,
I think a couple goals would be great for him.
You know, he's still young, so he's going to
improve, so I do see him as a future piece as
well, but not quite an indongo of, you know,
going to get barely any minutes this year. I
think he'll definitely come in and show some
impacts from the get -go. Next up we have from
PawtucketJ is when will Foyo be available? Good
question. So official word from the club is he's
still processing through ITC visa requirements
and isn't available for this match. Potentially,
I'm going to say Colo Spigs, but it all comes
down to how fast that documentation gets in order.
And then another one, speaking of PawtucketJ,
do we have a potential timeframe on this move
to happen? This is breaking news that we've got
from some of our sources. It's smoke at this
point. We don't know if this is actually a hundred
percent set to happen We will see as soon as
we have, you know confirmation We'll let you
guys know Do we have like an opposite of the
rocket gif? Like do you have like a leaving gif?
Like do we need to like reverse it like flip
it and then post that? Hmm That's good. Me and
Matt will have to workshop that and figure out
a gift for a departure. Those will definitely
be a lot more scary, right? When we see the incoming
rockets, we're like, oh, you know, everyone kind
of gets excited, anxious, like, you know, it's
Christmas. Like, what's going on? We see the
other ones like, oh no, get out the box of tissues.
Rachel H says here, are we done with signings
or will we continue to get reinforcements? So,
starting off with what we've heard from the club
is that the club is looking at more reinforcements.
Kano always says that he's still always looking.
We have heard that they are looking towards getting
more midfielders. Obviously, we've seen injuries
to Clay Holstad, Zach Harabaugh at the moment,
and we definitely see more injuries. I think
Hugo and AFC are playing a lot of minutes, so
to get one final fifth midfielder is very important.
I think that would be a great sign. Again, we
talked about it on last week's pod. that that
would be a very good move as well. Now that we've
gotten that striker that we both said was kind
of the important one that we needed, can we now
go and get another midfielder to help compete
for that double pivot role? Yeah. And then also
assuming if this potential MLS move happens,
we're probably going to need someone else, too.
So I say there there is a very good possibility
that we sign a few more players this window.
Last one here. Oh, no, I skipped over one years.
We have from Eric N. Are we at our best right
now to take on Pittsburgh? We've never beaten
them in regular season, but I feel like we're
ready to change our fortunes. Am I setting my
expectations too high? There's a part of me that's
like, I think we got this. I don't want to get
too overconfident because we've talked about,
we haven't done well against them, but I just
don't know if I'm convinced that they Are the
real deal to a certain extent the only thing
that worries me is that is it is an away game
I'd be a lot more confident if it was at home
say like we got they'll find we'll we'll find
a way to get this done Centerville Bank Stadium
is a fortress but III I understand sentiment.
I do think that we're in a good position and
I think the form has been pretty well I for us
and I think there's a good opportunity that we
could at minimum like sneak away with a draw
here against the team. We haven't, we've not
gotten a draw against them since the very first
time that we've played them. So honestly, if
you think about it that way, like that is an
improvement, right? It's like, it's not, it's
not the points we want. It's the points we deserve.
Uh, last one here to round out the questions,
Matt E. I obvious, I'm pretty sure this is Matt.
Are we seeing the Ipswich pipeline be constructed?
did bread johnson have anything to do with this
it's funny because he is asking this to us as
the insider he would know these and i i definitely
think it's possible i don't know if you've gotten
any sort of insider of course they drop this
news like while i'm like busy at work and i just
like who i I am not free for the next nine hours.
Like I can't do it. Yeah, you know again, of
course I wrote everything for this bond yesterday
and then woke up to this news So I just had to
rewrite everything but it's fine I mean again
from what we've heard You know, we don't have
any specifics on how this move came about to
be it's a possibility for sure I mean, I wouldn't
be surprised if there was some connection that
helped in a way So she sort of convinced him
to come to an island FC But I think this would
be a great pipeline to have. I think we've seen
it with Minnesota United and the MLS, but to
have one in Europe and in the English leagues
in particular, where the English pyramid is so
deep and you can get so many different players,
whether it's English -born players, as you're
seeing with FOIA Dutch -born players and players
from other European countries. I think this would
be huge if this is what is happening. We are
seeing this pipeline be constructed from RAFC
to European leagues. Absolutely. I hope it is
the start of a relationship. I think that having
those abilities to reach out to clubs who have
players who need that development and need to
play in a competitive league and actually get
some minutes can be huge and give us an opportunity
to bring in players. Tie that even into the fact
that maybe we are selling players to MLS. That
could be a pipeline for players like, Hey, the
reality is maybe I'm not good enough to cut it
at the top. Maybe I've always had this dream
of playing in America or something or just to
get another opportunity I mean we've even seen
the MLS is now trying to change They want to
change the windows hashtag not an MLS soccer
show So they can be more attractive to sell players
back to other leagues like maybe it's this weird
Cyclical move where we're taking in players send
them up and then they get to move back finally
like after some more developments Thank you everyone
for sending in your questions always appreciate
it Please always just send, send us in your questions.
Uh, always a great time. Let's, let's round this
out here. Uh, looking at the refs, we have head
ref Abdul Ndiaye, Josh Lampkins, Miklos Hendrix
and Pavel Grigoriev. I didn't recognize his ref.
And since we got burned a few matches ago, I
was like, well, let me just check, see if I can
figure out what this guy did. Uh, he was the
ref for the 2024 USL. or he was the 2024 usl
championship ref of the year i don't know if
that was per se good or bad he did ref the 2024
colos big final which i think we were just bad
in i don't particularly remember any kind of
egregious calls uh the loss to new mexico united
which is not great but so you know we're striking
out for two but also another game where just
we weren't on it However, he reffed the OG goalers
goals galore 8 -1 against Miami. So I don't know.
I mean, I think it's probably fine. I'm not going
to read in too much to it. It's a away game.
So we are back at the guild. Watch party 7 p
.m. If you are unable to make it there, you can
catch the match on ESPN Select, Nessen Plus,
or you can listen along on the radio on 790 the
score. with Nick and Tom. Thank you again, Storm,
so much for filling in for Matt here. Maybe he'll
need to go on a few more vacations so we can
have you on the show more often. Anytime, anytime.
Awesome. Hey, well, thanks everyone for joining
us tonight. Take care. We hope to see you this
weekend. Anchor's up. Anchor's up. You've been
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