Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans react to The Herons’ 3-0 defeat to LAFC on Saturday and what it means for this season. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Look, my theory, as you know it, Christian, is that the first 10 matches of an MLS season really don’t matter.
That’s basically still pre-season, ’cause everyone makes it in the playoffs, but you don’t wanna get blown out on your season opener, especially if you’re the champion.
Should Messi, should Miami fans be worried about this?
I mean, if you have Messi on your team, why bother worrying?
But it was a, a interesting, reality of like, oh, they did make a lot of changes.
Busquets is gone- Mm-hmm Alba’s gone, and this team genuinely looks a little bit different, and it looks like they’re gonna have some a- there’s gonna be a clear adjustment period, even though Messi is there.
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It’s not just that generally looks different.
I mean, this team looks like I think now we’re gonna see exactly what Javier Mascherano/Messi/ you know, Suarez, can really do to bring this team together, and it’s Look, you’ve- we’ve got a lot of time, but I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, LAFC, they’re coming in with a brand-new coach.
They’ve got some new additions to the team.
They also have some stuff to prove, right?
The Shirondo era is over.
now it’s the Dos Santos era, and they looked unified.
They looked like they were You know, they’ve been playing together for years.
They look like they’ve been playing under the system, which, granted, it’s not that much different.
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It’s a little bit more possession-based than I think it was under Shirondo, but it’s really not that different, at least from what we’ve seen so far.
Well, when you go to Miami, it looks like they just, they just met.
It was really rough- Yeah and Messi, in particular, didn’t have a great game, and I think that calls into question how much of a loss Busquets might actually be, because if you’re Messi, you can’t do it all on your own.
He can’t, he can’t m- make all the calls.
He can’t make all the movements.
He can’t, you know, pass to all the players and put them in, in great position and then also get in position to himself.
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We’re talking about a, what, a 38-year-old man?
Like, you need to be able to service him.
You have to be able to get him the ball, and right now, without Busquets, who is that?
Who’s supposed to be that guy?
Messi and the referees.
Let’s get into it.
This is an official statement from PRO.
I just wanna mention- Exclusive on The Cooligans.
‘Cause I, I, I contacted PRO directly.
Quote, “It’s a glass door.
People have to be clever enough to know you don’t have transparent doors on rooms people get dressed in, surely,” close quote.
Maybe he wouldn’t have gone in, but he was just simply trying to get the ref’s attention, asking about a certain foul or whatever.
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I tried to think back, ’cause I watched the game.
I tried to think back, like, what’s the moment he’s probably most upset about?
there was, there was a moment where he ran into the back of, Was it I can’t remember what player he ran into, and he sort of hurt his- he hurt his head.
He laid on the ground for a little bit.
Yes.
And I believe- Port- Porteus.
Porteus, yeah.
Ryan Porteus, yeah.
And I believe that wasn’t called as a foul, and I There was, like, a He- I mean, they were kinda They were hunting him a little bit, and maybe that’s what he was upset about.
I wish I knew exactly what he was upset about, but you know- There was another, there was another foul, like, at the top of the box that I think he wanted he, he wanted it to be a foul, but I think the player did get the ball.
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and he seemed pretty upset about that one.
I think the most- I don’t- I think the most important thing of it all is when Luis Suarez is telling you, “Yo, you’re going too far,” you’re definitely going too far.
You know what I mean?
That’s a, that’s a moment to worry.
The video is kind of crazy to see, Luis Suarez being like, “Yo, you gotta chill, dog.”