Kyle Adams

I think they're fine at right wing back without him now.

I was curious, watching him play with the ball and start to do a lot of the things that Kyle Adams did in his Defensive Player of the Year season a year ago, where he was carrying the ball forward into the half space, and he was operating as the initiator, maybe more so than we saw their midfielding players occupy that role, which allowed for Taylor Dabela to have a lot more freedom to go and find the game and find danger areas to pick the ball up instead of having to progress it for them.

Um, and I think helped them in the moments of repress, although they were few and far between, in a similar way that Adams did, is that first kinda cork in the bottle to help them win those 50/50s when teams went long.

So do you, A, have the same kind of analysis of the game and, and Adam McFadden's part in it, and then B, think that that's something that projects well for a sustainable possible, positive uptick in that role that they've been missing?

The u- the royal purple for Louisville.

Back three, left to right, Adams, Kevin Lambert, and then, uh, you had Aiden McFadden on the right side, right center back.

A midfield four from left to right, um, Davila, Dia in the middle, Perez in the middle, and Niang in the middle.

This is what I was seeing, by the way, on the, on the, the pre-screen graphic that came in.

In case you lose it, what does your defensive shape look like right away, and what could be exploited? And it just stood out to me so quickly, and i- it, it's kind of common sense, but if you can ensure from a Lou City point, right, that you limit Hartford from being able to play the ball into the channels behind you, you know, literally nice solid balls into behind, they should be okay, right? 'Cause if you, if, if, if you can ensure that balls are being played into space, from Hartford's side, you'll find success in building, right, holding off possession of the third.

And that was my thing.

But the high balls, I'm talking lofted clearances from Louisville's side, they can handle that between Adams and Kevin Lambert.

I'm sorry, I'm always gonna do a Jamaican accent.

I'm sure they've got all that squared away.

Um, I saw Caitlin, or I'm sorry, I saw Sav and, uh, Kyle Adams at, sitting at a table at the soccer ball, and my wife and I had a running five-minute joke where we talked about if those two choose to have kids, you don't talk about like, "Oh, those kids will be beautiful," because both of those people are beautiful.

"Oh, those people...

Oh, their, their kids will be great soccer players," because both those players are great soccer players.

It's a very easy answer.

Kyle Adams.

So Three Kings United kid when he was little.

So Auckland-based, came to the Ole Football Academy.

Yeah.

Coaches are made of mine there.

And, and I don't think Kyle will mind me saying is like, The moment I met Kyle Adams, I fell in love with his character.

Like this guy, unbelievable human being.