Jun 10, 2026 · 55 min · 12 segments
Republic FC suffered a disappointing defeat in Phoenix, and the Quail Call crew breaks down what went wrong in what may have been Sacramento’s toughest performance of the season. The conversation…
Ryan TPanelistRyanPanelistRachelHostAnother two weeks are down for Republic FC with a shocking two-zero loss to the home team Phoenix.
It should have been to no surprise to Republic considering the true home advantage that Phoenix has.
And in continuing their unbeaten regular se- uh, season record, Phoenix commanded the first half and took every misstep and opportunity Republic handed them in terms of the season.
So my question is, do we call this the worst performance of the season?
Yes.
[laughs] And close enough.
The first half in particular, that was, that was rough.
That was really, really bad.
Yeah, I thought, um, some pretty surprising, uh, performances, uh, particularly from Desmond.
You know, this is the kind of player that, I mean, last episode we were talking about holds the line and makes lots of smart calls and plays for, for our team, and it just seemed to be a little rattled.
Maybe everybody seemed to be a little rattled, and the performance was just kind of gut-wrenching, uh, from my viewing standpoint.
Uh, any sort of standouts for anyone else?
I, I mean, they're more of, of sit-downs than standouts for players who did not perform well.
[laughs]
Um, unfortunately, I think we have to mention Benitez here.
Um, he got beat on the si- um, regularly.
Phoenix...
If you read the tactical article, by the way, a little plug there, um, Phoenix basically targeted our left side, their right side, the entire match.
Basically, they read the book on Republic, which we telegraphed and never changed, which is that Benitez pushes pretty high up on the left side.
And usually what's happened in the past is Chrysostomos have dropped into the middle of the defense so that both center backs, whoever's playing center back on that given day, can go out wide to cover.
He stayed high up.
So, and when Benitez pushed up on the left side, there was nobody behind him, and Phoenix saw that when they watched film be- the week before and they did their scouting, and they targeted it the entire match.
It also didn't help that in front of Benitez on the left side, you have Malongo, who just could not hold onto the ball.
Another two weeks are down for Republic FC with a shocking two-zero loss to the home team Phoenix.
It should have been to no surprise to Republic considering the true home advantage that Phoenix has.
And in continuing their unbeaten regular se- uh, season record, Phoenix commanded the first half and took every misstep and opportunity Republic handed them in terms of the season.
So my question is, do we call this the worst performance of the season?
Yes.
[laughs] And close enough.
The first half in particular, that was, that was rough.
That was really, really bad.
Yeah, I thought, um, some pretty surprising, uh, performances, uh, particularly from Desmond.
You know, this is the kind of player that, I mean, last episode we were talking about holds the line and makes lots of smart calls and plays for, for our team, and it just seemed to be a little rattled.
Maybe everybody seemed to be a little rattled, and the performance was just kind of gut-wrenching, uh, from my viewing standpoint.
Uh, any sort of standouts for anyone else?
I, I mean, they're more of, of sit-downs than standouts for players who did not perform well.
[laughs]
Um, unfortunately, I think we have to mention Benitez here.
Um, he got beat on the si- um, regularly.
Phoenix...
If you read the tactical article, by the way, a little plug there, um, Phoenix basically targeted our left side, their right side, the entire match.
Basically, they read the book on Republic, which we telegraphed and never changed, which is that Benitez pushes pretty high up on the left side.
And usually what's happened in the past is Chrysostomos have dropped into the middle of the defense so that both center backs, whoever's playing center back on that given day, can go out wide to cover.
He stayed high up.
So, and when Benitez pushed up on the left side, there was nobody behind him, and Phoenix saw that when they watched film be- the week before and they did their scouting, and they targeted it the entire match.
It also didn't help that in front of Benitez on the left side, you have Malongo, who just could not hold onto the ball.
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