Peter and Jon make sure to reference their recent vacations within the first 10 minutes. A recent cup loss is mostly ignored. We talk about where we’d like to see improvement, or a potential change to the roster, and agree it is either in attack or defense. But all agree things are looking up.

Things look good! Maybe its an illusion! Who cares?! Also, we discuss Romanian soccer and Alabaman ska.

We talk about what differences we’re seeing in the Roots under Benny Feilhaber, and whether we expect anything from the cup tie with Monterey Bay.

Optimism over some steps in the right direction for the Roots. Anger over some leaps in the wrong direction for the country.

Well, we talk about it. Soccer has happened, but who cares? We’ve got a new coach. We wonder why this move happened, and how we’re measuring success going forward. Then we complain about penalty kicks.

Was the North Carolina result a step back, or consistent with Roots’ recent performances? How is it that every team seems to score bangers against Oakland? How long has Peter had a Reddit account? We discuss.

Jon and Peter talk through their feelings about the Roots before eventually realizing things are ok right now. Peter makes another good Jagermeister Cup joke, but we can’t use all of them as episode titles. Concerts are discussed.

Things are decidedly better than they were two weeks ago! We discuss the shifts in formation and overall strategy, contemplate where improvement can still be had, marvel at the geography of League One, and compare notes on the ways in which we usually spend our Sundays.

It’s getting pretty bleak out there, friends. Also the Roots haven’t been playing very good soccer! We discuss.

No answers were provided to the burning questions raised last episode, but the general consensus is that the Las Vegas match was still a step in the right direction.