Andrew Gutman and Jason Longshore Chat With the Scarves and Spikes Podcast

“They played a style that I don’t think I’ll ever see again.”

The match against Liga de Expansion side Atlante FC was one of the many topics Atlanta United left-back Andrew Gutman discussed with the Scarves and Spikes crew on Wednesday before they were joined by Atlanta soccer godfather and 92.9 radio analyst Jason Longshore.

“They wouldn’t have any midfielders in the middle of the field, they would push them all out wide to create overloads...In that sense it was good for us to learn to adapt mid-game and try to figure out how to defend against these guys.”

Scarves and Spikes

Goatman (or Andrew as he allegedly prefers, jury is still out) highlighted much of the team-bonding activities that the group has been involved in over the past few days. One such activity was a round of golf he took with Brooks Lennon, Miles Robinson, and Jackson Conway, but another involved something much more...impromptu.

“It’s Mexico so anything can kinda happen down here,” he laughed as he described dinner one evening. A random guy at the restaurant had the different tables with team members hold hands while he used a device to send a surge of electricity that coursed through everyone.

“Obviously our table won because we had Brad, because Brad’s a psycho.”

He also described his first round loss in the rock, paper, scissors contest that actually ended up on SportsCenter in Mexico.

“You played someone, everyone played each other and then if you lost then you had to be like their hype man, so if you won two or three games you had like 10 or 15 people behind you...the final was Purata and Amar and obviously Purata won because he’s down in Mexico in his home country.”

Home field advantage is for real.

He also went on to describe many of the team’s goals from the preseason matches, his off-season trip, his status as one of the hardest-working left backs in the U.S., and how he’s gained coach Gonzalo Pineda’s trust with his unique play style. Be sure to check out the entire interview with Scarves and Spikes via the links below.

Goatman himself wasn’t the only guest on the show, however, as Jason Longshore joined and hit on a variety of topics including his new show on 92.9 The Game, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Atlanta soccer history, and the fabled 3rd signing that Gonzalo Pineda hinted at a few weeks back.

“Where [Gutman] is going to benefit from someone like Giakoumakis is the movement,” he said as he described Atlanta’s newest signing and how he could elevate the other portions of the attack. ...”that’s where Gutman and Etienne are going to feast a bit.”

Longshore pointed out that the next signing for Atlanta United could very well be another forward, perhaps as a bit of depth alongside Giakoumakis and Jackson Conway, or potentially another midfielder. However, he reiterated that the club currently has a ton of depth in midfield, so certain positional signings might come at a cost of other player movement.

Either way, anyone who has listened to Jason throughout his broadcasting career knows he’s a wealth of knowledge about the sport, so while bits and pieces here won’t ever do it justice, the conversation was outstanding on the podcast. His overall opinion of the club, barring any of last season’s misfortunes, is rather high.

Just knock on wood and burn some sage.

Keep 2022 behind us and go give the guys, alongside Longshore and Gutman, a listen.

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