The Hot Cast

Ruben and RJ are back this week for a quick episode of the Hot Cast. In today's show, they discuss the 0-0 draw against a DC United side trying to figure themselves out. They talk about the improvements at full-back for the Fire and how that will help them move forward. After that, they talk a bit about up front and what the club needs to do to get back to the way they were playing and scoring...

Welcome back to the Hot Cast! Ruben and RJ return to discuss the Fire's first win of the year. Unfortunately, it's not the happy discussion that one would think. The Fire blew a 2-0 lead and the hosts are feeling some type of way about it. They also discuss Ezra Hendrickson's stubbornness about the number 10 situation. Then they go on to talk about next week's game against DC Unite...

The Chicago Fire blew another 2 goal lead and Ruben and RJ have things to say! On this week's episode of the Hot Cast, your hosts discuss the collapse against Cincinnati while also being positive about the things they should be positive about like the play of Maren Haile-Selassie and Brian Gutierrez. Ruben then breaks down where the Fire went wrong on the goals. Then they discuss why they play...

Welcome back to they return of the HotCast. On Today's show, Ruben and RJ talk about the two opening games of the season, and how much trouble they think the Fire are actually in. They break down what worked and didn't work against NYCFC and Philly; including a breakdown of the how the Fire stopped the Union from finding many dangerous chances. Then they discuss the news of the new left-back, &nbs...

The Chicago Fire are back and so is the Hot Cast! For the 5th year, Ruben and RJ Preview the season just days before the first match against NYCFC. They review all the outgoing and incoming players before talking about each position group and their key players, including what they think about Kacper Przybylko, Xherdan Shaqiri, and new face Arnoud Souquet (and hear Ruben struggle with basic French...

The 2023 schedule is out and that means the return of the Hot Cast! Ruben and RJ return to talk first about the last month or so of soccer. From the World Cup and Xherdan Shaqiri's performances to the tragedy surrounding Grant Whal's passing. Then they talk bout Jhan Duran's situation. What clubs are coming for him, and where the best place for him to end up would be. After that, they transition i...

It's been an absolutely crazy couple of days in Qatar and Ruben and Alex are here to talk about it. Group E and Group H finished off with some crazy results and some surprise additions to the knockout stage. Ghana get revenge of a sort against Uruguay for the actions of 12 years ago and South Korea continue the country's year of miracles by beating Portugal and qualifying themselves into the last...

Welcome to episode 2 of the World Cast, Hot Time's World Cup podcast. Today on the show, Ruben and Alex start by talking about their feelings on the tournament as a whole, from the lack of quality games and the crackdown on protesters of all sorts to the amazing upsets and teams underperforming. Then they go over all the groups and scenarios on who will make the knockout stage. They talk about wha...

Welcome to the World Cast! Hot Time in Old Town's World Cup podcast. In this episode, Ruben and Alex preview the group stage and get you ready for the month-long journey in West Asia. They start by going over the USMNT roster and attempt to figure out who's going to start up top and on the wings, as well as what their ideal XI is. They then go group by group talking about the teams and who will su...

On the final episode of the HotCast for the 2022 season, Ruben and RJ take stock of the Fire in a free-flowing conversation that takes you all over the place. They start with the question of whether or not the campaign was a disappointment (it was) and from there, they discuss what part randomness had to play in the fate of the 2022 Men in Red. From there, they discuss what the club needs to do in...

On this week's episode of the Hot Cast, Ruben and RJ break down all things Fire at Cincinnati. They discuss all the blossoming of young talent on this team after the Team of the Week performances by both Brian Gutierrez and Jhon Duran. They then question whether or no the team is better without Xherdan Shaqiri, and what that could mean going into next year. They then leapfrog from that to discussi...

The Hot Cast returns as Ruben and RJ are here to herald the end of the season. They start the show talking about Saturday's collapse against Charlotte, and the play of Kendell Burks, and how he's a talented but not an MLS-level player. (yet, according to Ruben) And from there, they talk about Xherdan Shaqiri. How he seems uninterested in helping the Fire and they discuss whether or not the Fire sh...

On today's show, Ruben and RJ talk about the virtual end of the Chicago Fire's season. They go over the good, bad, and indifferent of the two games against Miami and Montreal- including the performances of their younger players. That dovetails into a discussion about Ezra's job as a coach as well as Georg Heitz's positive and negative qualities. Then, they start thinking about next season a bit as...

Ruben and RJ are back to discuss the week in Fire news. They start by briefly discussing the results of the two Derbys from last week, both 0-0 draws on the road. They complain a bit about the Gillette Stadium field quality and lament the lack of finishing from Fire attackers. Then they talk about the injuries that have plagued the team's creative players for the last month. They then get positive...

Ruben and RJ are back this week to prematurely eulogize the Chicago Fire's season. They dissect the loss against Montreal and explain how it wasn't that bad a performance until they couldn't score any goals. They then talked about the injuries to Shaqiri and Czichos and how that, more than the loss itself, was the nail in the Fire's coffin. They then talk about how the club are going to finish the...

Ruben and RJ are back to discuss the demoralizing loss to NYCFC. They break down what went wrong for the Fire, including an in-depth explanation of what happened during the pigeon's first goal. They also discuss what City did well and how they smothered the Fire's potent midfield attack. They eventually move on to talk about the injury problems and what they're going to do if Carlos Teran isn't he...

The Hot Cast returns to look at the Fire's loss against the Union. Ruben and RJ break down the defensive errors, and both of them have positive and negative things to say. They then talk about what the Fire should do moving forward without Gaston Gimenez, including tactics and personnel decisions that need to be made rather quickly. After that, they leave MLS behind to talk a little about the firs...

Ruben and RJ return with another episode of the Hot Cast. On today's show, they rap about the Fire's come from behind win on the road in Charlotte. They discuss how this wouldn't have happened in the past, and how this team's mental fortitude projects to good things going forward. They also talk about how good the defense was, considering the circumstances, and they praise Xherdan Shaqiri and Kacp...

Welcome back to the Hot Cast. Ruben and RJ start the show with the big news of the week; Gabriel Slonina's impending transfer to Chelsea in England. They discuss what it means for his career, the pros and cons of the move, and what it means for the Fire. Then they go on to break down the Fire's 0-0 draw with Atlanta. They talk about Jairo Torres getting the start, as well as all of the other tweak...

Ruben and RJ return to the Hot Cast! On today's show, your hosts discuss the amazing turnaround of the Fire's season over the last 10 or so days. They talk about what's happened for the Fire to get there, and what they need to do to continue to get better in order to not just make the playoffs, but do some damage there. They look forward to the weekend against Atlanta and fantasize about the resul...

On today's episode of the Hot Cast, Ruben and RJ break down the game against Columbus. They discuss the role the front office and coaching staff played in the Fire's total collapse, and what Ezra and co. could have done to change the outcome. They then have a frank discussion on where the club is both in the season and toward the future. Then things get a bit positive toward the end as Ruben discu...

Ruben and RJ are back to squeeze in a HotCast! Recorded just after the Final Whistle on Wednesday, your hosts revel in the victory as much as they can, breaking down what went right against Philly that didn't happen on Saturday in Houston. They talk about Shaqiri's effectiveness and relitigate where he's most effected. All of that and more on this post-game edition of the Hot Cast. Note: Ruben was...

Ruben and RJ are back from the international break, and so are the Fire's winning ways! Your hosts break down all the happenings of the match. They praise the breakout performance of Brian Gutierrez as well as heap praise on Chris Mueller. Then they talk about the narrative surrounding Gaston Gimenez and how is performances don't quite fit it. They go on to talk about all the things they missed fr...

Start your 4 day week right with this week's episode of the Hot Cast. Ruben and RJ talk about the heartbreaker against TFC and what went wrong (spoiler, not much), and why it always seems to happen to the Fire. Then, they talk tactics. They figure out why things looked so good over the weekend Ruben makes an argument that the Fire are clearly better then their record is, and RJ pushes back a littl...

The Hot Cast is tired. Ruben and RJ slog through the week that was in Chicago Frie Soccer. They talk through the Fire's week in New York and while there was a lot of good play, the results trump the good progress they've made. They continue to talk about the struggles of Xherdan Shaqiri and what the team has to do to get him going. They then branch out to talk a bit about the larger soccer world,...