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U.S. vs. Senegal Reaction: Pulisic Is Back! Player Ratings & Defensive Concerns · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

0:00
Speaker 1: Oh no, no question, PEPPI was definitely as stuck up
0:03
Speaker 1: because now it may I think it makes everyone think, well,
0:07
Speaker 1: you know, this is a great player, how can we
0:09
Speaker 1: have them on the bench.
0:12
Speaker 2: Greetings, folks, and welcome back to Inside American Soccer. I'm
0:17
Speaker 2: Matt Doyle, filling in for Tom Boger, who's about six
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Speaker 2: beers deep at a wedding right now, and I'm joined
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Speaker 2: by one of the greatest players in US soccer history,
0:26
Speaker 2: a veteran of three World Cups, tab Ramos tab It
0:29
Speaker 2: is good to see you again, my friend, and especially
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Speaker 2: under these circumstances. Coming off a big three to two
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Speaker 2: win over Senegal, which was a lot nicer than the
0:38
Speaker 2: last time we did this show together on the back
0:41
Speaker 2: of those five two drubbing and two nil against Portugal,
0:44
Speaker 2: feels a lot nicer now.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I'm glad. I'm glad that you came
0:49
Speaker 1: back for this because, yeah, you're right, last time we
0:52
Speaker 1: left we were both crying a little bit about what's
0:54
Speaker 1: gonna happen next. So no, it's great to have you back.
0:58
Speaker 1: And I have to you know, I'm starting to get
1:01
Speaker 1: really excited about the World Cup. Let's forget the game
1:03
Speaker 1: for a second. Tomorrow I get to go to Philly
1:06
Speaker 1: and pick up my World Cup credential. So it feels
1:10
Speaker 1: real once you can hang the thing over your neck,
1:12
Speaker 1: you know, and have it. So I think starting tomorrow
1:16
Speaker 1: it's going to start to feel a little bit more
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Speaker 1: real for me. So I'm excited about that.
1:20
Speaker 2: Are you posted up in Philly and New Jersey for
1:24
Speaker 2: the entire World Cup? You're traveled around a little bit?
1:27
Speaker 1: I have, So I have most of my games in
1:29
Speaker 1: Philadelphia and a couple games in Toronto. That's it. That's it.
1:34
Speaker 1: I just stay Eastern time zone.
1:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's not bad. That's not bad getting to go
1:39
Speaker 2: across the border to Toronto experience it there a little bit.
1:43
Speaker 2: Our northern neighbors it's a big tournament for them as well.
1:48
Speaker 2: But it's a big tournament here and let's get right
1:50
Speaker 2: at it. What was your reaction to this three two
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Speaker 2: win over Senegal today from the US. I think a
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Speaker 2: much needed win for the US to not play well,
2:00
Speaker 2: but to put the ball in the back of the
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Speaker 2: net to get out of there with the W.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know, that's a great way to
2:06
Speaker 1: put it. We we didn't need a win. We needed
2:10
Speaker 1: to play well, and we did for a long time
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Speaker 1: in this game. You know here, you know, so maybe
2:17
Speaker 1: here's where I'm gonna go with this a little bit.
2:19
Speaker 1: I think my expectations have to change, right because I
2:23
Speaker 1: think I've been after and I've been adamant about us
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Speaker 1: building a team at some point and building that cohesion
2:31
Speaker 1: and and those you know, combinations and between players and
2:36
Speaker 1: developing that over the last about two years that Mariso
2:40
Speaker 1: Borchetino has had this team. And yet every camp we say, okay,
2:45
Speaker 1: well it's gonna be the next one. The next one
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Speaker 1: is going to bring everybody together, and the next one
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Speaker 1: is the time when we're going to start building. And
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Speaker 1: I just think that when I'm watching our national team,
2:56
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm watching an all star team, right.
2:59
Speaker 1: It gives that feel willing to me of everyone's good.
3:03
Speaker 1: Everyone that has the ball can do something, but not
3:06
Speaker 1: everyone else knows what that one person is going to
3:08
Speaker 1: do at a different time. And you know, in the
3:13
Speaker 1: in the first half, when I saw the connection of
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Speaker 1: Peppi and Polisic and how Peppy brought Polisic into life,
3:22
Speaker 1: really we haven't seen Polsic this way with the national
3:25
Speaker 1: team in a long time, and I think Peppy dropping
3:27
Speaker 1: into the hole sort of broke Polisic into the game.
3:32
Speaker 1: It freed him up because the defenders didn't know whether
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Speaker 1: to go with him or stay back. Polisic was able
3:37
Speaker 1: to exploit, you know, the space behind you know, these
3:40
Speaker 1: are the things that I think you and I were
3:42
Speaker 1: talking about this six eight months ago when we were
3:45
Speaker 1: doing the podcast, when we said, these are the little
3:47
Speaker 1: combinations that we have to start building because you know,
3:50
Speaker 1: during games, you don't know if those last for a
3:52
Speaker 1: long time, if it just happened two or three times,
3:54
Speaker 1: and if it did, and we can't get that back,
3:56
Speaker 1: and we work on that. So that's part of the
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Speaker 1: way we play. So I'm not sure of what I
4:01
Speaker 1: saw today with Peppi and Polisic. It's something that just
4:04
Speaker 1: happened because we were watching an all star team and
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Speaker 1: the players are very good, or if that was part
4:10
Speaker 1: of how we play, and if that is part of
4:12
Speaker 1: how we play, Wait a minute, we have number nine
4:16
Speaker 1: that was one of the hottest number nines in the world,
4:19
Speaker 1: you know, about a month ago, and who, by the way,
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Speaker 1: played an excellent second half. Where does ego? If this
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Speaker 1: is an important part, So I have mixed feelings. But overall,
4:29
Speaker 1: I will go with what you started this with, which
4:32
Speaker 1: is we needed a win. We got the win, we
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Speaker 1: deserve the win, and we have to move from it,
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Speaker 1: hopefully with a lot of confidence.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, you talked about partnerships and chemistry and the type
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Speaker 2: of things that you see from a real team rather
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Speaker 2: than just a collection of talent, and we got that
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Speaker 2: in good chunks. Two very different groups in the first
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Speaker 2: half and the second half though, And the thing that
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Speaker 2: sort of jumped out to me to have was the
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Speaker 2: connection between p and Polistic. Peppi is a type of
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Speaker 2: forward who he can run the channels, but what he
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Speaker 2: really does well is occupy opposing center backs, and we
5:08
Speaker 2: saw that right from the jump. I think I was
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Speaker 2: watching and made a note within ninety seconds about how
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Speaker 2: good Peppy's hold up play was. And that allowed Christian
5:17
Speaker 2: to just be an attacker right. He was not asked
5:20
Speaker 2: to be a playmaker. He was just running the channels,
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Speaker 2: getting to the end line at will. Made it look easy,
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Speaker 2: getting down the scoreboard, setting up desks for the opener.
5:31
Speaker 2: The second half, both those guys go out, we see
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Speaker 2: Weston mckennie come in and play underneath flow Balligan flow.
5:40
Speaker 2: Baligan is a very different type of striker. He's a
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Speaker 2: guy who likes to run the channels, whereas Weston mckennie
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Speaker 2: when he's playing as an attacking midfielder, he doesn't run
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Speaker 2: the channel so much as he comes to the ball,
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Speaker 2: tries to get defenders on his back and then turn
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Speaker 2: and play guys through. Each group had really good chemistry.
5:59
Speaker 2: How do you bring that all together over the course
6:03
Speaker 2: of ninety minutes against Germany before the World Cup kicks
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Speaker 2: off for real, because it was two different teams out there.
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Speaker 1: Well, you don't. The easy answer is you don't. You
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Speaker 1: don't bring it together. I think, you know, even when
6:14
Speaker 1: we later on were probably going to project the next lineup,
6:18
Speaker 1: I think after today, I'm done projecting what I think
6:21
Speaker 1: Poshatino is going to do because I just don't think
6:24
Speaker 1: it makes any sense for me to do that. I'm
6:27
Speaker 1: just going to put a lineup together that I think
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Speaker 1: is what kind of makes sense with what I saw
6:31
Speaker 1: and what I've seen over the last you know, six months.
6:35
Speaker 1: But I think it's difficult to build a team this way.
6:38
Speaker 1: You know, you have two teams they both did well.
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Speaker 1: You have two number nine they both did well. Now
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Speaker 1: you realize that your best player at Christian Polisic plays
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Speaker 1: best with likely the number nine, that's not the best
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Speaker 1: number nine. How do you fit that in? And you know,
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Speaker 1: at this point I have to say, I'm glad I'm
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Speaker 1: not the coach.
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Speaker 2: I don't know. These are kind of first world problems
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Speaker 2: at least too much talent and just a question of
7:02
Speaker 2: how to fit it together rather than not enough talent
7:04
Speaker 2: and how do you hide that. But let's go into
7:07
Speaker 2: the mentality piece, because we both said this is a
7:10
Speaker 2: win that the US needed, especially coming off what happened
7:13
Speaker 2: in that March window. Is there a danger with the
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Speaker 2: US team going into a World Cup having a performance
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Speaker 2: like this you get maybe a little too far out
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Speaker 2: over your skis a little too overloaded with optimism? Or
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Speaker 2: is this just unquestionably a good thing to have a
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Speaker 2: performance like this in the bag as you prepare.
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Speaker 1: No, I don't think there's anything negative at all about
7:35
Speaker 1: getting a win like this, because I think at the
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Speaker 1: end of the day, you have two separate groups and
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Speaker 1: about twenty players that played today who should be confident
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Speaker 1: about how they contributed. Obviously, some did well, some didn't
7:48
Speaker 1: do as well, but overall, as a group. You have
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Speaker 1: to be happy. You got a big win and everyone
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Speaker 1: pretty much contributed to this, which allows you to have
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Speaker 1: a great locker room over the next four or five days.
8:00
Speaker 1: The team feels good about itself. Yet no one knows
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Speaker 1: likely who's going to start the next game, because you know,
8:06
Speaker 1: we obviously don't know that either.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been tough to tell the whole time through
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Speaker 2: with Murcio Pochetino who would start the next game. But
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Speaker 2: it seems like a certainty that Alex Freeman has won
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Speaker 2: a starting job. I'm will to go out on the
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Speaker 2: ledge and say Alex Friquet is a starter for this team.
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Speaker 2: When he made that move to Villa Real, we were
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Speaker 2: both worried about it because he's a talented kid. But
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Speaker 2: moving to a team like that was Champions League team
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Speaker 2: in a league like that, which is the second best
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Speaker 2: league in the world at worst, can be too much
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Speaker 2: for players. It hasn't proved to be too much for him.
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Speaker 2: He was able to settle in By the end of
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Speaker 2: the season. He was a part time starter. I think
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Speaker 2: he went ninety three of their final four games, and
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Speaker 2: he came out today and I thought he was great.
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Speaker 2: The defensive side of the ball, really really good, sort
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Speaker 2: of in that flexback role in a back three when
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Speaker 2: they had the ball, and then defending as a full
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Speaker 2: when they had to switch into a back four banks
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Speaker 2: or four, and then he made a really sterling play
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Speaker 2: getting on the ball and laying in Riccardo Peppy for
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Speaker 2: the second goal that, of course Prolistics scored, but the
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Speaker 2: rest of the defense kind of makeshift. We've had our
9:17
Speaker 2: issues with Tim Rien. He's still out there. Jedi Robinson
9:20
Speaker 2: came back. I thought he looked good for forty four minutes,
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Speaker 2: and then the forty fifth he had the turnover that
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Speaker 2: led to the first Senegal goal. Mark McKenzie filling in
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Speaker 2: for Chris Richards. We still don't know what Chris Richard's
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Speaker 2: status is going to be for the World Cup, so
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Speaker 2: there end up being a lot of questions defensively and
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Speaker 2: what is your concern level for that back line at
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Speaker 2: this point in the process.
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Speaker 1: I have to say that my concern level at this
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Speaker 1: point is a little bit higher than it was before
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Speaker 1: this game started. Before I thought what the you know,
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Speaker 1: I was thinking about what the lineup could be and
9:55
Speaker 1: how it could perform against a team like Senegal. And
9:58
Speaker 1: the reason I say that is because because we played
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Speaker 1: so well for the first fifteen or so minutes in
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Speaker 1: this game that Senegal didn't have the ball at all.
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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I think we went into
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Speaker 1: that first water break really comfortable in this game. I
10:11
Speaker 1: mean we just first of all, we did a great
10:15
Speaker 1: job not only holding the ball but winning it back
10:18
Speaker 1: as soon as possible. We pressed high. You could tell
10:20
Speaker 1: that that was by us kicking the ball out of
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Speaker 1: bounce to start the game. You could tell that we
10:24
Speaker 1: were trying to set the tone. We set the tone,
10:27
Speaker 1: but we stayed with it. And by the way, when
10:30
Speaker 1: you're a high pressing team, you need your guys in
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Speaker 1: the back to really be doing a good job, and
10:34
Speaker 1: they did. And then after the twenty third twenty fourth minute,
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Speaker 1: you could start to see it breaking right. And here's
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Speaker 1: where the danger comes from me that it didn't take Senegal,
10:48
Speaker 1: you know, possession. It didn't take them a long time
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Speaker 1: to be dangerous. They started to be dangerous right away.
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Speaker 1: It seemed like any time they were in our attacking third,
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Speaker 1: they were in a situation where they could they made
11:01
Speaker 1: things difficult for us, and they created an important play.
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Speaker 1: And that scares me a little bit about the defenders. Now,
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Speaker 1: I will add that what you said about Freeman spot on,
11:13
Speaker 1: spot on. I mean, the kid was great today. He
11:15
Speaker 1: proved that going to view Real was the right move.
11:18
Speaker 1: And I think you're right. I think from us looking
11:20
Speaker 1: on the outside, it looks to me like Freeman should
11:23
Speaker 1: be a starter on this team on that outside center
11:25
Speaker 1: back role.
11:28
Speaker 2: How confident are you on that left side with Tim
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Speaker 2: Reim and Anthony Robinson, who, like I said, Anthony Robinson
11:34
Speaker 2: has not been the same guy since that injury. But
11:36
Speaker 2: for forty minutes tonight he looked really, really good and
11:39
Speaker 2: then he had that one badly mistouch that led to
11:42
Speaker 2: the Demane goal in the forty fourth minute.
11:45
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think we've been saying that. You know that, Anthony, right,
11:49
Speaker 1: Let's not forget Anthony Robinson was our best player for
11:52
Speaker 1: the last five or six years. So the expectations are high.
11:55
Speaker 1: The expectations are Anthony Robinson out of that left let's say,
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Speaker 1: win back role, can win games for us. That's the
12:03
Speaker 1: type of wing back that we've seen for the last
12:05
Speaker 1: five or six years, and we expect a little bit more.
12:08
Speaker 2: So.
12:08
Speaker 1: I think he played it. He played a good game,
12:10
Speaker 1: yet not at the level that we're used to seeing
12:12
Speaker 1: from him. In terms of the center backs, you know
12:16
Speaker 1: Reem and and McKenzie. I thought McKenzie did well. I
12:20
Speaker 1: was really surprised at the turnovers that we once again
12:23
Speaker 1: so from Reem, and I just don't think. I just
12:26
Speaker 1: don't think Reem in that spot is a solution for us.
12:29
Speaker 1: I don't.
12:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, the big worry is that in his h in
12:34
Speaker 2: the chances that Pochettino's given to other players, nobody has
12:37
Speaker 2: really stepped up and claimed that spot and pushed Reim out,
12:41
Speaker 2: kind of waiting for it. If it's gonna happen, it's
12:44
Speaker 2: the last minute. I doubt it is gonna happen, though,
12:46
Speaker 2: because Tim Riem is wearing that captain's armband h for
12:49
Speaker 2: a reason. So I think we sink or swim with him.
12:52
Speaker 2: But let's just stalk up or stock down, since we're
12:54
Speaker 2: going through these guys on a pretty granular level anyway,
12:57
Speaker 2: and we'll start at the back. We saw Matt Turner
13:00
Speaker 2: get the first half, and then Chris Brady made his
13:02
Speaker 2: debut for the second half. I was really impressed with
13:06
Speaker 2: Matt Turner. He had a couple of really nice saves
13:09
Speaker 2: and we had that one time he came off the
13:10
Speaker 2: line took the ball off of Mane's foot. I thought
13:14
Speaker 2: he really helped himself today he.
13:17
Speaker 1: May have I think for me in terms of stock
13:20
Speaker 1: up or down for him, I keep him in the
13:22
Speaker 1: same place. I think Matt free should be the starter
13:24
Speaker 1: on this team, and I'm surprised that Matt got this game,
13:29
Speaker 1: at least that he got the first half, So I
13:32
Speaker 1: would keep him the same as he was before. He's
13:34
Speaker 1: a legitimate backup. I think if I see him on
13:36
Speaker 1: the field in the World Cup, I'm not going to
13:38
Speaker 1: be concerned because obviously I know he has the experience
13:40
Speaker 1: of the last World Cup as well. But I just
13:43
Speaker 1: think Matt Freeze has done a little bit more on
13:45
Speaker 1: this national team in the last six eight months to
13:48
Speaker 1: win that position. That's sort of how I see it.
13:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think we'll learn a lot by whether
13:54
Speaker 2: or not Freeze starts and goes ninety against Germany. I
13:57
Speaker 2: think if he does, then it's clear that he's the
14:00
Speaker 2: starter going into the group stage of the World Cup.
14:02
Speaker 2: If it's a split, if Freeze gets the first forty
14:05
Speaker 2: five and then Turner gets the second forty five against Germany,
14:08
Speaker 2: then it feels like we might be going into the
14:11
Speaker 2: World Cup with a bit of a keeper issue question anyway,
14:16
Speaker 2: and that would concern me a little bit. But I
14:18
Speaker 2: guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
14:20
Speaker 2: Chris Brady had a tough moment on that goal, that
14:23
Speaker 2: back pass room Miles Robinson, but it's his first cap.
14:26
Speaker 2: I don't think he was always going to be the
14:28
Speaker 2: third string keeper. Glad he got his debut out of
14:31
Speaker 2: the way. You know, ended up getting the win in
14:35
Speaker 2: the end.
14:35
Speaker 1: Again again, wait, wait before we go to the center backs.
14:38
Speaker 1: I have to address that, right because I like everything
14:41
Speaker 1: you said, But I like what you said a year ago,
14:44
Speaker 1: not today, not like eight days before our first game.
14:48
Speaker 1: I all of the things that you said are perfectly correct.
14:51
Speaker 1: So like, yeah, of course you know that that passed
14:53
Speaker 1: back and the deflection and he gets caught in the
14:55
Speaker 1: middle of no man's land. Difficult, especially your first game.
14:59
Speaker 1: You're playing in f one of fifty thousand people. Not
15:01
Speaker 1: easy on the national team where all of those things, right,
15:05
Speaker 1: they all come in. But he's the third string goalkeeper.
15:09
Speaker 1: Wise he on the field today. I don't understand that
15:12
Speaker 1: at all.
15:13
Speaker 2: Well, I assume the idea is it's a breakacase of emergency,
15:17
Speaker 2: like we very rarely see a third string goalkeeper get
15:20
Speaker 2: on the field in the World Cup. My guess is
15:23
Speaker 2: this is a breaking case of emergency type of thing
15:25
Speaker 2: where you don't want him having to make his full
15:27
Speaker 2: national team debut in the World Cup, so get him
15:31
Speaker 2: on the field in this one. I agree with you,
15:32
Speaker 2: though it should have happened two camps ago, and it's
15:36
Speaker 2: a brings back January camp. I know January camp is
15:40
Speaker 2: often pretty odd, but it would have been a perfect
15:42
Speaker 2: one to have to give Chris Brady his debut then,
15:46
Speaker 2: so that we wouldn't have had to worry about him
15:47
Speaker 2: getting forty five minutes in a game like this. But
15:50
Speaker 2: let's move on to the center backs. Tim Marine, we've
15:53
Speaker 2: talked about kind of in the same place that he
15:56
Speaker 2: was before the game as far as we're concerned.
15:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wouldn't say upper down for Tim Reim. We've seen,
16:02
Speaker 1: you know, he's been sort of, let's say, on a
16:05
Speaker 1: downward trend for about the last year, right. You know,
16:09
Speaker 1: great guy. Obviously he's the captain of the team. There's
16:11
Speaker 1: a reason for that because he's just a great human being.
16:14
Speaker 1: He brings a lot to the table if you heard
16:17
Speaker 1: Pushettinos speaking the press conference yesterday about about Tim and
16:21
Speaker 1: he said, you know, maybe not so much for what
16:23
Speaker 1: he does on the field, but what he does off
16:25
Speaker 1: the field, and that has a huge value. And I
16:27
Speaker 1: think we all have to appreciate someone who's put such
16:30
Speaker 1: a long career with a national team and it's done
16:32
Speaker 1: so great and who you know, here comes a foreign coach,
16:35
Speaker 1: right and he considers him so high within the locker room.
16:38
Speaker 1: So that's important. But you know, on the field, I
16:41
Speaker 1: just don't. I don't think he helped himself today, but
16:43
Speaker 1: I don't think that makes any difference.
16:45
Speaker 2: Mark McKenzie filling in for Chris Richards in the middle
16:48
Speaker 2: of that back line, I thought he had a pretty
16:52
Speaker 2: He had one pass that was and he's good for
16:54
Speaker 2: one of those a game. But I thought otherwise he
16:56
Speaker 2: acquitted himself pretty well.
16:57
Speaker 1: Yeah again, you know, stock not up or down. I
17:01
Speaker 1: think he stayed the same. I think Mark, we know
17:04
Speaker 1: what Mark is about. He'll give you maximum effort and
17:07
Speaker 1: he will be that guy. Every once in a while
17:09
Speaker 1: he'll make that mistake and some center backs do that,
17:11
Speaker 1: but overall, I think he stayed the same.
17:15
Speaker 2: Alex Freeman, I think we both agree probably took a
17:18
Speaker 2: step towards solidifying a starting spot for himself on this team.
17:23
Speaker 1: Definitely stuck up not only for his defending, because he
17:27
Speaker 1: a couple of times he came all the way across
17:28
Speaker 1: to defend, which was really sort of heads up play.
17:32
Speaker 1: He's reading the game, he's really focused, and you can
17:34
Speaker 1: tell he's a very He's a player that has good
17:37
Speaker 1: concentration in the game. You don't lose him in the game.
17:40
Speaker 1: And on top of it, he passes really well. He
17:42
Speaker 1: was able to take space. When they gave him the space,
17:44
Speaker 1: he took it, and on the second goal, you know,
17:47
Speaker 1: he started that second goal. So I definitely stuck up
17:49
Speaker 1: for me.
17:51
Speaker 2: Austin Trusty and Joe Scaley both came in at halftime,
17:54
Speaker 2: ended up playing Trustee coming on for Tim Reem and
17:58
Speaker 2: Scally coming on for Alex Freeman. Obviously not as dynamic
18:01
Speaker 2: a player. I didn't think either of those guys hurt themselves.
18:05
Speaker 2: Neither looked out of their depth, Neither looked, you know,
18:08
Speaker 2: afraid of trying to hit telling passes, and I like
18:11
Speaker 2: to see that.
18:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I in general, I was a little
18:14
Speaker 1: bit disappointed with Trusty because I think he's in a
18:17
Speaker 1: situation where had he performed really well today, you know,
18:21
Speaker 1: he starts to put the doubt in Pushetino in terms
18:24
Speaker 1: of that left sided position, but he didn't do that.
18:27
Speaker 1: I think he was he was average today and because
18:30
Speaker 1: of that, I think his stock stays the same. As
18:32
Speaker 1: far as Scalley's concerned. Obviously came a little bit more
18:35
Speaker 1: on that. Inside, I was trying to figure out. You know,
18:37
Speaker 1: obviously gause Way I was there too, so I was
18:39
Speaker 1: trying to figure out. You know, as the second half started,
18:41
Speaker 1: we had so many different players on the field. You're
18:43
Speaker 1: trying to put it together. And then I realized he's
18:46
Speaker 1: playing that center back role, and I think he did. Okay.
18:49
Speaker 1: I think you're absolutely right he did. Okay. I think
18:50
Speaker 1: Freeman's better at it.
18:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, Miles Robinson unfortunate outing for him. Stock down. It
18:58
Speaker 2: kind of a carryover or in MLS with FC Cincinnati.
19:02
Speaker 2: He's at a tough first half of the season, and
19:05
Speaker 2: that's what he looked like on the field today.
19:07
Speaker 1: And you know this, this makes me think a little
19:10
Speaker 1: bit about Chris Richards because this is what happens. You know,
19:14
Speaker 1: Miles has been nursing some kind of injury because we've
19:17
Speaker 1: been hearing that they've been just resting him a little
19:20
Speaker 1: bit more so he's carrying something. And you can tell
19:23
Speaker 1: when you know when you're not playing as hard because
19:25
Speaker 1: there's an injury and time goes by. For Miles now
19:28
Speaker 1: it has been a month and a half that we've
19:29
Speaker 1: seen sort of what you know, him not being in lineups,
19:32
Speaker 1: are getting taken off, which is not normal for a
19:34
Speaker 1: center back. And I think now we have to start
19:37
Speaker 1: worrying a little bit about Chris Richards because now he
19:39
Speaker 1: hasn't played in a few weeks and hopefully he plays
19:42
Speaker 1: his last game against Germany, but I'm not seeing that
19:46
Speaker 1: because the latest we've heard from camp is that we're
19:49
Speaker 1: hoping he's ready for the World Cup. And if he
19:51
Speaker 1: is ready for the World Cup, that means he's not
19:53
Speaker 1: gonna have played for about a month and that that's
19:57
Speaker 1: too long for me to get thrown into a game.
19:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we saw it today for Miles Robinson. The
20:02
Speaker 2: outside backs, we've talked about Jedi a little bit, probably
20:05
Speaker 2: not stock up or down for him. Serginio Desk though,
20:10
Speaker 2: had himself a very good game. Of course, in the
20:12
Speaker 2: role he was in. He was much more of an
20:15
Speaker 2: attacker than we've seen from him in the past. And
20:17
Speaker 2: we all know Sergenio has the soul of an attacker.
20:21
Speaker 2: I will say tap now, not much of a defender
20:23
Speaker 2: in there.
20:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you're right, but I think, you know,
20:27
Speaker 1: a desk was exactly what I always expect. You know,
20:30
Speaker 1: he played a great game. I don't think stock up
20:32
Speaker 1: or down because I expect that from him. I think
20:35
Speaker 1: he is a difference maker out of that right back position,
20:38
Speaker 1: and he proved it today. I mean today he was
20:40
Speaker 1: at the sixth to finish that beautiful pass from Christian Polisic. Obviously,
20:46
Speaker 1: you know, but it's not often that you find your
20:48
Speaker 1: right back. I mean you have to look at guys
20:50
Speaker 1: like Hakimi to see guys win in those positions. And
20:54
Speaker 1: and I'm not I won't say stock up only because
20:57
Speaker 1: I think he can do that for us all the time.
21:00
Speaker 2: And Tim Waya came in for him at halftime and
21:04
Speaker 2: was just as good. He was fantastic. I thought, Tim weya,
21:09
Speaker 2: I don't know if that makes him stock up. It's
21:11
Speaker 2: a better performance than what we've seen from him recently.
21:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, he did well, but I just didn't think I
21:17
Speaker 1: didn't think necessarily that in the March window he did poorly.
21:21
Speaker 1: I think he was put in tough situations if you
21:23
Speaker 1: remember against Doku and you know, so he had issues
21:26
Speaker 1: because he was left isolated to defend, which is not
21:30
Speaker 1: what he does best. But when he has a chance
21:32
Speaker 1: to attack, he can make a big difference. So yeah,
21:34
Speaker 1: I mean, I say, you know, not Stock up or down.
21:38
Speaker 1: I think he did well enough to stay in the
21:40
Speaker 1: same spot.
21:41
Speaker 2: I think the same is probably true for Maxi Arsten
21:44
Speaker 2: left back. He came in part of a couple of
21:47
Speaker 2: different attacks. I think he set up a nice chance
21:50
Speaker 2: for Weston McKenney, didn't get abused defensively, which is nice
21:54
Speaker 2: to see, but solidly the number two left back at
21:57
Speaker 2: this point behind Jedi Robinson.
21:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he was put in a little bit
22:01
Speaker 1: more of a difficult situation because I thought the second
22:03
Speaker 1: half was pretty chaotic in general. It was hard to
22:06
Speaker 1: tell where people were. Guys were running everywhere, and you know,
22:11
Speaker 1: he did well in attack as he always does, and
22:13
Speaker 1: he didn't have to get back as much and because
22:16
Speaker 1: of that, I think he played. He played a solid
22:18
Speaker 1: second half. Haven't said that. I think Stock stays the same.
22:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, Stock stays the same for Tyler Adams as well.
22:27
Speaker 2: Did really well defensively move the ball without turning it
22:32
Speaker 2: over in any bad spots. I think he could have
22:35
Speaker 2: done a little bit better on the first goal from Senegal,
22:39
Speaker 2: the money goal, he had a chance maybe to play
22:41
Speaker 2: Manay off side and he didn't quite read it. But
22:44
Speaker 2: still no question Tyler Adams is essential to this team.
22:48
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean I thought he was probably the one
22:51
Speaker 1: guy that looked like he played exactly the position he
22:54
Speaker 1: should be in, and he played it exactly how we
22:56
Speaker 1: would expect for him to play it. And on the
22:58
Speaker 1: money goal, obviously the effort to get all the way back,
23:01
Speaker 1: he sort of got left isolated, and I think he
23:04
Speaker 1: doubted for a half a second whether he should go
23:06
Speaker 1: or stay to pull them off sides. But I thought
23:09
Speaker 1: Tyler played really well, and I think stock stays the
23:12
Speaker 1: same because you know, we were just talking here on
23:14
Speaker 1: this show this week about how we thought he probably
23:16
Speaker 1: should be the captain of the team because we think
23:19
Speaker 1: he's that he's the guy that's that glue on the team,
23:22
Speaker 1: and he showed it today.
23:24
Speaker 2: Yeah. And how about the guy he started next to,
23:27
Speaker 2: Seth Burhalter, who was I think something of a surprise
23:29
Speaker 2: starter to me into a lot of other folks as well.
23:32
Speaker 2: I thought Weston McKenny would get the start at the
23:34
Speaker 2: eight in Central Michield, but it was it was said.
23:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and another one. I wouldn't say stock
23:41
Speaker 1: up or down. I think he did well in terms
23:44
Speaker 1: of movement effort getting to the ball, but you know,
23:47
Speaker 1: when you try to find him to build out of
23:49
Speaker 1: the back, he found it difficult. I don't think it
23:52
Speaker 1: was necessarily a good a good game for him, but
23:56
Speaker 1: I also didn't expect him to play a big role
23:59
Speaker 1: in this team going into the World Cup. If he's
24:01
Speaker 1: going to be a starter, he's going to need to
24:03
Speaker 1: play a lot better than today.
24:05
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think the same is true of Christian roll Don,
24:08
Speaker 2: who thought had a first a tough first ten minutes
24:11
Speaker 2: when he came on. It settled into the game a
24:13
Speaker 2: little bit, but a few sloppy touches in there.
24:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say the same. I thought he was
24:17
Speaker 1: chasing it and I thought at times the game seemed
24:20
Speaker 1: a little bit fast for him. It seemed like he
24:23
Speaker 1: was dragging along.
24:25
Speaker 2: A little bit and the attacking midfielders. It was Polisic
24:30
Speaker 2: and Geo Rena who got the start in the first half. Obviously, look,
24:35
Speaker 2: Christian Polisic is the number ten and he's going to
24:37
Speaker 2: be a starter and he's going to be a centerpiece
24:39
Speaker 2: player no matter what. But it still felt like a
24:41
Speaker 2: stock up performance from him given the struggles he's had
24:45
Speaker 2: for club and for country for the past, you know,
24:49
Speaker 2: six months for club, almost two years for country since
24:51
Speaker 2: he put the ball in the back of the net.
24:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question. I think it was a good game
24:55
Speaker 1: for Christian Polisic. I think you described it really well
24:58
Speaker 1: when you said that Peppi coming into midfield a little
25:01
Speaker 1: bit and pulling those center backs out a little bit
25:04
Speaker 1: more benefited Christian in terms of getting behind and finding
25:08
Speaker 1: the space because now he didn't have to be the
25:11
Speaker 1: sole creator and that helped him a lot. And because
25:14
Speaker 1: of it, I think we found them exactly where we
25:16
Speaker 1: want to find him. If somehow we can find Christian
25:19
Speaker 1: making those runs behind in the World Cup where he
25:22
Speaker 1: can either score or make the final pass, I think
25:25
Speaker 1: we're going to be a tough team to deal with.
25:27
Speaker 1: So I think it was not only stay the same
25:30
Speaker 1: for me, it was stock up for Christian Polistic today.
25:33
Speaker 2: Stock up as well for gio Rena who came on.
25:36
Speaker 2: He was tidy in the midfield. He wasn't magical or anything,
25:39
Speaker 2: but he kept the ball well, he kept it moving well,
25:42
Speaker 2: didn't turn it over, and was actually a little bit
25:44
Speaker 2: of a presence defensively, which is not always a given
25:47
Speaker 2: with him.
25:48
Speaker 1: I think for me that one stayed the same. I
25:50
Speaker 1: think gi Rena gave us the twenty minutes that we
25:53
Speaker 1: expect from him, and then there wasn't really a whole
25:56
Speaker 1: lot more after twenty minutes. But that's what he's been
25:59
Speaker 1: playing at club. He did really well in the twenty minutes.
26:02
Speaker 1: He connected passes well, although most of his passes were
26:06
Speaker 1: not dangerous, they were not towards goal, they were not
26:09
Speaker 1: creative passes. They were just connecting passes, either from side
26:12
Speaker 1: to side or just keeping the ball. So I would
26:15
Speaker 1: say I'd keep stock the same. I continue to believe
26:18
Speaker 1: that this version of Giororina for us is the last
26:22
Speaker 1: fifteen or twenty minutes of a game.
26:25
Speaker 2: Malik Tilman might have made a case for himself as
26:27
Speaker 2: a starter. I thought he was excellent in the second half,
26:30
Speaker 2: and he's a guy who's been kind of lukewarm in
26:32
Speaker 2: previous appearances. But he was fighting the ball, making unselfish plays,
26:36
Speaker 2: creating constant danger on the run and in possession.
26:40
Speaker 1: I've been down on Malik Tiltman for a while now,
26:45
Speaker 1: three or four months. He hasn't really shown much with
26:48
Speaker 1: the national team, has not shown much at club, and
26:51
Speaker 1: I thought, man, are we really going to lose this
26:54
Speaker 1: player for the World Cup? And today for me was
26:56
Speaker 1: a stock up day, a big time stock up because
26:59
Speaker 1: now I'm and I'm hoping that Mauricio Pachettino maybe sticks,
27:04
Speaker 1: you know, McKinny back with Adams a little further back,
27:08
Speaker 1: and that allows Tillman to be on the field next
27:11
Speaker 1: to Polisic.
27:12
Speaker 2: I thought Weslen McKenny was actually the best player on
27:14
Speaker 2: the field of the second half. Fearless as always dragging
27:19
Speaker 2: the opposing midfield around to chase him, playing essentially as
27:22
Speaker 2: a number ten, but coming deeper to link play and
27:26
Speaker 2: then releasing way down that right side or balling it
27:29
Speaker 2: into the attack constantly. I loved his game. I hope
27:33
Speaker 2: he's a starter at the number eight. It's always a
27:35
Speaker 2: little jarring for me to see him playing as a
27:37
Speaker 2: number ten, but either way, to me, he's irreplaceable in
27:42
Speaker 2: this starting lineup and I hope he goes from the
27:44
Speaker 2: start against Germany.
27:45
Speaker 1: No question. McKenny is a complete player and I think
27:49
Speaker 1: he showed it today and he has been showing it.
27:51
Speaker 1: I mean, he's had a solid year for a club
27:53
Speaker 1: in country and I'm happy to see that. And again,
27:57
Speaker 1: I hope that with the roster that we have, that
28:02
Speaker 1: Pochettino was able to afford, with the way he's thinking,
28:04
Speaker 1: that he's able to afford to put you know, Adams
28:07
Speaker 1: and McKenny next to each other, to give to be
28:10
Speaker 1: able to have Tilman on the field as.
28:12
Speaker 2: Well now and then Alexandjas came on for the last
28:15
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes or so playing that attacking role, while Tilman
28:18
Speaker 2: actually dropped deeper as a number eight. I thought he
28:21
Speaker 2: was tidy. He didn't look like a game breaker. So
28:24
Speaker 2: I think Stock probably stays the same for.
28:26
Speaker 1: Me, and that could be and I wouldn't disagree with you.
28:30
Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to judge on not playing that
28:32
Speaker 1: many minutes in a game like that where there's been
28:34
Speaker 1: a lot of changes already. But I didn't like when
28:37
Speaker 1: he went on the breakaway and the player came from
28:40
Speaker 1: behind and basically you know, blocked him easily, I have
28:45
Speaker 1: to coming from behind. I thought he should have stayed
28:47
Speaker 1: in front, try to either get fouled or go right
28:50
Speaker 1: to gold. He tried to open up to come onto
28:52
Speaker 1: his right foot for some reason, and that gave the
28:56
Speaker 1: opposing player the opportunity to come around and block the shot.
28:59
Speaker 1: And I thought that was poor. I thought that showed
29:01
Speaker 1: him not having that sort of a little bit more
29:04
Speaker 1: of that breakaway, put the game away type of ability,
29:07
Speaker 1: which we're going to need for a player like him
29:10
Speaker 1: who's likely going to come in games. In the last
29:12
Speaker 1: ten or fifteen minutes.
29:15
Speaker 2: Both center forwards showed well, we got forty five minutes
29:18
Speaker 2: for Ricardo Peppi, his longest runout for Muricio Pocheccino since
29:23
Speaker 2: November of twenty twenty four, so eighteen months. I thought
29:28
Speaker 2: he was excellent, one of his best performances in the shirt.
29:32
Speaker 1: Oh no, no question. Peppi was definitely as stuck up
29:35
Speaker 1: because now it may I think it makes everyone think, well,
29:38
Speaker 1: you know, this is a great player. How can we
29:40
Speaker 1: have him on the bench. You know, now we can
29:42
Speaker 1: go all the way back to the last wall, come
29:44
Speaker 1: and say why wasn't he there? Like it was that
29:46
Speaker 1: kind of game that makes you think about that. And
29:48
Speaker 1: also I think the most important thing, and I briefly
29:51
Speaker 1: mentioned it before, is he sort of brought Christian Polisic,
29:56
Speaker 1: you know, into the game and make Christian Polisic look
29:59
Speaker 1: as important and as he is. And I think there's
30:01
Speaker 1: a great value to that. And I tell you what
30:04
Speaker 1: difficult decision from Rusio Pochettino when he decides who the
30:07
Speaker 1: number nine is going to be, because Balligan was as
30:10
Speaker 1: good as we expected him to be and he's he
30:13
Speaker 1: proved today that he's one of the best finishers in
30:15
Speaker 1: Europe right now. And I know I'm saying a lot,
30:18
Speaker 1: but he's had a great year in today he showed why.
30:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, it looked like we had two thirty million dollar
30:23
Speaker 2: strikers to choose from, which it turns out that we do.
30:27
Speaker 2: And maybe against Germany we'll see another new look from Murcia.
30:31
Speaker 2: Pochettino start both of them together up top with the
30:34
Speaker 2: old three five two. Crazier things have happened, but for us,
30:37
Speaker 2: it's time for a break and up next, tab gives
30:39
Speaker 2: you his top five breakout players at the twenty twenty
30:42
Speaker 2: six World Cup. Please rate, review and subscribe to Inside
30:45
Speaker 2: America in Soccer with Tom Bogert and tab Ramos wherever
30:49
Speaker 2: you get your podcasts. All right, folks, welcome back to
31:01
Speaker 2: Inside American Soccer. So Tad, you made for us a
31:04
Speaker 2: list of your top five breakout players that this twenty
31:08
Speaker 2: twenty six World Cup, and the number five spot you
31:12
Speaker 2: have Portugal's Neuno Mendes.
31:15
Speaker 1: Yes, and you know I have to tell you that,
31:19
Speaker 1: you know, for the time you've been gone, nothing has
31:21
Speaker 1: changed here. So for my top five, I made six,
31:23
Speaker 1: So my six would be My six would be Nico Pas.
31:28
Speaker 1: I think if Nico Pas can get into this Argentina team,
31:31
Speaker 1: if the team is struggling a little bit, if he
31:33
Speaker 1: can get in there with the level he's at, watch
31:35
Speaker 1: out for him. He could be a breakup player. But
31:37
Speaker 1: let's go to number five. As you said, nun No Mendez.
31:39
Speaker 1: Nun Mendez reminds me of the old Brazilian outside backs
31:43
Speaker 1: that we're all used to watching. I love this player, obviously,
31:46
Speaker 1: we've seen him play for PSG. He's a player that
31:50
Speaker 1: attacks really well, defends really well, and I think he
31:53
Speaker 1: could be one of the ones for Portugal because I
31:56
Speaker 1: think Portugal will be one of the contenders. I think
31:59
Speaker 1: he could be one of the that could open games
32:01
Speaker 1: up for them, although they have plenty of other players
32:03
Speaker 1: who can do it.
32:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you said, we've seen him do it for PSG.
32:08
Speaker 2: We've seen him do it a little bit for Portugal
32:10
Speaker 2: and Nations League. It would be obviously a huge moment
32:13
Speaker 2: for him if he could do it in the World
32:16
Speaker 2: Cup Portugal across a team that's never won the World Cup.
32:20
Speaker 2: The number four guy on your list also plays for
32:23
Speaker 2: a country that has never won the World Cup. I'm
32:26
Speaker 2: talking about Jeremy Doku with Belgium.
32:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this is Belgium's last chance to actually
32:32
Speaker 1: make noise at a World Cup with a group of players,
32:34
Speaker 1: and not all of them are there, and maybe it's
32:37
Speaker 1: the end of what they call their Golden generation, but
32:40
Speaker 1: I think it's the last chance for Belgium and I
32:42
Speaker 1: think because of that, this group is going to be
32:44
Speaker 1: hard to take down. And as part of this list,
32:47
Speaker 1: I wanted to put in players who are hot, who
32:50
Speaker 1: are at a great moment, who are actually ready today
32:53
Speaker 1: to get into the World Cup and make a difference.
32:56
Speaker 1: And there's no question that if I had to pick
32:58
Speaker 1: a player at the moment that is hot that can
33:01
Speaker 1: break again wide open. Jeremy Dokuiz is one of those players.
33:07
Speaker 2: And same with the guy who's number three on your list,
33:09
Speaker 2: Michael Olisse of France. He had some spectacular performances in
33:13
Speaker 2: the Champions League this year.
33:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, in particular it makes me think back about their
33:17
Speaker 1: matchup with Real Madrid and now he destroyed Carreras, Real
33:21
Speaker 1: Madrid's left back in that game. But he's been doing
33:24
Speaker 1: it all year. The tricky thing with Michael Lise why
33:27
Speaker 1: he's not higher on the list for me is because
33:29
Speaker 1: France has so many wingers, right, so it could be
33:32
Speaker 1: on his side, it could be Dombell, it could be Duet,
33:35
Speaker 1: They could even put Barkola on that side, although Barcolo
33:37
Speaker 1: plays the other side. But they have so many wingers
33:39
Speaker 1: that sometimes they put they put Michael Lise as sort
33:43
Speaker 1: of a number ten behind them Bape, you know, and
33:45
Speaker 1: Bappi plays the nine and so. But having said that,
33:48
Speaker 1: I think that he's a player that could definitely be
33:51
Speaker 1: one of the ones that could lead France into winning
33:53
Speaker 1: this World Cup.
33:56
Speaker 2: We already talked about Portugal being a team that's never
33:59
Speaker 2: won World Cup. If they do get it done this time,
34:03
Speaker 2: then there is every chance that we come out of
34:07
Speaker 2: this tournament, saying that the teena is actually the best
34:09
Speaker 2: central midfielder in the entire world, and he is number
34:12
Speaker 2: two on your list here.
34:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I was actually pulling for Vitina to
34:18
Speaker 1: win the Player of the Year last year. I just
34:21
Speaker 1: think he's that good. I think Vitina, if he's not
34:23
Speaker 1: the best player in the world, he's at least he's
34:26
Speaker 1: the one I like the most if I had I
34:30
Speaker 1: don't know if that makes a difference, but no, he's
34:32
Speaker 1: a great player. He can play the six to eight
34:35
Speaker 1: or the ten. But Portugal is so loaded because he's
34:38
Speaker 1: going to be playing next to Nevis and Bruno Fernandez
34:40
Speaker 1: in the middle of that field, and I just don't
34:43
Speaker 1: think that they'll be a better midfielder in the world
34:45
Speaker 1: for him to succeed with. I think Vitina is a
34:48
Speaker 1: player to watch and Portugal definitely has a possibility to
34:53
Speaker 1: win this World Cup.
34:54
Speaker 2: It does feel like this is their best team and
34:58
Speaker 2: they do. They are still a little bit too dependent
35:01
Speaker 2: on Christiano Ronaldo for goals, though maybe that changes with
35:04
Speaker 2: Gonsols at the international level, because I think he's more
35:07
Speaker 2: effective with Portugal than he is with PSG. But either
35:11
Speaker 2: way it's going to run through Fatina. But for me,
35:13
Speaker 2: the best player in the world is the guy you
35:15
Speaker 2: have number one on this list. It's le Mean Jamal
35:20
Speaker 2: from Barcelona in Spain.
35:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I wanted to keep this list a little
35:24
Speaker 1: bit on the you know, sort of this secondary guys,
35:27
Speaker 1: because I didn't want to mention Himbapa. I didn't want
35:29
Speaker 1: to mention it Holland. I didn't want to mention it
35:31
Speaker 1: Harry Kane, Guys that could potentially be the best players
35:34
Speaker 1: in the World Cup, right, I wanted to keep it
35:36
Speaker 1: a little bit to those secondary names that we were
35:39
Speaker 1: now listening to every day. But you can't stay away
35:42
Speaker 1: from La Minya Mal. You just can't. He's too much
35:45
Speaker 1: fun to watch. He destroys defenders, and I think with
35:49
Speaker 1: Spain being as good as they are and with the
35:51
Speaker 1: great opportunity that they have to win this World Cup,
35:54
Speaker 1: this could be the player that leads away for the
35:56
Speaker 1: best team and that's Spain.
35:57
Speaker 2: And the thing, the thing that he's improved done most
36:00
Speaker 2: this past year is understanding where goals come from. If
36:04
Speaker 2: you watched him play last year or two years ago,
36:07
Speaker 2: and he was already starting for Spayton as a sixteen
36:10
Speaker 2: year old at the Euros he would make the killer pass,
36:13
Speaker 2: but then he wouldn't make the following run for the
36:15
Speaker 2: pullback to the penalty spot, the run that Messi makes
36:19
Speaker 2: every time that he's probably scored three hundred and fifty
36:21
Speaker 2: goals on. Well, this year for Barcelona he started making
36:25
Speaker 2: that run. I think he scored twenty goals across all competition.
36:28
Speaker 2: A lot of them were one touch finishes like that
36:31
Speaker 2: irresistible player to watch. Let me ask you this step
36:35
Speaker 2: after the World Cup. Well, I guess it's two questions. One,
36:38
Speaker 2: what are the chances that an American is on this
36:41
Speaker 2: list of breakout players of the tournament? And two who
36:45
Speaker 2: would it be?
36:46
Speaker 1: Well, I think if we're going to have a breakout
36:48
Speaker 1: player from what I saw in today's game, is gonna
36:51
Speaker 1: have to be Christian Polisic. It's gonna have to be
36:53
Speaker 1: Christian Policic coming from behind doing the things that he
36:56
Speaker 1: did today, not only scoring but assisting players because he
37:00
Speaker 1: does have forwards he can put the ball away. You know,
37:02
Speaker 1: he does have Bawigan up there who can put the
37:04
Speaker 1: ball away. If Christian Polistic can get in good form,
37:07
Speaker 1: I think he could potentially be in this list.
37:11
Speaker 2: My choice would be Alex Rereaman based upon what we
37:14
Speaker 2: saw of him against Duraguay in November, based upon the
37:17
Speaker 2: fact that he's broken into the lineup for one of
37:19
Speaker 2: the best teams in La Liga, and he's just so
37:22
Speaker 2: gifted in so many ways. Obviously physically, but you see
37:26
Speaker 2: his touch on the ball and his attacking brain as well.
37:29
Speaker 2: If those two guys play well, and you know we're
37:32
Speaker 2: doing the show month and a half from now talking
37:34
Speaker 2: about how their breakout players on the world stage, I
37:36
Speaker 2: think we'll all be all smiles for that one. But
37:39
Speaker 2: for now, it's time for one more break is next up.
37:43
Speaker 2: We're gonna give our projected starting eleven for the Germany
37:45
Speaker 2: Friendly coming up. I know TAB swore off of it
37:48
Speaker 2: in the first segment, no more projected starting eleven, but
37:51
Speaker 2: we're gonna bring him back in. So thanks for listening
37:53
Speaker 2: to Inside American Soccer. Please rate and review and subscribe.
37:57
Speaker 2: We'll be right back all right, Welcome back to Inside
38:09
Speaker 2: American Soccer. TAB. Every time you think you're out, we
38:13
Speaker 2: pull you back in. It's time for US men's national
38:16
Speaker 2: team starting eleven for the Germany Friendly, which is coming
38:19
Speaker 2: up this weekend. In Chicago. So walk us through it
38:22
Speaker 2: from back to front.
38:24
Speaker 1: Okay, So normally when we do the lineup, we always
38:28
Speaker 1: do it with the disclaimer that this is what we
38:31
Speaker 1: think Pochettino is going to do. I'm going to say
38:35
Speaker 1: right now that that disclaimer has been eliminated. I'm going
38:39
Speaker 1: I'm going to name the lineup that I think he's
38:42
Speaker 1: going to have for the next game, because I think
38:44
Speaker 1: that this lineup can really put us in a good
38:47
Speaker 1: place in the World Cup. And I'm hoping that he's
38:49
Speaker 1: thinking about putting our best eleven together and I think
38:53
Speaker 1: that likely these will be at this point. So I'm
38:56
Speaker 1: going to start with Matt Freeze and goal. I'm going
38:58
Speaker 1: to go with Freeman McKay and remind the back so
39:01
Speaker 1: basically same uh, same eleven, I mean, same back Uh,
39:05
Speaker 1: same three center backs that we just started in this
39:08
Speaker 1: last game. Uh on the white on the right side,
39:12
Speaker 1: it will be Best. On the left side, it will
39:14
Speaker 1: be uh Anthony Robinson. In the center. It will be
39:18
Speaker 1: Adams and McKinney with Tillman and Polisic in front of them,
39:23
Speaker 1: with Balligan up top.
39:25
Speaker 2: So I guess, let me ask you this, what if
39:28
Speaker 2: we get word on Thursday that Chris Richards is good,
39:32
Speaker 2: but he can only play a half an hour. Do
39:34
Speaker 2: you play him from the start and say, okay, at
39:36
Speaker 2: a half hour mark, we're going to make a sub.
39:39
Speaker 2: Or do you play him for the final half hour
39:42
Speaker 2: of the game, even though he wouldn't necessarily be with
39:45
Speaker 2: the guys who you would consider starters, because presumably by
39:50
Speaker 2: the hour mark there'll be a bunch of subs.
39:52
Speaker 1: I I would start. I would start him, and I'll
39:54
Speaker 1: tell you why, because my goal would be that likely
39:57
Speaker 1: if he's not going to be one hundred percent maybe
39:59
Speaker 1: for the first game, he might be for the other games.
40:02
Speaker 1: And Chris Richards is your best defender, I would I
40:06
Speaker 1: would put him on from the beginning.
40:09
Speaker 2: Now, tell me about central midfield. You have Adams and
40:12
Speaker 2: McKenny in there together. That's the same central midfield I
40:15
Speaker 2: would have starting together as well. But we've seen this
40:19
Speaker 2: hesitancy from Murcio Pochettino to use Weston mckennie as a
40:24
Speaker 2: number eight. What do you think he's seeing or not
40:28
Speaker 2: seeing from Wes that makes him think he doesn't quite
40:31
Speaker 2: fit there?
40:33
Speaker 1: Well, Weston. The thing about Weston mckennie is he's a roamer, right,
40:37
Speaker 1: he doesn't. He doesn't necessarily stay in a position, right,
40:40
Speaker 1: He's always looking for the game. And this is this
40:43
Speaker 1: is the part of the game where I think Tyler
40:47
Speaker 1: Adams has improved tremendously over the years because Tyler was
40:50
Speaker 1: also a roamer. He was a chaser. He was a
40:53
Speaker 1: constant chaser, and you had to keep him sort of
40:56
Speaker 1: reined in a position and say, of course there's times
40:59
Speaker 1: to chase. And I think I think McKenny continues to
41:02
Speaker 1: be a roamer. So if if I think Pochettino can
41:04
Speaker 1: get across to McKenny, that he needs to hold this
41:07
Speaker 1: position a little bit more, you know, in the end,
41:09
Speaker 1: this is not a hard thing to do, right, And
41:11
Speaker 1: so if you can keep McKinny in place, I think
41:14
Speaker 1: with Adam Adams and McKenny next to each other in
41:16
Speaker 1: the middle of the field, I'm liking our chances.
41:22
Speaker 2: I am as well, maybe not against Germany, still one
41:25
Speaker 2: of the best teams in the world, even though they're
41:26
Speaker 2: not necessarily what they were twelve years ago when they
41:30
Speaker 2: won this thing. Do we have do we have the
41:33
Speaker 2: courage to predict a result for this game? Do we
41:37
Speaker 2: think that the US finally gets a win or a
41:40
Speaker 2: European opponent.
41:43
Speaker 1: I don't see a reason why we wouldn't be able
41:45
Speaker 1: to get a result. I think the team seems competitive.
41:49
Speaker 1: I think everyone knows that they're fighting for a starting
41:53
Speaker 1: position at this point, because how can you not. I mean,
41:55
Speaker 1: I was thinking I might come in the second half today,
41:58
Speaker 1: so I thought there might be a chance. But no,
42:02
Speaker 1: you know, obviously this is going to be an extremely
42:05
Speaker 1: difficult game because I think Germany will likely play their
42:08
Speaker 1: best team at least in the first half, and I'm
42:10
Speaker 1: hoping that we do the same and that we learn
42:13
Speaker 1: from that. I think we're likely going to have a
42:15
Speaker 1: little bit of trouble with the musciala verts in between
42:20
Speaker 1: lines creating, because that's usually where we struggle. But if
42:24
Speaker 1: we can solve that issue, I think we can give
42:26
Speaker 1: Germany a run for their money.
42:29
Speaker 2: How much does this result matter or should we focus
42:32
Speaker 2: more on the performance?
42:34
Speaker 1: There's no question that at this point, because we haven't
42:37
Speaker 1: had an eleven together, whatever eleven we're gonna have, it's
42:40
Speaker 1: likely that that is probably the first time I think
42:44
Speaker 1: that we have to focus more on the performance and
42:47
Speaker 1: the result. I think what matters is that we find
42:50
Speaker 1: that we can fine tune those little combinations like we
42:54
Speaker 1: did today between you know, Peppi and Polistic and that
42:57
Speaker 1: we find, you know, Anthony Robinson a little bit more
43:01
Speaker 1: comfortable because a couple of plays today, in one instance,
43:05
Speaker 1: Tim Reim got stuck with the ball, another instance, Anthony
43:08
Speaker 1: Robinson gets stuck with the ball. And when that happens,
43:11
Speaker 1: it is because there's not enough movement in front of them,
43:13
Speaker 1: which means players aren't on the same page. And I
43:16
Speaker 1: think we lock there a little bit. So I'm hoping
43:18
Speaker 1: that in the last game we can give all those
43:20
Speaker 1: guys time together.
43:22
Speaker 2: Hopefully it'll be a little bit sharper even against Germany
43:26
Speaker 2: than it was even against Senegal, which was a pretty
43:29
Speaker 2: good performance from the US, and then hopefully they hit
43:31
Speaker 2: their stride full stride against Paraguay on June twelfth, which
43:36
Speaker 2: is the group stage opener of the twenty twenty six
43:39
Speaker 2: World Cup for the United States men's national team, Tom
43:44
Speaker 2: and Tom will be here to take you through it
43:46
Speaker 2: the entire way. Thank you all to listening to Inside
43:50
Speaker 2: America Soccer. Thank you Tab for having me to fill
43:53
Speaker 2: in for Tom. Always a pleasure to talk to you
43:55
Speaker 2: about the beautiful game.
43:56
Speaker 1: Everyone.
43:56
Speaker 2: Please rate review and subscribe. Get your podcast. We'll have
44:00
Speaker 2: another reaction show coming up after that. Germany nash Seavent
44:10
Speaker 1: Mm hmm