Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / TABLE TALK: The Philadelphia Union Are Having Quite The Season!

Transcript

TABLE TALK: The Philadelphia Union Are Having Quite The Season! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: in the world, twelve years strong. You've got a great
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: discussion coming your way this week as it pertains to
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Union. That's right, they are on top of
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference within Major League Soccer, a team here
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: in the Philadelphia area that doesn't always get their due,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: but we're talking about them here on this table Talk
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: interview show. And joining us this week is our very
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: good friend from Philadelphia's soccernow dot com, Josh Schuster. Buddy Man,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: thanks so much for jumping on.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, man, anytime, Jeff. It's always a pleasure.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: It's always fun. Yeah, it's always fun talking soccer with you. Hey.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: But by the way, we've got the Eagles season right
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: around the corner here. I think it maybe we might
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: have to have you on some postgame shows if the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: guys aren't able to jump on.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, put you right on the spot down Sports Good.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: I'm glad. I'm glad to hear that. Well, Hey, Buddy,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Look to get into this Major League soccer season, specifically
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: with regard to the Union, we first have to start
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: off by talking about one particular player, one gentleman named Tyberibo.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I mean he is now a lot of people may
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: not know this, but he is now the second pro
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: athlete in Philadelphia to win an All Star MVP here
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five. Yes, we had Kyle Schwarber do
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: it just a couple of weeks ago at Major League
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Baseball's All Star Game, and then tyber Ebo last week
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: one VP of the Major League Soccer All Star Game.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: It's just been an incredible season for him. It's such
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: a cool storyline as well. So just to get us
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: started talking about this Union team and Barribo too, because
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: he really has been an engine and spark plug for
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: this team. How is ty Berrebo really leaving his mark
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: with this Union team this season? Josh? And what is
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: tenure actually is going to end up meaning for this
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Union team and even well into the future.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we I think I said it last
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: time I was on that neither of us really had
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: many expectations for ty Baribo. I mentioned it last time
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: that when they had signed him, I really was questioning
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: what Ernest Tannier was was doing. But really, this season
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: has been a good story, but a couple of weeks ago,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: I had text you that ty Baribo and his family
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: were stuck in Israel because of the war, and they
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: were in a bunker. And when Carnell was asked about
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: when ty Beribo was going to be back, his blunt
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: answer was, we don't know exactly. And so I think,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: in to make this a shorter answer for you to
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: your original question, the time that he was missing is
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: he had to go back over to get his status,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: his work status renewed in different things for America and
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: different things. The union struggled, he kind of hit its law.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: They were having a problem with goal scoring. But what
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: do you know, he comes back, They're back to winning ways.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: It really is kind of amazing. I had checked just
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: before we had started recording here. He had been in
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: the Golden Boot leader for MLS for an extended period
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: of time, and I think missing a number of games
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: probably has hurt those chances, as Messi is now the
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: leading scorer. But really he is having just this career year,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: and we had kind of seen it towards the end
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: of last season, but I think everybody, myself included, just
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: kind of thought that it was a mirage that really
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: this wasn't going to last. I even thought that maybe
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: they should sell him based off of his potential, because
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: I did not think that his value was going to
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: be any higher. Well, I was wrong.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: He's really the glue. He really is the glue keeping
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: so much of this together.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and he really really is, especially with some of
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the players that left this past offseason, he really has
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: kind of stepped into that role. I think. One of
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: the other things and maybe we'll get into it a
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: little bit later, is a lot of people had questioned
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: bringing back Alejandro Vadoya. Yeah, but I think really in
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: the way the contract is set up that he kind
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: of has this front office role, but he also has
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: this on the field role. His role on the pitch
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: is critical because I would actually argue that he is glue.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: He is the one constant who has been here for
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: an extended period of time, and when you let the
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: kind of players they let go this this previous offseason,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: they really did need to sign him Alejandra Bodoya to
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: one year, one year deal, not to move it away
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: from Typerrebo. But again, he is having a great season.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, Well, there are two other individuals also having
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: pretty good season for this Union team. We can't forget
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: that Kai Wagner as I've always called them Wagner because
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: I'm because I'm an old white guy who mispronounced his names,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: but got it right this time. Kai Wagner and Jacob
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Is it Jacob Glessness, Yes, my gosh, I got it right.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: What the heck is going on here, Josh, I'm getting
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: these names right? My goodness. Anyway, they were also representatives
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I should say Union team representatives at the All Star
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Game as well. Both have been having a really good season.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, Wagner wasn't initially selected as an All Star
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: amazingly enough, but was added as a replacement later, and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Jacob has had He really has been the anchor for
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: this Union defense. So I wonder if we can talk
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: about these players here, get your thoughts about what these
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: two guys have meant to this team this season and
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: really how they're going to continue their impact here in
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: the coming weeks and months. So let's start with Kai Wagner.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, what are your thoughts on where he has
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: right now, where he is right now during this season, really,
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: what he means for the team.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: I'm actually gonna robe him both in together. Okay, is
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: true for both. Okay, if you would have told me,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Jeff before the season started and we kind of did
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: our season preview, yeah, that both Wagner and Glassness were
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: both going to be All Stars after their season last year,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: I probably I probably would have laughed, yeah, because really,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: when we're talking about the fall that the Union had
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: that really led to Jim Curtin's departure, when there's two
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: players that I think needed a new voice, and Carnell
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: being that new voice, I think it's these two individuals
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: that needed it more than anything. I think what had
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: happened was both of these individuals have been in rumblings
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: of being sold for so long, especially Kai Wagner. I
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: mean he has really been talked about going over to
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Europe for a while now, especially in the Bundesliga. Maybe
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: not at the first tier, but in the second tier
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: of Bundesliga. The reality is, I think they just got
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: comfortable here and I think bringing in a new voice
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: that had them, that held them to accountability, I think
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: has changed everything for their seasons. I'm really glad that
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: they did not sell. The Union did not sell either
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: of them because their value had really crashed into the floor.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: It's not a matter of if the Union are going
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: to sell them. The Union always sell their players. They
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: It's just the reality and this is a common say
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: she we're going to be having about Ty Baribo. I
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: would not be surprised if Wagner, Glaceness and Baribo are
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: all gone at the end of this offseason because they
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: have either increased their value so high or they have
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: reclaimed their value to what the Union front office will
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: probably view as a fair point fair price point. But really,
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing and why they were All
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Stars this year is because they're consistent. Yeah, last year
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: there was a lot of highs, but there were a
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: lot of really low lows, in particular with Wagner and Gleasness.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Were I think we're going to get into that theme
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: of consistency perhaps a little bit more when we talk
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: about Bradley Carnell and a little bit and what he's
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: really been able to bring in terms of foundational pieces
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: to this team. But before we get to him again, folks,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: we are talking to Josh Schuster from Philadelphia soccernow dot
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: com and if do you want to give people your
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: socials out there? I don't know if you want to
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: or not where they can find you.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: I'm like that fly guy Josh ninety one or some
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: I don't even know. I'm right now. I'm on vacation,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: and I said that I am on a social media break,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: so I have I don't even know. That shows you
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: how plugged I am with social media.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I love it, exactly. It just really stinks anymore. It
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: really does, even though I'm on every freaking platform all
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: the time. Gosh, well, here is un Jeff, exactly exactly.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: If you're watching on YouTube, We've got our social media
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: sites up where you can follow us and interact with us.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: We'd love for you to not only leave some comments
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: on various social sites, you know, like our YouTube video here,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: and make sure that you're following us out there. You're
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: gonna get some additional content from us. We're on Instagram, Twitter,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: slash x, I'm over on the TikTok at. Mister Jeff Warren,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Eric and I are over on Blue Sky as well
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: as threads, and you can like our Facebook page as well.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: And again, if you can, like subscribe to the Philadelphia
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Sports Table podcast show here on YouTube, that would be fantastic.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: But moving along with our conversation, and before we get
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to our first break here, or I should say, our
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: only break here, I wanted to talk about the fact that,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: you know, we're seeing the fact that the Union are
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: willing to, you know, perhaps deal some guys, even like
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: even the middle of the season, because this week they
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: have loaned David Vasquez to San Diego for the rest
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: of the season, and based on reports it looks like
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: this could be a permanent deal here. The Union received
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars in general allocation money that's going
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: to be split between twenty five and twenty twenty six.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: And yes, he wasn't guaranteed first team minutes, Josh, but
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: this guy, I don't know, this kind of seemed like
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: a surprise to me. I'm wondering, you know, before we
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: go to break here, you know, what are your thoughts
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: when you heard this and really what it means in
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: terms of the future future with like you were just
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: talking about the fact that Bibo and Wagner they might
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: not even be on this team. You know, David Vasquez
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: is a pretty decent player, and they're they're really just
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: willing to deal them here at this point. Anyway, what
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: were your thoughts on David Vasquez leaving town here.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Nothing surprises me. Yeah, And to be honest, he's played
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: one match this year. He's played nineteen minutes. If they
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: can get anything for him, I'm okay with it. I
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: do know that they are in the process of hoarding
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: general allocation money. They are when you're asking me what
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: this is, kind of signaling. The last time they did
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: this they went all in on michel Ula. So I'm
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: not saying to look for a huge signing that's trying.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: But they have invested a lot of their general allocation
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: money into the farm system. However, there is only so
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: much that they can really put there, so I'm guessing
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: that probably what is going to be happening is some
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: of their academy players. The Union two are doing very
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: well this year. They are having a very very good season.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: I know, I don't know that we really want to
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: get into the breakdowns deep into the Union two squad here,
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: but they last year they had a really good season
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: and this year they've continued. So I would imagine that
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: we're going to be seeing a lot of this money
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: being designated to be able to pay for contracts for
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: some of these kids that really are playing at a
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: level that they shouldn't be playing at and they really
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: do need to have a spot on the roster. And
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: one thing that I'll say with Carneal is he is
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: not afraid to rotate the squad, right, so you're you
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: the you know, if you pull up the statistics, I mean,
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: there are a lot of players who have played a
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: lot of matches, which this is something that honestly is
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: very new. Jim Curtin he had players he really liked,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: and he dressed those players and only played those players.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: So it's interesting to see that there is a good
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: amount of rotation that is happening with the Union squad.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: And so I think part of what the Union are
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: living into is this pipe dream that they've kind of
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: had for a while of really becoming a homegrown system.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: And so I'm not as opposed to them putting more
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: money into their farm system because really, in the MLS,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: the only way to really become a championship contender every
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: year you have to either draft or you have to
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: sign your own players because there's certain restrictions on the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: number of people from different countries you can have. The
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: MLF is very very hard and I'm not giving Ernest
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Tanner an excuse here. It is very hard to just
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: build a squad in MLS with all of the restrictions,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: and the fact that he has the financial restrictions also
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: put on him by ownership is pretty incredible.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Dare I say there is a potential plan here, Josh,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: dare I say it because you and I have talked
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: about this team now for you know, over all these
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: months that you've been on discussing the union, and it's like,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: my gosh, you know, especially at the end of last season.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: I remember our discussion. It was like they are nowhere.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: This team and organization is horrendous. There's no direction, there's
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: no path, no plan ahead at all. Dare I say,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: seems like there could be a plan of action here
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: that may actually be coming together. Can't believe it.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And Jeff, I I struggle with being able to
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: respond to your comment because the reality is, I don't
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: think the union have changed there, Planka. I think what
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: we're beginning to see is that as much as the
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: union respected Jim Curtin, I think the reality is that
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: they're beginning to realize that there was really no way
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: that Jim Curtain. I think he grew tired of giving
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: kids a chance.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And what they really need is they really need
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: with all of these academy kids to be able to
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: see which ones can actually have a future and which
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: ones they can sell that have potential that may not
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: live into that potential. And so I think what we're
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: seeing is when they brought in Carnell, the understanding was
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: this was a rebuilding season. I don't even think the
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Union expected for them to be at the top of
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference. And I don't think that there's anything
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: wrong with him saying that, hey, we've overachieved. This is great, right,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: because if you listened in the off season, they had
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: mentioned they were going to make some signings, which didn't
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: necessarily happen a whole lot, but they also mentioned that,
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: you know, it was kind of they kind of prepped that,
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: you know, this is a rebuilding year. Your kids, yes,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: pay pens.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Now, the conversation that the front office needs to have
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: is sometimes you know, it's the MLB trade deadline as well,
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Sometimes front offices need to reward teams that are going
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: above expectation because otherwise the clubhouse kind of feels it. Yeah,
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: the Union are in that kind of phase. You know,
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: when the transfer window opens again, they're going to need
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: to have some conversations and honestly, that may be why
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Vasquez trade was made, was so they can have some
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: money to be able to bring in players at the
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: transfer deadline.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really interesting, and we've got more and more
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Union talk coming your way. We are going to
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: take a break. We will be back in just a bit.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: All right, we are back again. We are here with
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: our good friend Josh Schuster from Philadelphia Soccer Now dot com.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: And I wanted to, you know, get into the head
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: coach here, Bradley Carnell, because he has really taken this
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: team to new heights after last season. We were just
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: talking about it right before the break, and I know
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: we talked about this the last time that you were
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: on the show as well, But things seem more solid
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: in terms of who Bradley Carnell is, what he has
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: brought to this team. He really does seem to be
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: the head coach that this team needed, that the talent
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: on this team needed. A new era here in Union
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: soccer appears really to be upon us in this first
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: half of the season here. I don't think it appeared
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: to necessarily be luck, but Bradley Carnell again really creating
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: a foundation, a foundation for what players are able to do.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: You talked about his philosophy of rotating players at this point, Josh,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: we really do have to say that Bradley Carnell is
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: one of the best head coaches in Major League Soccer
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: at this point, right.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: So I'm hesitant to go in all of Major League Soccer. Ok,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: he has had some success, He's also had some not
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: great success. He himself, I think it's it's the perfect
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: marriage of a team that was struggling with consistency and
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: a coach that was struggling with consistent seasons. They've kind
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: of met each other and they've fallen in love, and
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: that's great. But when you fall in love, there's always
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: the honeymoon phase. Right, So I'm going to say, I
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: don't care where the Union finished this year. If he
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: is not the Head Coach of the Season, if he
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: doesn't win the award, it's criminal. I don't understand. I mean,
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: the Union weren't even projected to be a top five
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: squad in MLS, so as long as they don't fall
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: outside of that, I mean, he has exceeded expectations more
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: so than any other coach in fact the MLS this year.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: I would argue, if you look at beginning of the
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: year projection to what it is now, other than the Union, honestly,
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: it's been pretty much what everybody thought. Yeah, I am
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: genuinely shocked at the job that Carnell has done. I
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: wasn't a huge fan of the hiring, but I'm happy
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: to be wrong. I just thought the players didn't need
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: another player's coach, And maybe Carnell is more of the
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Andy Reid model of players coach that we often hear about,
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: or Mick Is described this way with Eagles, that he
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: will defend his players at the podium to the ends
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: of the earth, but then when you get behind closed
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: doors he rips India. And maybe that's how Carnell is.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know. The Union players don't really talk about it,
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: but he really is from all appearances, very much players
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: coach like Jim Curtin, And I don't know if it's
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: just minor tweaks the system that he did, or he
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: just listened to every single player that came into his
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: office and said, you know, what are you looking for
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: in this upcoming season and they just feel like the
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: coach is listening to them. I don't know what it is,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: but whatever it is, it's working and he has just
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: done a phenomenal job. I'm glad they hired him, and
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I'm glad that sometimes I'm completely clueless when it comes
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: to soccer, because otherwise the Union probably want to be
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: in the shape they are right now.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, dude, how many times do we have to talk
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: about the fact that the players in any sport and
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: the relationship that you have with your coach is going
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: to manifest productive type of results when you get on
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: the field, on the ice, on the court, wherever. I mean,
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: we are consistently seeing it time and time again. I
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: probably sound like a broken record to our listeners out there,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: but really, I mean, you look at Nick Sirianni, like
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: you mentioned, I can't wait to see what Rick Tocket's
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: going to do for this Flyers team, what type of
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: coach and the relationship he's going to have with some
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: of these guys this coming season. We see it time
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: and time again in sports where that that relationship, that
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: bond that a coach has with their players can manifest
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: into pretty amazing type of results. So as we're moving
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: along here, you know, even though this team is riding
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: high on top of the Eastern Conference at this point,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: there are definitely still improvements that can be made on
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: this team. This is not a one hundred perfect Philadelphia
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Union Major League Soccer team. So just to bluntly ask,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: what needs to be improved here, Josh Most when looking
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: at this Union team game after game, what are your thoughts?
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Scoring? Ibar Evo has fifteen goals? Jeff, what is the
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: highest number after that in terms of goals scored in
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: twenty plus matches?
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Oh, what is it? I don't know. Four.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: There are four players with four So after that tie
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: for second place, it goes to about five players with
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: two goals.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, you can.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: Literally take the top the scores two through four, and
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: they still aren't even equaling Tyberibo's production.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I didn't realize it was that. I
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: was actually going to say like six or seven. Gosh.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I've been very kind to mikel Ua.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, throughout the season.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: It is time to sell him. I don't care if
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: you don't get the money back. The man he has
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: four goals and twenty matches played, and he has four assists.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: He's just not producing. The fact that he only has
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: four assists playing on the opposite side of Tyberibo, who
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: has fifteen goals is my numbing. I don't understand how
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: you can have that little production with someone who's putting
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: the ball in the net at almost a goal a
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: game clip Tyberibo has played twenty one matches and he
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: has fifteen goals.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Incredible.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: I don't understand how what you're struggling to produce with
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: that you aren't even getting the attention. They're basically leaving
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: him alone and a man can't score. It is time
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: to admit that the Michlu experiment did not work and
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: it's time to move on. They desperately need scoring because
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: people popping in a goal or two here or there
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: through twenty matches is not going to cut it anymore.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: I am really concerned if they sell ty Berribo this offseason.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: I have no idea where the scoring is going to
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: come from on this roster because as of right now,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: it is not here. And in terms of the system,
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: I don't really see anything that will translate to the
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: same level of production as ty Baribo. The problem is
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: strikers and forwards will get you the most money when
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: it comes to transfers. Ty Berribo is still young. We've
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: talked about this. The Union just sell players off. They
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: are the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pittsburgh Pirates of MLS
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: and if you're expecting them to be big spenders. And
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: part of it is I just don't think that ownership
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: is creative enough to find ways to bring an additional
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: income to be able to buy players like Miami. Right.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: The whole reason why Messi's in Miami is because they
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: were able to work a deal around Apple TV. Yes,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: where he gets part of that income. That's creative. The
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Union front office has not shown the ability to be
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: creative in any way, shape or form. So long answer
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: is what I gave. Short answer scoring score needs scoring.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, as we're finishing up the conversation here,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: I'd like to get your thoughts Josh on what the
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: or who I should say the under the radar player
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: is this season for the Union who might not be
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: getting his due when it comes to the fan base
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: when it comes to the Major League Soccer world overall,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Who's that one under the radar player this season?
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Why I'm gonna say for right now, I'm gonna give
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: it to Bedoya. Yeah, I just think that what he
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: has added when I think of under the radar, I
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: don't think of things that appear on a statue right
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: like I would argue in hockey, you're looking at a
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: third line guy, a fourth line guy, right bottom six guy.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: What Bedoya has added in terms of stability with all
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: of the sales that have taken place through all of
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: the years, none more critical than going into this season.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: You know, two years ago the Union are ride and high,
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: and it looked like they were a lock for the
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: number one spot in the Eastern Conference last year, and
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: joy did that not happen. Now you're you're kind of
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: looking at Okay, we're where you thought we thought you
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: were going to be last year, top of the Eastern Conference.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: And really I attribute a lot of that to Bedoya.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: He's really been very okay with having a big time
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: substitute role. You can see him on the bench, he's talking,
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: explaining things to the youngsters, he's going to Union two matches.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: He's really living and living into that mold of that
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: front office. But also won the pitch roll, and so
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: I think, really you have to give him some props,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: like he's the captain for a reason.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: He's been balancing it very well. To be honest with you,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, Lenn and I talked about it a few
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: months ago on the show. You and I talked about
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: it before, and it's like, well, do you want the
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: front office responsibilities or do you want to be on
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the field. And you know, a lot of us said,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: you know, it probably wasn't really going to work out. Well,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: he has balanced it. I'm glad I'm wrong with that.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: He has bounced it well.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean all of us were all of us
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: were really question how can you do these two jobs?
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: And the biggest concern I had with Bedoya this year
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: is I mentioned it for the last however long we've
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: been talking union soccer. He was an extension of Jim
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Curtin's coaching system. Yeah, and when you saw him out there,
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: he was the one player that Curtain looked to, and
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: he was the one player that all the players on
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: the pitch looked to. I didn't know how he was
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: going to handle a new voice, Yeah, but he's been
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: okay with kind of taking that behind the scenes more role.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: I mean when he's on the pitch, he still is
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: Alejandro Badoya, and the players looked to him. But have
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: you heard him gripe and complain about playing time or anything. No, No,
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: he's just happy, I think to He's just happy to
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: be a part of the system and to be a
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: part of the squad. So he's really done a great job.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: It has been an interesting Union season, a very six
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: s full one and as we mentioned, because of Brebo mainly.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: But we're still gonna be following this team for sure
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: well into the future. Again, folks, he is Joshuster from
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia soccernow dot com. Check out everything they have over there.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Great great website, great great folks over there, and Josh,
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: you are awesome as always. Thanks so much for jumping on.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Let's talk more Union down the road, and we're certainly
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: gonna get into some Eagles talk at some point too,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: maybe doing some postgame shows.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: Bo.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: I'd love to have you back on my friend. Sounds good, Jeff,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for us here on table Talk
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: in general. We thank you our listeners for being part
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: of this online community with us and within this space.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Please make sure to check out our website, Philadelphia Sportstable
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: dot com for all of our podcasts, and follow us
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: on our social sites over on Twitter at Philadelphia PST,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: threads at the Olphia Sports Table, and over on Instagram
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: as well. Take care and we'll catch you next time.