Latest / Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos / Pulisic's Future, Sargent to MLS, and Stories from 1989 in Trinidad

Transcript

Pulisic's Future, Sargent to MLS, and Stories from 1989 in Trinidad · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really exciting. It was really exciting when
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the people were going, where are you from, you guys,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Florida State?
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: What the team is this? No, wasn't a private jet
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: back then?
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're the Florida State cricket team. We just had
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a trip to Trinidad. It was And by the way,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: it wasn't United it was before that. It was Continental Airlines. Yeah,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and it might have been. I mean, we might have
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: been on pan Am for all I know. I don't
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: know what it was.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: What's going on, everybody, Welcome back to Inside American Soccer.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, Tom Boger, joined by my friend, one
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: of the greatest players in US soccer history, your veteran
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: three World Cups, tab Ramos tab We got a fun
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: episode today. We are going into the mail bag and
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna hit you with an off script question to
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: begin with of does the term mailbag make sense in
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  Speaker 2: the Year of Our Lord twenty twenty six in terms
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: of I don't send much mail. I don't know if
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: you still said a lot of I don't, and it
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: gives me anxiety because it's not something that I do regularly,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: and I'm fearful that I'm gonna mess it up.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: I rarely send mail, but every once in a while
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I have to send a check to somebody and I
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: have to mail it, so that still happens in my household.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I think most people wouldn't even know what
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: a mail bag is, right. It's kind of like the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: you know when they put the high school kids and
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: try to put them in front of like a rotary
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  Speaker 1: phone and make them to make a phone call and
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: they kind of press the button and don't know that
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: they have to go around, you know, like that. It's
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: that sort of thing. I think the mail bag is
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: the same thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree. I don't to be fair, I
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  Speaker 2: don't have a better alternative in terms of a name.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: This just makes the most sense. But you know, as
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: we were sitting here, all of the questions obviously coming
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: digitally here. So maybe it's a little outdated. Maybe maybe
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: we'll think about it. We'll put it together and figure
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  Speaker 2: out a new name. But on the show, we got
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: a packed show. We are going in that mail bag,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: that digital mail bag. We got a bunch of questions,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: a bunch of comments from you guys. Thank you very much.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: We're looking forward to getting into it. We're going to
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: get into the the news a little bit off the
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: top to keep you caught up on all things US
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: men's national team, and then we'll go inside the locker
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: room with Tab for a story about the legendary nineteen
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: eighty nine game in Trinidad that changed the future of
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: American soccer. Very much looking forward to that one. But
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: let's start with some of the news right off the top.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: We'll go inside the notebook. It's been an eventful week
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: for the US men's national team, not always positive. Unfortunately,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: We're gonna start with a bad story. Ricardo Peppy. Good news,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: scored a goal. Bad news. As he scored the goal,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: he suffered a pretty nasty arm injury. He broke his forearm.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: He went right to the hospital against surgery. PSV has
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: announced he'll be out around two months. I'm not a doctor,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: so I don't want to speculate, but that looks like
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: a pretty tough injury, and if he's back in two months,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I'd be very impressive to his internal resolve and ability
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: to rehab and get himself ready to get to play.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Because that looked bad. That means his status from March
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: is in jeopardy again. I probably guess unlikely if we're
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: just being safe here, which means there's going to be
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: another spot open in the forward depth. Start to potentially
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: impress reach out Postino and the staff before the World Cup.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: This will be the last window that players can come in.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: So are you worried at all for peppi status of
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: the World Cup team or what comes to mind with
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  Speaker 2: this injury?
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  Speaker 1: Well, the only reason I'm worried is because he was
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: just starting to get informed. I you know, I think
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: you know, not only did he score a goal, but
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: he had been scoring and I think that might have
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: been the fifth game in a row that he had
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: scored a goal, So he was starting to get hot,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: starting to make us think about, hey, you know, it's
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Peppy going to be fighting for that starting role with
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the team. And I think because he had been out
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: for so long, I think the injury just comes at
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  Speaker 1: a really bad time more than anything. Having said that,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: I also think that an arm injury is not like
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: a knee injury or a lower leg injury where it
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: could potentially linger. So I think that although he may
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: not play for two months, there may be ways that
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  Speaker 1: they can protect his arm enough during training. So that
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: he can be training way before that, and although maybe
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: what they put in his arm you couldn't potentially use
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  Speaker 1: in a real game, you can still use and in practice.
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  Speaker 1: So I think he'll he'll come back around a little
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: bit earlier, but it's still something to worry about, only
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  Speaker 1: because he had been out for so long right before this.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it is unfortunate because it's a tough area
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: when you get into, like I don't want to call
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: somebody injury prone, particularly something like this like this isn't like, oh,
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: he did his hamstring again, or like a recurring injury.
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  Speaker 2: This is just kind of one of those freak accidents
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  Speaker 2: that you can't like prepare against. You can't do injury
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  Speaker 2: prevention on something like this. It is something that's more
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  Speaker 2: of like a freak accident and unfortunate than you know,
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  Speaker 2: maybe a bad sign for things to come. But he's
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: had a few and I hope that he will get
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: that run a for him and those run of games
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  Speaker 2: and put this behind him when he's back. Obviously, this
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: takes any potential move to Fulham or elsewhere in the
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  Speaker 2: Premier League off the table for January. I guess I
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: don't know that with one hundred percent certainty. But I
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: feel pretty confident that you don't spend thirty five million
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  Speaker 2: dollars on a player who's going to be out for
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: a few months. This is something that obviously will be
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: revisited in the summer. The interest won't go away because
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: of this. But teams in the Premier League, I'd find
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: it unlikely that they would spend money, a big money
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  Speaker 2: on a player that is going to be out for
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: at least two months, and then you'd really only get
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: them for the last six weeks or so of the
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: season if he comes back in time really quickly. I
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: think that this will open an opportunity for different forwards
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  Speaker 2: to be within this group in March. First and foremost
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: comes to mind for me is Patrick Goadgumont because he's
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  Speaker 2: been playing very well with Darby County. I think he
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: probably would have been there either way. They would have
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: found room for, you know, maybe an extra forward no
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: matter what. But I think that pretty much locks in
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  Speaker 2: Patrick Goajamonk for Mark.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you could be right about that because and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: I think the other thing to consider is that Marisio
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Bocasino likes him. I mean, he's shown that he likes him,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: and he likes what he does, and sometimes all it
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  Speaker 1: takes is for a player to have one certain quality
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  Speaker 1: that the coach likes for him to be part of
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  Speaker 1: the picture. And I think I think likely he would
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  Speaker 1: have been there even with Peppy there. But I think
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think this probably solidifies this
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  Speaker 1: position at least for the for the camp in March.
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  Speaker 2: And then we'll have that opportunity to stick around and
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: we'll see what happens as the World Cup roster gets
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: closer and closer to being decided and then revealed. Let's
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: start keep with the center forwards, Josh Sargent. Josh Sargent's
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: future is very much a question at Norich City. Sources
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  Speaker 2: have told me that Toronto FC has made a bid
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  Speaker 2: of eighteen million. Talks are ongoing between Norwich and Toronto.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Josh Sargent is pushing for this move. He wants this move.
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  Speaker 2: He sat out of Norrich's game over the weekend as
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  Speaker 2: he said it was, you know, his head wasn't right
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  Speaker 2: with all the transfer stuff. That's a polite code for
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  Speaker 2: accept this bid or you know, make a real counter
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  Speaker 2: offer so I can leave the background. Here is Josh
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  Speaker 2: Sargent almost joined Wolfsburg in the summer. There's a twenty
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  Speaker 2: eight million dow or bid accepted by Norwich. Personal terms
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: were set. He was either in Germany or about to
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  Speaker 2: go to Germany, and due to personal family reasons, he
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: and his family decided this move isn't right. I don't
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  Speaker 2: want this move. In eighteen months ago, FC Cincinnati tried
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: to sign him, he accepted personal he was ready to go.
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  Speaker 2: If Norwich accepted a bid from Cincy, he would be
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  Speaker 2: playing for c C Cincinnati right now. That is just the reality.
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  Speaker 2: So Josh Sargent is always a guy that was at
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  Speaker 2: the top of my list for like a big time
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: US men's national team player that would be likely to
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  Speaker 2: come back to MLS, probably first, more than some of
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  Speaker 2: the other guys. So this all lignes with that. Sources
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  Speaker 2: have told me Toronto are confident. They've been working on
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  Speaker 2: this for a while now. This winter he has been
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  Speaker 2: their top target. They feel good about this. The North
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: City manager Philip Clement came out and said something to
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  Speaker 2: the effect of, yeah, I told him he's not leaving
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  Speaker 2: this month. I put that to a number of sources,
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  Speaker 2: and all I say is they weren't too worried. So
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  Speaker 2: maybe that's just public posturing to get a better deal.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's public posturing for whatever deals they're working on
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  Speaker 2: to replace Josh Sergeant. Because obviously, if you're a team
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: that has a forward that you're getting a bid from Norwich,
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  Speaker 2: you're looking at this and saying, oh, you're about to
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  Speaker 2: have eighteen to twenty million dollars. The price for hour
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: player is eighteen to twenty million dollars, So I think
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  Speaker 2: that's what it has. It has more to do with
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  Speaker 2: that than them actually keeping him. But if they stick
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  Speaker 2: to the guns here, this could get messy because Josh
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  Speaker 2: Sargent wants this movie.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, there's a couple And by the way,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: I'll start by saying first that I'm a big supporter
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: of Josh Sargeant. If anything, I've always been pushing him.
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  Speaker 1: As you know, this has been one of the best forwards.
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  Speaker 1: He has all the qualities to make any team better.
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  Speaker 1: But there's a bunch of things that I don't like
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: about this move. And I'll start by saying first of
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: all that I think it kind of looks like number
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  Speaker 1: one that Josh just wants to leave his team regardless,
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  Speaker 1: right Two that likely he's thinking that maybe, hey, maybe
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: my as trying to get to the top of the
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Premier League or being on a solid top team in
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Europe is over and I want to turn around and
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: go back. Also, the fact that you know MLS is
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: getting ready to spend eighteen million dollars in an American
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: player to come back, I think that's a lot of
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: money for MLS, you know, and when you look when
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: you look into the future of the league and the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: money that the league should be spending, should be spending. Yeah,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not seeing an American player coming back a little
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: bit sooner as an eighteen million dollars signing. I just
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: don't think that's a great that's a great look for
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the league. And I think the last thing I would
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: say is I would like to see him in Saint Louis.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Saint Louis, jump in there. If someone's going to get him,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: get in there, get your guys together and bring Joss
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Sargeant back to Saint Louis. If he's going to go anywhere,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: that's where we need Joss Sargent.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Well, they've had a lot of time for this to
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: be on the table and they have not shown any
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: interest in putting up the money that would require job
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: sergeant coming home to Saint Louis. So again, I don't
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: know where his hat is, that his head is at
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: by that, but that's just not something on the table
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: right now. It's an interesting point that you make. I
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: would disagree because and it's easy to cherry pick the
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: bad examples, right but particularly with Toronto. They gave Lorenzo
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: and Sienia a four or five year contract, a fifteen
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: million dollars a year mistake, just an awful just that's
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: set on foot, money on fire. Bernadeski's similar contract length,
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: I think it was seven or eight million per year.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: They're still paying those two players. So I will say
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Toronto has always been an ambitious ownership group. It has
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: worked out really really well when it was Michael Bradley,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: josialtatur In Sebagian, Giuvinco, and then it has worked out
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: poorly when it was in Signia and Bernadeski, and they've
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: had a lot of other things. They've rebuilt the culture
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: within the team, the front office that they got. They
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: had lost a lot of people along the way, and
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: now they're into a new era and I think it's
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: good that it's you know, hey, we're gonna spend eight
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: million on Jorgi Mahialovic, who fringe US national team guy.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's not quite because he's not really anywhere near
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: the picture of Puccino, But that's an American guy who
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: has had a lot of success in MLS, been on
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: the Olympic team, and then Josh Sargent and the fee there.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: I think it's like people in norchill like that's not
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: enough for him because they had the bid accepted and
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: for ten million more than this in the summer. And
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: if you look around at a player at twenty even
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: take away the nationality, twenty five years old, team of
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: the season in the championship last year, he's four seasons
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: in a row double digit goals and his like goals
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: per minut ratio is pretty high. He's he's gotten over
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: some injury stuff, like I think last year or two
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: years ago he played forty one of the forty six
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: games in the championship. Is not an easy thing to do,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: particularly for somebody who we would be worried about injury issues.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: So all of this again taking away the name, takeaway
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: the nationality, that profile of that, that's a twenty million
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: dollars player. Atlanta United spent twenty two million on Emmanuel
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: latzelat who it was very good in the championship. He
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: did not have the same resume that Josh Sargent had
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: in the championship. So I think for the price, it
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: makes sense. And listen, if you're gonna wiff on somebody,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: and I think that this would be I think this
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: would be a really high floor. The only word you
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: would have is will he play thirty games a season
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: every season? And there's a risk to that to anybody
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: you signed. So I think for Toronto, this is a
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: good way to spend money. It's certainly certainly better than
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: what they had in the last few years.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, those are all good points, Tom. You know,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: when you look at it that way, I would agree
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: that it doesn't sound like a lot of money. I
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: still think when I when I look at MLS and
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: look what you know, what the league is about, I
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: still think that you know, it's a lot of money
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: on any player for the league to bring in. But
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: in particular, I hope that you know all the points
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: that you made that Saint Louis is still looking at
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Delis and saying, this is the guy for here. This
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: is our home hero. And by the way, I don't
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: think this is going to be a whiff. You know
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: where you know, and this is where maybe the value
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: is there because you know when you go and sign
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: the way Atlanta went out and signed this year and
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: you miss a little bit that hurts. I think with
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Josh Sargent, whoever miss not gonna miss. This is a
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: sure thing. Josh Sargent will do well in the MLS.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: So this is one to keep watching. I'm again, I'm
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: just sitting here on January thirteenth. I would expect this
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: to get done over the line again, just because of
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: all the confidences that I've heard from people all over
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: the deal pretty much everybody but Norwich and who knows.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Usually when these things happen, when the money gets there,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: the deal gets agreed. But we'll see how that one evolves.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: A couple more quick ones here Chris Richards. He returns
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: in Chrystal Pals's surprising shocking FA Cup loss. That's unfortunate
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: for the reigning FA Cup champions, the holders of this competition,
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: but good news this is Chris Richards is back. The
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: injury wasn't long term like we had said. And that's
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: great news. As long as he's all good moving forward,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: that's all good. So I think that's important to hear,
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: particularly after some of the bad injury news with Peppi
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: and Tyler Adams, and then some more good news WESN McKinney.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: He scored officially one time. If you look at the
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: box scores, I think we all agree that he probably
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: should have been credited for two goals. But either he
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: might be in the form of his life right now.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I feel like we've talked about him every week here
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: because he's doing things that are really really strong. His form,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: his his output for Juventus, and it's just another really
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: good week for West McKinney.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll start with Chris Richards first. I think he
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: you know, he did look a little rusty. Obviously he's
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: been out for what a month something like that because
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: something like that. So yeah, he got I think he
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: got beat on the blind side a little bit on
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: one of the goals. You know, not not a great start,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: but it's great to see him back on the field.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure you know it's always difficult to play
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: teams that are so far below your level because you're
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: now really prepared. You don't know their players as well.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: So I'm sure that was that was tough and and
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: obviously a historic loss because you can't say it any
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: other way, and he was part of that. But I'm
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: sure as he gets back into EPL this weekend he
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: will pick up his game. So yeah, so that's that's
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: where that is. As far as what was the other
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: player you were talking about? Wow, so Wes, Yeah, so
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: so west And I think we laughed at this a
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: little bit before the show because you know, had I
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: ever had a chance to play for Juventus and I
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: would have scored that goal that they called an own goal,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: I would have been protesting to the Cops Shield Federation
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: as much as psychic protest because I you know, I thought,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: you know, Weston tried to put the ball in the
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: goal and it just hit the defender and ended up
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: going in the goal. Anyway, I think that should be
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: his goal. But but you know there's more than that.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: His other goal was a great header, right, And and
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: this is what we've been talking about. We've discussed is
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: on the show a couple of times, how Weston can
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: be that eight or ten either position who ends up
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: inside the six. He does that well, and I think
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: this game he showed once again that he can do
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: that coming out of the midfield.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: He started the last thirteen Seriat games for event to
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: see as an absolute crucial key starter and it's just
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: been awesome, awesome to see. And he's out of contract
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: in the summer, not a bad time to be in
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: the formula life of the World Cup coming up, so
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I think west mckinn's gonna have plenty of options, whether
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Uventus is one of them for the next season. He
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: won't be he won't be short, and I'm looking forward
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: to that brim. Time for a quick break for us
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: before we dive into the mailbag. We'll be right back.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: Please write, review and subscribe to Inside American Soccer, Tom Boger,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: tab Ramless, wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back to
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: Inside American Soccer. We wanted to hear from you, the fans,
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: so we put the call out for questions, and as always,
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: you guys came through and we got some good ones
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: as well as some interesting comments that we're gonna throw
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: in that maybe weren't questions, but we do want to
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: hear your opinion and your voice. So let's start it
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: off with some questions from first one mlus ACES podcast.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening. By the way, emilss Aces, you
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: were always here to support us for a relatively healthy
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: roster this summer. I eat no major last minute injuries.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: What should be the bare minimum for this group at
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: the World Cup? The air quote, good run? And what
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: is the best case scenario if all plays out best?
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Let's go for wow. Yeah.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I think we've briefly discussed this in the past, but
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: I think this will change as times go by. Goes
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: by rights, it's normal. I'll start answering this question by
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: starting to think about the investment that we've made in
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: order to do better than ever before. Right, that's the goal.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: We hired an accomplished coach who has been at the
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: highest level internationally to come in and take our team,
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: hopefully to a place we've never been before. Having said that, obviously,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: let's start round by round. So you know, obviously, let's
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: not talk about not getting out of the first round.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: You know, three teams will go by, you'll go get out,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and we'll be one of them. If we were to
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: lose in the round of thirty two, I think that
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: there's no question that that would be a huge failure,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: both from you know, the player's standpoint and from coaching standpoint. Right,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: So then you go to round to sixteen. So if
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: you make it to round to sixteen, you know, I
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: think on who you played on the round of twenty
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: thirty two, which should be a decent opponent, round of
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: sixteen is where we always make it.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: So in terms of the players, I mean, can you
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: you could potentially say, well, you know, this was our
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: golden generation. These players are great, they play at great clubs.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Round of sixteen is probably not something we'll be happy with,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: but it will be a failure in terms of the
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: coaching situation, right, because we got really nothing out of
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: that investment. If you end up in the round of sixteen, now,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: if you went to the round of eight, if you
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: went to the quarterfinals, I think that success. I think
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: that success on both ends. And I think that's something
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: that can potentially be achievable with this group. I think
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: the group is good enough to make it that far,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: and I think the coaching should be good enough to
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: make it that far. And I think if you make
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: it any further than that, obviously it's huge success. I
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: think it likely will wrap the country around this team
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: like never before, and it will likely have an effect
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: for decades to come if we do any better than that.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: So that's that's sort of where it's sort of where
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: I see it. Round to sixteen being the absolute minimum
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: where we can say, okay, we did okay, but bringing
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: a coach from overseas didn't really help us that much.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: We could have done this with anybody. This is really
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: what we do every time anyway, you know. And then
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: and then the quarterfinals. We did that in two thousand
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: and two. But I still think that it's that it's
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: a good result for this team. That's how I see it.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: I really like how you laid all of that out,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: and I agree for you know, just about all of it.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: I keep going back and forth in my head. Well,
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: like it feels it feels like churlish to say round
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: to sixteen that's not good enough. Like there's if you
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: get to the Like I kind of like quarterfinals is
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: kind of where I sit at of home World Cup,
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: this golden generation into their primes, building off of what
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: happened in twenty twenty two, this big time head coach
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: that came in recent but you know, we turned the
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: corner because things look really bad in the fall and
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: in the summer. But like, if they get to the
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: round of sixteen and play, I'd like, again, I'm just
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: using the examples of tom Meg because I think it
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: would be Belgium as we like, that's the likeliest path.
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: But like, if it's in England or in Argentina or
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: Brazil or Spain or you insert any one of the
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: like favorites, it'd be tough to say, oh, man, like,
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: what a failure. They didn't beat Argentina and around to
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: sixteen and didn't get to the quarterfinals. So obviously a
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: lot of it goes down to the path, But I
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: don't know. I wouldn't be like this is a failure.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: I'd just be slightly disappointed if it's not the quarterfinals,
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: because if not now, then when this is the time
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: that we've been building towards as a federation, as as
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: this current group of players, particularly since failing to qualify
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: for the twenty eighteen World Cup. This has been the
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: carrot at the end of the stick. This has been
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: what we've chasing. So quarterfying like the round of sixteen
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: would be fine, It would be okay, But I think
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: I'd be a little bit disappointed, and tab I don't
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: know if that's unrealistic expectations. I do think that I
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: do think there's a an area where they get to
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: the semifinals. I think that that's I wouldn't say that's
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: the most likely outcome, but I could absolutely see that, Like,
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: why not if the run goes well and all the
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: strengths get emboldened throughout the run, If pool sick and
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: Richard's and McKenny at this point, like Adams, if all
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: of these guys are playing at the top of their abilities,
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: they can It's just there's a lot of good players
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: in the world, of course, But I think that the
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: ceiling is semifinals and somewhere between quarterfinals in round of
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: sixteen is the expectation. And obviously there is no in
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: between for those two things. So it'll feel super positive
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: if it's quarterfinals, and it feel a little bit disappointing
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: if it's round to sixteen for me.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think you framed it correctly too, because
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: you know, I would add to that that we also
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: need a little bit of luck, right, you know, look
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: at Argentina won the last World Cup and they actually
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: won four out of the seven games they played, you know,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: they you know, they won a couple on penalties and
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: they lost to Saudi, so you know, and they got
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I think five penalty kicks on the way there, so
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: had that not happened, they wouldn't have won the World Cup.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: So you know, they're all the and of course you
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: earn those, and you have to be in the box
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: to get a penalty call for you all of those things.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: But I wouldn't think that our team is so far
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: away so that with a little bit of luck we
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: couldn't get to the semi finals. I think we can,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and I think we will need it.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I really like the way that you put that too,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: because I struggle with quantifying or like talking about, you know,
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: the role that luck plays in all of these knockouts
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: ornaments like it not just a World Cup, just insert anything,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: whether it's club or international soccer. I think the way
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: you put it, this group is good enough that they, like,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: you can't be a bad team and just get extremely
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: lucky to carry through a run. I think this team
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: is good enough that if the bouncers go right, it
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: can be where where you know, we hope it can
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: get to again, like hopefully quarterfinals and maybe the semi finals.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: And I think that's that's part of the range, and
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: you need to have a baseline quality and a baseline
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: mental to qualify for some of the lucky bounces, because again,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: if you're bad, I don't know, Cape Verde awesome story
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: for them to get there. They could get every single bounce,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: and I don't think that there's a world that they
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: get to the round of sixteen or something like that,
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean? And not comparing us to
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: Cape Verde, but there is a group that outside of
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: the top top title contenders, there's like a second tier that. Again,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: I think that the range of where these teams can
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: finish can be wide, depending on the path, depending on
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: a couple of bounds, depending on set pieces, and some
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: other really really small things that vary game to game,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: and I think the United States is in that all right,
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Next question from AFLAC. I don't think that this is
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: a sponsored Hey, hey, guys, love the content. Do you
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: think Aiden Morris will have a spot in the World
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Cup squad or at least compete for one. He's definitely
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: not guaranteed one, but I think he's definitely on the
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: bubble right now. Tab I don't remember if when we
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: did our roster projection that will do several times between
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: then and and the World Cup. I don't remember if
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: we definitely both had him as like either one of
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: the last guys in or one of the first guys out.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: So he's got a chance and we'll see what happens.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: I think it'll be pretty pivotal if he gets caught
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: up in March, how he performs.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know, at the moment, you'd have
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: to say, he's in one of those spots between you know,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: twenty four and twenty eight, right somewhere in there where
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: you're not sure if he's going to be in or out.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: This weekend. You know they played, you know this last
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: game FA Cup they played against Fulham. He played well.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: He played a little bit further up the field, it seems,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: had a nice little assist or second assist as a
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: back heel for the goal, which if you watch that
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: whole goal that Middlesbrough scored, was a great goal, actually
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: a great goal. And then he actually had a pass
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: where he put I think they're forward. I think his
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: name is Whittaker, and he put Whittaker through that could
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: have been the two to two with about five minutes
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: left in the game, so he had an influence in
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the game. You know, long story short, He's still in
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: the picture, no mistake about it. He's still in the picture.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: He's certainly not a g guarantee, but he's one of
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: one of the final two or the two that'll come
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: in late. But he's right in that picture. I think.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: I would agree, and again, I think we could go
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: back every single week back and forth between some of
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: these guys. There are others on on the bubble that
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: include Johnny card Oh so I think Tanner Tessaman is
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: ahead of definitely ahead of both of those. Tyler Adams
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: is a lock provided that he's healthy. Weston McKinney is
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: a lock provided he's healthy. So really quickly, this group
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: is difficult to break into with all the options we
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: talked about. Sebastian bur Alter, I know he hasn't played
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: in a month and he won't play for another month
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: in Vancouver white Caps, but he'll be part of the mix.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: There are Christian Rodan has been part of them. There.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: There are just a lot of options for some of
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: these last central midfield spots, and I think it's gonna
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: come down to the wire and we can have different
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: opinions every week. This next question is from Eric Friedlander.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: What is Tab's biggest what if youth prospect of the
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: last twenty years?
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: I actually, you know, I love this question actually because
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I always think back about, you know, what I thought
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: at those moments and the guys that I thought, Man,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: this guy is really this guy really has all the tools, right.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: And when I think of a guy that had all
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: the tools that I thought was going to be big time,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: and by the way, he was big time but injury
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: stoleed him down, I would have to say Number one
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: for me would be Ben Spencer. So Ben Ben Spencer
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: was a six five forward, ninety five born, so he
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: would have been on that twenty fifteen team. He only
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: played qualifying for US and he was already injured. He
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: had all kinds of problems with a knee injury that
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: he had. He was playing at Molda at the time.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: But Tom, he had all of the tools. He was fast,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: he was great in the air, obviously because he was
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: six y five, but he played with the ball on
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: his feet as if he was five eight. I mean,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: he had all of the tools and unfortunately for him,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: he ended up bouncing around because he went every club
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: he's been on or he was not ever since. I
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: think he might have retired a couple of years ago only,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: but I think he was in between injuries all the time.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: He never really got to full potential. But I think
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: i'd have to say definitely Ben Spencer. But I'll give
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: you some honorable mentions because I like to think about it.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I got something, okay, So Junior Flores. Junior Flores was
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: at fifteen sixteen years old, he played in those Nike
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: International friendlies in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, when we used to
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: have our U seventeens there as full residency. He tore
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Brazil apart, basically by himself. He was an amazing, amazing player.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: By the time he got to the U twenties, I
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: had him, I believe, a World Cup qualifying, but he
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: already didn't make the final team for the World Cup
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: because he wasn't in good form. But I think at
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: sixteen years old, which just when he signed with Dortmund,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: I think he signed three or four year contract with
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Dorton and he had options to go to many other teams.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Liverpool like every team in the world wanted a piece
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: of junior flories and ended up not really having a
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: career at all. So that would be my next one,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: and then from there, I'll say more more recently, I
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: would say, you know Gideon's allow him had in crowded.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: That was the one that was coming up number one.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: When when Gideon showed up at our first under twenty practice,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: we were in New Zealand preparing for the World Cup,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: and he was two years younger than everyone else. I
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: remember Kellen Acosta watching Gideon's along them just take free
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: kicks and go wow, this guy is amazing. But just
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the way he played. I at one point we played
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Portugal and Portugal had a great under twenty team and
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: I said to Gideon, because he was an attacking sort
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: of like a number ten, I said, I said, Gideon,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you something that you've probably probably
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: never done before, and that is I want you to
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: play this number six position. And he looked at me
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: with eyes like that He's like, wait, like that means
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: I have to defend. And I said, listen, all I
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: need you to do is to end at the top
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: of our box. But I want to play everything through you.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: I have to tell you we played him at the
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: number six role against Portugal. It was in Spain the
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: tournament in Spain, Portugal could not deal with them. He
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: had that shoulder in and out where he could receive
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: a ball and make the guy from behind miss. I mean,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: he was an incredible player. And also I think he
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: ran into injuries unfortunately and was not being able to
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: get to full I think he's still playing though, and
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: I think he's still playing well. I believe he's in
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: the USL now, but I think his full potention without
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: injuries would have been amazing. And then the last one,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I would say Alex Mendes. Alex Mendes was a great
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: player in our two twenty nineteen World Cup, a great
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: number eight, box to box, silky, smooth, great feet, ended
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: up signing for Ajax, did well at Ajax for a while,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: but didn't take that next step and ended up in
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: second division Portugal and after that he really did not
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: recover from that. But those would be like that would
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: be Ben Spencer, my tough guy, and the rest of
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: the guys should be honorable mention for me.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: I like the Ben Spencer show because that one didn't
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: even come up for me. Just he never did get
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: to the senior national team again, and like with his
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: club stuff, like the injuries just kind of derailed him,
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: which is super, super unfortunate. Gideon's allow him is the
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: one that I'm obviously always gonna think about. So he
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: was playing for Arsenal at sixteen years old in first
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: team preseason and turning heads like, oh my god, who's this.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: This kid's American? Oh my god, he fits perfectly within
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: the Arson Benger Arsenal teams and like silky and possession
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: all that stuff, and again injuries derailed him. But my god,
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: for a while we thought that that was that was
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: you know, the way that Christian Pools and Giorana were
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: being spoke of when they were breaking through a doormant
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: as like this isn't just like a top American town,
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: this is just a top talent of his birth year
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: in the world. So injuries saw that another one. Paxton
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: Pomical was somebody I loved. Injuries has really slowed him down,
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: but he had some good years with Dallas. He's still
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: on Dallas. And one more that's a bit deeper cut, man.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: I thought Derek Jones was gonna be awesome. I thought
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: his floor was like he's just gonna be a really
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: good MLS player, but I think he's gonna end up
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: going to Europe and it just never quite worked out
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: for him.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: I would agree on both of those, but in particular
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: with Derek Jones, and I actually brought him to Houston
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: with me when I signed in Houston. I'd signed him
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: because I was like, Wow, he can't be underperforming like this.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: He has to do better. And by the way, great
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: kid will do anything for you, you know, trains hard, but
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: he just never took that next step, and that next
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: step would have been, Yeah, he becomes Paul Pugbot at
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: his best moments, he becomes Patrick Vieira at his best moments.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: That's how I saw him as well. And it's too
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: bad that he couldn't get to that level because I
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: think he had. I think.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: I agree, and like what what Tanner Testaman is right now,
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: Derek Jones probably could do maybe a little bit less
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: in possession of but a little bit more maybe in groundcovering,
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: again depending on what we were projecting everybody to be.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: But I think Tanner Testament would be another good comp
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: for him. Like, again, he's playing in Leone. That's a
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: big team. He's playing really well. It's awesome on the ball.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: He's got this rains these like long legs of course
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: in central midfield. So yeah, when every time we had
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: a joke just on you know, Extra time podcast rep
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: to that around MLS, every time Derek Jones got signed
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: somewhere else, we would spend more time on that than
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: somebody who like, we were always like this is the
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: one it's gonna unlock. Always playing with Tab in Houston.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, here it comes. Wait now, all right,
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: that didn't work out. But he's going to Columbus will
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: for Nazi. Oh my god, he's gonna be awesome. We
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: did that every time, so man, Derek Jones was good.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: A couple more here. This one's from Frank Dolan. Frank
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: ass Tab, what player on your team with the public
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: not know is an absolute maniac? Uh?
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: Does that mean someone I played with? I would say,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: not someone I coached and.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: Let you, I'll let you take it wherever you are,
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: you know, I.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Would say with people I would take that to people
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: I played with.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: Uh?
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: That that people outside of our World Cup team did
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: not really know the intensity with which Bruce Murray took
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: the field every day. I mean, if Bruce's socks didn't
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: fit right, he would just throw a table out the window.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: I mean he was just that intense. I was roommates
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: with him a couple of times, and he was intensity
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: to like the tenth degree.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: I love that answer. Those are good. I think that
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: was probably a good choice to go with the teammates
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: rather than guys you coach. Statute of limitations I think
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: has expired on some of those quickly. On this one.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: This this is from Ben Wright Waldo kits just good
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: or awesome. And for those who haven't seen, there's been
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: nothing official, but there's been some leaks that the striped red,
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: white striped kids, there's gonna be a version of that
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: United States at the World Cup. So if that is true,
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: just good or all I would say.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: If it's true, I would say, awesome. Why not? It
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: looks like the flag. If you remember back in nineteen
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: ninety four, we had this one right here as one,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: and then we had the other one that was striped
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: up and down. I like the stripes across a little
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: bit better. I think awesome. That would be my answer.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Tap pointed at the iconic denim shirt for those just
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: listening on the podcast, that is my I think that
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: one's my favorite of all time. Do you do you
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: have a favorite of all time?
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: I think as much as I hated this denim one,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: I think.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: It was it was it like, what was it like
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: to play in that?
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: No? It was it was obviously obviously not Denham material.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: It was right.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: It was just it weighed like forty pounds like every
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: other jersey back then. But no, it was fine. It
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: was It was fine to play with and it was
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: a nice in the end, ended up being a nice
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: looking jersey that that would be my favorite.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: I cut you off as you were does so then
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: the Denham would be okay, some more some more here
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: As we got a little bit of time to keep going,
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: we got a lot of comments about Christian Pulisic and
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: I think that I'm gonna ask about his future because
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: he's killing at an asy Milan. What you re signed?
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: Do you go somewhere else? What's going? This is from
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: Spicy Nocchi on Poolsick to Manchester United Man You heck no,
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: Actually he's just not built for the Premier League? Could
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: he go to Spain? Yeah? I think I think so.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: But Italy or Spain is the best fit? What say you, tab?
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: I think good players are built for every league, so
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: I'll start with that. Having said that, I think he's
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: in a great place. Now, I do agree with the
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: person that sent that message and saying that potentially Spain
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: and Italy are the best places for him to be.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: But let's think about that for a second. So okay,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: so let's say he goes to Spain. So if he
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: goes to Spain, likely not going to Real Madrid or Barcelona,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: which means best case scenario after that would be Athletico
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: Madrid and Athletico Madrid. Is that an upboard move from
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: ac Milan. I mean, he's at a great club. Stay
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: where you are. He's doing great. He's playing in a
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: solid league for one of the best clubs in the
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: history of world football, and I think he should stay there.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: There's no need for him to move.
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: I'm with you there. Hopefully Ace Milan opens the checkbooks
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: on that one, because there will be again, particularly with
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: the money in England, there's I'm sure that there's gonna
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: be some of the lures. But I agree with you
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: just in terms of on the field. It's it's an
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: awesome fit. It's an awesome club, but legendary club, historic club,
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: and he's their starman right now and long may that
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: continue as long as at Milan put the money in
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: front of him. A quick one, this one from David
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: Day and he just made a prediction Pullsick, which joined
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: the Chicago Fire soon after the World Cup hashtag Pulsick
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: two MLS. For me, I'm I don't have any one
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: hundred percent information. All of this stuff is fluid. I
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: had heard for years Pulsick may come to MLS sooner
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: than you think, and I don't like that is a
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: super vague thing to hear, but I heard that from
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: enough people. So Pulsk is twenty seven now, and he'll
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: be twenty seven his birthdays in September twenty seven, at
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: the World Cup this summer. The following one, he'll be
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: thirty one. I think there's a possibility he comes to
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: MS between the World Cups. I wouldn't I wouldn't go
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: as far as say that's likely, but I certainly don't
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: think that's off the table, and particularly as the money
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: continues to grow around MLS. If the David Beckham deal
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: one of one Lionel MESSI deals a one of one.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: Pulsik might be the next guy. I think that there'd
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: be a lot of interest centrally around MLS as well.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: Maybe there's a new rule added in the future that
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: helps grease the wheels for US MNT guys to come back,
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: because I know that's something that the league and the
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: clubs care about. But I think he will play in
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: MLS one day, and whether that, I think that could
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: happen before this twenty thirty World Cup, but if not,
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: then maybe soon after.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: That, and it could happen. I think he's getting to
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: that age where I think this is the type of
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: signing with where potentially after the World Cup would be
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: interesting for MLS. Maybe not immediately after, because I think
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: as well as he's doing at AC Milan, I don't
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: think it would be good for him to move and
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: come back home yet. But I think we're likely within
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: two years maybe or two and a half years of
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: Christian coming back, and I could potentially see him at
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: a team like Miami Inter Miami or you know, LAFC,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: one of those teams. I don't see him in Chicago,
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: but you never know. You know, the ownership in Chicago
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: spending a lot of money and sometimes obviously and how
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: that works with the money. But I can see him
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: a little bit more being in Miami. His parents now
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: live in South Florida, and I could see him going there.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: His father was at M West Cup in Fort Lauderdale
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: this year. He was just there to watch. That wasn't
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: anything to do with Christian. He was just nearby and
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: wanted to catch a good game. But that is an
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: interesting point. We got a lot of comments and I
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: get a lot of texts about a little bit of
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: tab appreciation. So I'm gonna run through these from Brianna
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Cody showing my age. But Tab is my favorite US
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: men soccer player. Always loved the style of play. Wish
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: he got a shot at coaching the US team. Maybe
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: he knows better. From Joseph Lemir, Tab would be my
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: choice to follow Potch after the World Cup. Measured intelligent
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: and authentic in his demeanor Louis Silva one hundred percent,
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: Tab is our best player in US M and D history.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: With a fifteen exclamation points and this last one, I
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: don't like this last one from Bana one two, three four.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: Tabri almost is so smart he should do his own podcast.
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: You try to defect. What's come on?
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what. I'm happy to hear my family
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: finally chiming in. They were ignoring my podcast, and now
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: it looks like they're on board. So happy to hear that. Hey, Adam,
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: all those things I will agree with authentic that that
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: for sure.
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: I a few more here before we get to your story,
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: from my friend Eric Krakauer, a wonderful professional broadcast. He
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: does a lot of NWSL work right now, works in Charlotte,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: does a lot of good stuff. If you guys don't
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: know Eric Kratkower, go check him out. Eric says tab
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: a spot on. I'd add that calling the group the
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: Golden Generation is not only inflated their perception of the quality,
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: but also created unrealistic expectations on my end, because I
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: use the term Golden Generation colloquially before, just because I
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: think that that's an easy way to say it, and
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: there's always a lot of pushback of okay, well, that
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: means that this is a one off, that this isn't repeatable,
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: and this is just you know, a moment in time.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: I don't feel that way. I think that with the
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: way that the academy structure is you soccer again, and
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: tab I would give you, I think a lot of
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: credit for your tenure within US Soccer and with the
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: U twenties and everything else really helping streamline that and
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: improve it, and it continues to get better. We're gonna
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: keep producing players like Polisic McKinney. There are a lot
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: of guys that are If Poolsick was born in Egypt,
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: if Poolisick was born in Australia or England or Spain
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: or wherever, I don't think it matters. I think that
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: he's gonna find his way to the top because he's
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: just that special player. But the academy system has developed
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: a whole lot of players that wouldn't quite be the case,
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: particularly in our historyes as US Soccer Federation. That is
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: going to continue to grow and grow and make the
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: players like Polisic better and make the players again like Pulisic, McKinney,
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: Richard some of the special special talents to the arena.
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: That kid probably came out of the womb with the
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: soccer ball at his foot. That these players will have
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: better around them and better training in their youth that
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: has them ready for the top levels. So in terms
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: of Golden Generation. I just use that more colloquially than
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: suggesting that it's, you know, a one time thing. But
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: more to Eric's questions, have do you think the expectations
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: have been too high so far for these players?
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Uh? No, I don't. Actually. I think we have a
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: good group of players, and I think the expectations have
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: been really according to what we see from them and
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: how we see them perform. I think that the label
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: came for them a little bit too early, and I
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: think that likely hurt them because expectations were too high
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: at the beginning. But in the end, the goal was
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: to have a good twenty twenty six World Cup, and
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: I think we're on our way to doing that. I
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: do agree that what you're saying about what has been done,
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: and let's say at the MLS level and by US Soccer,
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: that we will continue to have more consistency in developing
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: good players. I do think that players like Policic don't
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: come along often right. I think they are not created
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: by an academy. These are special talents, and special talents
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: you have to get lucky for them to come along,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: because they come along on their own. There's no metrics
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: that MLS will develop that will make another policic that's
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: just not going to happen. But you're right, I think
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: there will be more consistency and developing good players who
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: are going to be able to perform on big teams
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: all over the world going into the future.
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I just have one more small point dand
• 42:56
  Speaker 2: on this two and you know, talking about unreasonable expectations.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: I think that had more to do with I think
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two we over indexed on the idea
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: of potential and this I don't think thought I thought
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: that I don't think that they overperformed to the twenty
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: two were Cup, But I don't think I certainly don't
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: think that they underperformed. And I thought that was a
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: lot of the criticism and maybe and maybe a different manager,
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: maybe it would have been different. But I thought that
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: Burlt and the coaching stept did fine. And we spend
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: so much time talking about what Giorana might be one day,
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: what Serginio desk might be one day, what all of
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: these guys and when you're back in twenty twenty two,
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: this was the youngest team at the twenty twenty two
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Work Cup, and I think just as conversationally as we
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: talk about this stuff, I think we've gone a little
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: bit too far and talking about potential and stuff like
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: that versus like, hey, what is what are this group
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: of players right now? And this isn't just the United
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: States thing. I think this can be extrapolated to just
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: all general soccer conversations. Is I think we over index
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: on potential and don't focus enough on the right now
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: in current output. So I think that's just something to
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: look at it. This is the tournament coming up, the
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: one that should have the highest expectations, but just like
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: the potential isn't guaranteed. It's a great thing to happen,
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: it's a great thing to work towards and hopefully get to,
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: but you have to take the team at face value
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: where they are in any given moment in time. And
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: I think the twenty twenty World Cup they did fine.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: One more here on the.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: No no no. I was just gonna sum it up with one play.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: I think you know, if you if you recall the
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: play that Gi Arena made, right, we all think about
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: the same play. Which play is that?
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: He's at the ass decay, he makes the run Jimbos
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: through five or six Mexican players and ends up going nowhere.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: In the end, nothing happens out of that play. No,
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: but here's where I'm going with that. And this is
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: not this is not negative towards anyone. This is where
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: I'm going with that. We look at that play and
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: we and we translated into what that's going to be
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: like in the future. Okay, we're thinking he's nineteen years
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: old or twenty years old and he did that, What
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: is that going to be like in five years? Oh,
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: that's gonna be amazing. But then we get disappointed when
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. Right, And I think that play summarizes
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: a lot of what this has been. Right, It's been
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: about all projections, all predictions of where we're going to
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: be and how, and then we get disappointed when exactly
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: what we thought was going to happen doesn't happen.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: I think that's a really fair point and a poetic
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: way to put it together. Last question here, This is
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: from David Wisp. My biggest question mark is the center backs,
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: which mixes the best? How do they work with the center?
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: Miss fence's key. We've looked very aggressive in the back through,
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: which is great, but if defense fails, we will not
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: be getting to the later rounds of the World Cup.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: So I would say that is the biggest focus to
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: really get the chemistry and lock in that chemistry tab.
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: What is your preferred I guess again, if it is
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: indeed with the three center backs, what is your preferred
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: I guess center back partnership and not just for individual talent,
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: but the way that they work with each other.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Well, I think you know, I and I've been excluding
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: Tim Reim from my three always pretty much because I
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: just think we need a little bit more athleticism out
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: of the back, and I think you know, with the
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: ball on his feet, he doesn't give us so much
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: more than everyone else. But let's just take for example
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: that you know, Mariso Bogettino decides because you know, we
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: can tell by now that that Tim Reim is a
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: very important piece to him. So let's say Tim Reim
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: was going to play. So if I had to redo
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: the back three, I would definitely play with three in
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: the back in the center. Whether you can call it
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: five in the back or three in the back, I
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: really don't care which. That'll be something else. If we
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: ever talked about tactics that I'd like to discuss but
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: but I would actually put Tim Reim in the center,
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: not one of the two guys on the side. I
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: would put him in the center because he's a little
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: bit more protected from being one v one potentially on
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: the sideline. That's that's what I would do. And then
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: on one side you would have Chris Richards and potentially
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: on the other side you could have you know, McKenzie
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: or Robinson or you know whoever you'd want to have.
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this will be an interesting one that we keep
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: talking about. I think that will even be something after
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: the first group stage game. Hey, does this make sense?
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: It does work. This will be kind of an eternal
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: debate and looking forward to talking more and more about it.
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: But speaking of breaks, we need to go take one
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: more break. We'll be right back. We have a tap
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: story about the shot heard around in the world. That's
• 47:26
  Speaker 2: what we're calling it in the United States, beating Trinidad
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: to qualify the World Cup. We're gonna be right back
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: with that. Thank you for listening to Inside American Soccer.
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: Please right for viewing, Subscribe and we'll get to that
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: story in one second. Welcome backs Inside American Soccer and
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: we're going inside the locker room. I think it was
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: my favorite part of the show. And there is a
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: wealth of different different eras, different times, different things to
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: go to. I think this is one of the ones
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: I was most looking forward to hearing tab So tab
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: the shot herd around the world. The United States goes
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: down to Trinidad in nineteen eighty nine and beats Trinidad
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: and Tobago one nil to qualify for the World Cup.
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: What do you remember about that day and what made
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: it so very special?
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah? I remember a lot so when I had it
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: to answer the question when I had when I if
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: there's a game that I think about most, it would
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: have to be that one because it was special. And
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: by the way, I always like to mention what happened
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: before us too, because you know, let's not forget that.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: You know, in nineteen thirty the US team made it
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: to the semifinals, even if it was few, just a
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: few teams in the in the World Cup. And in
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty we beat England, and I wish I could
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: actually see that game because I don't think there can
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: potentially be a bigger win, like bigger underdogs than that
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: actual game. And now we fast forward from you know,
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: from nineteen fifty, and we get to nineteen eighty nine
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: for you know, thirty nine years later, to try to
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: qualify for a World Cup fourty years later. And here
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: we are, you know, sort of in the We go
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: get through the middle of qualifying, and you know, it
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: was a time in which not old teams played on
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: the same u the fixtures were not all on the
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: same weekends. So actually we get into the last three
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: or four games of qualifying and I think Costa Rica
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: had already played all their games, and we almost needed
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: to win three out of four to qualify, or two
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: out of four and not lose a game, because don't
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: forget back, then there was two points for a win
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: and one for a tie. So we I believe, had
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: to get at least two wins and two ties in
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: the last four games in order to even you know,
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: have a shot at this. So we get into the
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: we I think we got to two ties in a win,
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: and we go into Trinidad and Tobago. The last game
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: November nineteenth, nineteen eighty nine. Trinidad and Tobago is in
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: second place. We're in third place, and we need they
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: were a point ahead of us. The top two are
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: going and Trinidad. All they need is a tie at home,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: and so we have to go into Trinidad and Tobago
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: with a tie, they're in the World Cup. We need
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: to win on the road. We had played Trinidad at
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: home in California and had tied one to one at
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: home and in our first game. So we go there
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: and as we get there, we realize that this is
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: a national celebration. They had already declared a national holiday.
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: You know, they were counting on going to the World
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Cup the next you know, over the next couple of
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: days and for the first time ever in their history,
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: and we play. You know, we we go to the stadium.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: There's you know, there's forty thousand people in a twenty
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: six thousand seat stadium. People are climbing fences, there's a
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: sea of red everywhere. Tons of pressure obviously on us
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: because we were a young team and we really didn't
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: know what we were doing. Although although as I mentioned before,
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: my experience at the Brooklyn Italians was very helpful. But we,
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: you know, we get it. We get to the stadium's
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: incredible amount of pressure and then we get to this moment.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: And I've said this before, although I haven't said it
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: on this show. There was There's always those moments when
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: you're in the tunnel with the other team where the
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: other team tries to intimidate you because you're both walking
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: out together and the crowd is roaring outside and you
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: kind of see the light at the end of the
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: tunnel as you walk out together. And we could see
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: from our side as we're walking out that the Trinidad
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: players were so tense and they seemed almost scared, And
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: that was the moment where we thought, you know what,
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: I think we got these guys. I think we're gonna
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: do this. That's the first time where I felt like
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: there was some confidence, because normally teams try to intimidate you.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: You know, they're let's go, you know, and all these
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: things going on, and they were quiet, and there wasn't
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: a lot going on, and I felt like the pressure
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: had gotten to them a lot more obviously than it
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: had gotten to with their whole whole country behind them
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: and our country. By the way, I'm not even sure
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: if our game was live at home, it might have
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: been on tape delay, like most people in the US
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: didn't even know we were playing that day, And anyway,
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: we walk onto the field, We walk onto the field,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: sold out stadium and all that stuff, and and we
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: you know, poll kll of jury scores a goal I
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: think late in the first half and and uh and
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: we get to win and and we make it to
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: the World Cup. But that was That's a game. When
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: I have to think of games that I go back to,
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: I think about that game and the players that were there,
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: you know, the Peter Vermiz and John Harris and you know,
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: and and Brian Bliss's of the world who you know,
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: Steve Tritschee, guys that that you know that sometimes not
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: everybody thinks about who helped us pull this through?
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: No, and like again knowing that we were going to
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: talk about this, just pulling up the goal that Paul
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: call Jory scored and the way that you guys all
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: dog pile on him as he's on the ground, he
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: evades a defender. It's a little bit of a half
• 53:01
  Speaker 2: volley because the ball's bouncing, he puts it over the
• 53:03
  Speaker 2: keeper incident that like, man, this is just an iconic
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: moment in our country's history, in our soccer federation's history.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: And that was in the thirtieth minute.
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: And well if you think about it, you know, I
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: think it was. However, many years we had to go
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: back to Trinidad and we got knocked out. Right, this
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: is twenty eighteen, you know. I think Bruce was coaching
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: that team, and I think it might have been the
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: same field that was, you know, flooded, had a lot
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: of water on it. Well, that day, when you're talking
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: about the ball bouncing, I receive a throw in from
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: Brian Bliss. I turn and I try to control the ball.
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: And if there was one thing I could do, I'd
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: say pretty well, it was control the ball. But the
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: field was like it was like playing on marble. It
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: was like marble. It was like impossible for the ball
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: not to bounce. And I actually played pole calla Juri
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: a bad ball, and the bad ball I play him
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: is bouncing and it forces him to dribble around this
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: first place by putting the bowl over him or something
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: like that, and then he unleashes his shot from like
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: thirty yards out there. I think the goalkeeper wasn't expecting
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: it because his dive. I think the goalkeeper kind of
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: looks like he's diving into a pool. He doesn't even
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: look like he's diving sideway. So anyway, but the field
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: is so bad that I think on a good feel
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: that goal likely couldn't happened.
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: It would have been it would have been different. You
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: would have played it on the ground and it would
• 54:23
  Speaker 2: have been it would have been rolled. It would have
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: looked more silk. I continue to play back the video
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: as like the ball, you didn't even like fire the
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: pass in. It was clearly that you were working that
• 54:33
  Speaker 2: were like knowing that the field can stuff. It hits
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: the ground and it it was like a like astro
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: turf like king like into his like mid section, and
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: it was really good first touch by him. And then
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: like you said, I I set him off with the
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: momentum to uh flick it around a defender and then
• 54:47
  Speaker 2: the ball keeps bouncing because it looks like marble concrete
• 54:51
  Speaker 2: and then uh my god, what a goal.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: And then and then the rest and the rest is history,
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: you know. Then we fly back to the airport in
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: US and no one's there.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: Wait, these goes people ask me if you want Hey,
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: who are you guys? That's a nice tracksuit you played college? Yeah,
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: Oh my god. And then again this this this ended
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: the drought for the United States, getting to the World
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: Cup in ninety which helps set the foundation for ninety four,
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: which really is the launching point for so many of
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: the great, great things. And you know, who knows exactly
• 55:27
  Speaker 2: what history might have been if if this goal doesn't
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: go in. And like you said, going into that final day,
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: United States and Trinidad were tied on nine points, but
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: Trinidad had the goal difference, so they knew they just
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: needed the one point. And it's funny to think about
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: that that ties that wins were only two points back then.
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: Is when I was looking, I was like looking at
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: the standings before and I was like, oh, wow, they
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: topped the group, like because Costa Rica had eleven points,
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: so they beat Trinidad, that must gives them twelve. And
• 55:52
  Speaker 2: then looking back again and man, what a different time.
• 55:56
  Speaker 2: But these are these are the moments that that this
• 55:58
  Speaker 2: this federation is built off of. And I don't know,
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: I'd never tired from it. What was the plane ride back?
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: Were you guys all celebrating jovial laughing or was it
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: a little bit of an exhil.
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: Well, it was really unbelievable because we you know, as
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: all of the things that we joke about, right because
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: you know, it was such a different time. You still
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: can't believe you're actually going to the World Cup. Now
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: you're going to play against the best players in the world.
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: So you know, it was really exciting. It was really emotional,
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: you know, and it was it was it was those
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: moments when you achieved something that you likely don't believe
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: you ever can, you know, And now you're picturing yourself
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: playing in front of the world, in front of you know,
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: full stadiums, and you know, it's just a it was
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: just a great feeling.
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: So when you guys are on you know, economy United
• 56:47
  Speaker 2: flight and you're in the middle seat in row thirty
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: three and Tony's in twenty seven on the aisle, how
• 56:52
  Speaker 2: are you guys talking over all the people who had
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: no idea who you were.
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really exciting. It was really exciting when
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: the people were going, we're yes from you guys, Florida State.
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: What the team is? This was It wasn't a private
• 57:07
  Speaker 2: jet back then.
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're the Florida State cricket team. We just had
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: a trip to Trinidad. It was And by the way,
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: it wasn't United, it was before that it was Continental Airlines. Yeah,
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: and it might have been. I mean, we might have
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: been on pan Am for all I know, I don't
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: know what it was.
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, this is gonna inspire hope that this
• 57:29
  Speaker 2: inspired some listeners who if there was also before their time,
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: to really go back and dive into that watch all
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: the clips that you can possibly find, because this is
• 57:38
  Speaker 2: sparking me that when we end this show, I think
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: that'll be the first thing I do. But TAP. Thank
• 57:43
  Speaker 2: you as always, Thank you to everybody listening who submitted
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: some questions and comments in the mail bag. Please, you know,
• 57:49
  Speaker 2: rate review, leave comments. That's how some other people find
• 57:51
  Speaker 2: the show as well. Show us who love We really
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: do appreciate it. Tap. We will be back next week.
• 57:57
  Speaker 2: As we keep on rolling here through the winter, there
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: is an endless supply of things to talk about with
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: the United States national team. We've got some of the
• 58:04
  Speaker 2: transfer news that's going to be coming up here as
• 58:06
  Speaker 2: always is in January, so stay tuned to that and
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: thank you all for listening. We'll be back very gracious.