Latest / Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos / USMNT No. 9 Debate? Balogun, Wright, Agyemang & the World Cup Fit

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USMNT No. 9 Debate? Balogun, Wright, Agyemang & the World Cup Fit · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

0:00
Speaker 1: And let's not forget that. You know how creative Christian
0:04
Speaker 1: Polisic is. He's so creative that he he doesn't know
0:07
Speaker 1: what he's gonna do next. And because of that, and
0:11
Speaker 1: this is totally normal for creative players, and because of that,
0:15
Speaker 1: you need, I believe a player like Baligan who understands
0:19
Speaker 1: that type of player, who's playing at that type of
0:22
Speaker 1: level with players who are also like that.
0:28
Speaker 2: Greetings, folks, and welcome to Inside American Soccer. I'm Matt Doyle,
0:32
Speaker 2: the armchair analyst, and I'll be filling in for new
0:34
Speaker 2: dad Tom Bogert for a couple more weeks. And I
0:38
Speaker 2: am joined as always by my friend and yours, one
0:41
Speaker 2: of the greatest soccer players in US men's history, a
0:45
Speaker 2: veteran of three World Cups. Tab Ramos Todd, How.
0:49
Speaker 3: You do pretty good?
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Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I was just thinking, is the
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Speaker 1: snow ever gonna stop here on these cuz I mean
0:56
Speaker 1: I feel like I haven't seen grass in two months.
1:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, but spring is right around the corner.
1:02
Speaker 2: The MLS season kicks off this weekend, Like I think
1:05
Speaker 2: we're gonna be seeing it, at least on our TV screens.
1:09
Speaker 4: I threw my back out shoveling last month.
1:12
Speaker 2: I hadn't shoveled shoveled in twenty five years, so like
1:14
Speaker 2: I'm out of I'm out of the habit, I'm out
1:16
Speaker 2: of practice.
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Speaker 4: It's been pretty rough, dude.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it certainly has been because I've had some back
1:20
Speaker 1: issues myself.
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Speaker 3: With all the snow.
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Speaker 1: I usually shovel everything myself, and I'm okay with it,
1:25
Speaker 1: by the way, because I'm you know, obviously, I'm an
1:27
Speaker 1: go to the gym guy every day. So the day
1:29
Speaker 1: it snows, I skip the gym and I use the
1:32
Speaker 1: uh sort of the snow shoveling for to take over.
1:36
Speaker 1: But unfortunately it's been rough.
1:41
Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I prefer the gym to shoveling, and I prefer talking
1:44
Speaker 2: soccer to talking about shoveling.
1:46
Speaker 3: So let's do that.
1:47
Speaker 2: We have some topics today that I think are of
1:50
Speaker 2: real interest to US national team fans as we close
1:54
Speaker 2: in on the World Cup it's just four months away.
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Speaker 4: Now there's some, honestly, some real discussion.
2:00
Speaker 2: Had about what's going to happen up top. Pat Agimon
2:03
Speaker 2: scored another goal in the Championship. Haji Wright finally getting
2:07
Speaker 2: back on the board with a hat trick for Coventry City.
2:11
Speaker 2: Then I'm gonna give my starting eleven for the men
2:14
Speaker 2: for this summer, and we'll debut a new segment called
2:17
Speaker 2: Tactics Time, where we'll get into the details of how
2:20
Speaker 2: the US could and should play coming into the March Friendlies.
2:24
Speaker 2: We talked about this a couple of weeks ago when
2:26
Speaker 2: Marcello was here. He's the one who really opened the
2:28
Speaker 2: box on this, talking about how the three four two
2:32
Speaker 2: one becomes a four to four to two, and I
2:34
Speaker 2: think that's an important thing for us, for US and
2:37
Speaker 2: for fans to understand. Plus, we're going to go into
2:39
Speaker 2: the locker room with Tab talking about that twenty nineteen
2:44
Speaker 2: US U twenty national team, which produced so many great players,
2:47
Speaker 2: guys like Chris Richards, Erginio Desk, Tim Waya for the
2:51
Speaker 2: US and Richieldesmo for l Tree. So there's a couple
2:55
Speaker 2: of different pathways to this summer's World Cup out of
2:59
Speaker 2: that team, which I have to admit was my favorite
3:02
Speaker 2: of the four twenty teams you coached. But let's get
3:06
Speaker 2: into the US national team news first. Hoagi Wright had
3:11
Speaker 2: that hat trick to take Coventry to the top of
3:14
Speaker 2: the championship. He has had a really streaky, really up
3:17
Speaker 2: and down season. But now he's on thirteen goals, which
3:20
Speaker 2: is second place in the championship. It's tough to figure
3:24
Speaker 2: out where he fits in Pascha's eyes. But you keep
3:28
Speaker 2: scoring goals, you're going to be on the ross.
3:30
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, and this is this is unfortunately where
3:32
Speaker 1: we all are in terms of the forwards, right, because
3:35
Speaker 1: we go week to week, we go from saying one week, well,
3:38
Speaker 1: you know it was by the way, I blame myself
3:41
Speaker 1: for saying last week, well, you know what, Hodgi's really
3:44
Speaker 1: falling behind. He's only scored two goals in about two months.
3:47
Speaker 1: How is that going to take him on the team?
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Speaker 1: And after yesterday, I'm thinking I think he's fighting for
3:53
Speaker 1: a starting spot. So that's kind of where we are.
3:58
Speaker 1: But you know, this is this is all great to say,
4:00
Speaker 1: and it goes to show that, you know, in that
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Speaker 1: forward spot, I think we're going to be likely waiting
4:05
Speaker 1: until the last couple of weeks before we can actually
4:08
Speaker 1: say Marisa Buchetino is going to pick these guys because
4:11
Speaker 1: I think there's legitimately four guys that have a chance
4:14
Speaker 1: to go maybe even five.
4:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, and right, if he keeps scoring, is one of them.
4:20
Speaker 2: But he's not really a traditional number nine. If you
4:22
Speaker 2: look at the way he scores his goals, he almost
4:25
Speaker 2: seems more comfortable coming in from the wing, working off
4:29
Speaker 2: of the movement of maybe a more traditional center forward.
4:34
Speaker 2: Now that would lead you to say, well, maybe you
4:36
Speaker 2: know a two forward setup, but it's not going to
4:39
Speaker 2: be like that. So I guess my question is, if
4:42
Speaker 2: you were coaching him and using Pascha's system, are you
4:45
Speaker 2: comfortable with how Haji fits?
4:49
Speaker 3: Yeah?
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Speaker 1: You know that that's interesting what you're saying, because you know,
4:52
Speaker 1: I look back at all of the the the pre
4:56
Speaker 1: the youth national teams of a few years back, in
4:59
Speaker 1: all the depth charts and every depth chart where I
5:02
Speaker 1: see Hajji right, I see him on the left right,
5:04
Speaker 1: So he was sort of like a left winger coming inside.
5:07
Speaker 3: And that's what you're saying.
5:09
Speaker 1: So but with our national team, you know, and every team,
5:12
Speaker 1: you always have to consider the talent that you have.
5:14
Speaker 1: That's how you build a team because what you have
5:16
Speaker 1: is what you have, regardless of.
5:18
Speaker 3: How you want to play.
5:20
Speaker 1: If we were ever going to play a two forward system,
5:23
Speaker 1: it's likely that it's going to be. At this point, again,
5:27
Speaker 1: speaking today, it's likely that it's going to be Balligan
5:30
Speaker 1: with a Christian polistic playing that second forward type of position.
5:35
Speaker 1: So to answer your question, would I see Hajji playing
5:38
Speaker 1: that nine role, I have to tell you. I have
5:41
Speaker 1: to see in the goals he scored this just yesterday
5:44
Speaker 1: or you know, a couple of days ago. I think
5:47
Speaker 1: he can. I think he can. I think he can
5:50
Speaker 1: be that nine because he scored the goals he scored.
5:53
Speaker 1: Obviously one was a penalty, but the other two goals
5:55
Speaker 1: are number nine goals. You know, just see the way
5:58
Speaker 1: he handled you know that long bow that I think
6:00
Speaker 1: game it might have come from the goalkeeper, that long
6:02
Speaker 1: bowl where he pushes the player off with one hand
6:04
Speaker 1: like nothing, And yeah, I mean these are number nine goals.
6:07
Speaker 1: Obviously the header he hits the post about a couple
6:10
Speaker 1: of minutes into the game with a header. So to
6:13
Speaker 1: answer your question, I think he can do either. He
6:15
Speaker 1: could be wide, he could be a second forwarded, he
6:17
Speaker 1: could potentially be the nine.
6:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's good to see from him.
6:22
Speaker 2: I think it's one of the has to be one
6:24
Speaker 2: of the priority things that Punch looks at in next
6:28
Speaker 2: month's friendlies. The final camp before the World Cup is
6:32
Speaker 2: to get Hodgi a run in that true number nine spot,
6:36
Speaker 2: because the guy it feels like everybody is chasing is
6:39
Speaker 2: follering Balligan, who I think is still the starter. And
6:42
Speaker 2: if you look back at the last half dozen friendlies
6:46
Speaker 2: that the US played, the last five, I guess you
6:49
Speaker 2: know he started three of those games. He scored in
6:52
Speaker 2: every one of those games. Meanwhile, he's gone ice cold
6:56
Speaker 2: I for Monica. At the club level, how do you
6:59
Speaker 2: balance that if you're the coach a guy that you
7:02
Speaker 2: rely upon, like I think Brian McBride is famously like
7:05
Speaker 2: this for Bruce Arena back in the two thousand and
7:07
Speaker 2: two cycle. He went twenty odd games without scoring for
7:10
Speaker 2: his club. Bruce obviously took him and started him anyway,
7:13
Speaker 2: and that paid off with a couple of goals.
7:16
Speaker 1: So I would say this so a couple of different ways.
7:20
Speaker 1: Looking at it from the outside, I would say, first
7:23
Speaker 1: of all, Baligan, you know his next game is against
7:26
Speaker 1: PSG in the Champions League, right, So no disrespect to
7:30
Speaker 1: Middlesbrough in the Championship, but you're playing against PSG in
7:34
Speaker 1: the Champions League. You're playing you're fighting for a Champions
7:38
Speaker 1: League spot in your own league, and you're playing games
7:42
Speaker 1: at the absolute top level that you can play, So
7:44
Speaker 1: I think we couldn't avoid measuring using that as a
7:48
Speaker 1: measuring stick. The next thing, looking from the outside would
7:52
Speaker 1: be for me is his coach is still playing in them.
7:56
Speaker 1: So as long as your coach is playing you, that
7:58
Speaker 1: means that the is just not going in, but he
8:01
Speaker 1: has confidence in you. I'd be worried if Baligan was
8:04
Speaker 1: not scoring and now all of a sudden he's not
8:06
Speaker 1: playing much, that's a concern rate, But as long as
8:09
Speaker 1: he's on the field, I'm not concerned with that because
8:12
Speaker 1: I'm measuring him by the quality of the games he
8:14
Speaker 1: participates in.
8:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, Balligan, I think, unquestion, is playing against the toughest
8:20
Speaker 2: competition of anyone in the center forward pool. And you
8:23
Speaker 2: make a good point, he's still playing even though he's
8:25
Speaker 2: not putting the ball in the back of the net.
8:27
Speaker 2: And it's because he adds so much value off the ball.
8:31
Speaker 2: And it's not just the threat of his speed and
8:34
Speaker 2: he's not the fastest player in the world, but he
8:35
Speaker 2: has good pays.
8:37
Speaker 4: But it's how he is.
8:38
Speaker 2: Constantly making those sort of penetrating off ball runs, attacking
8:44
Speaker 2: the space behind the opposing defense, and that always gives
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Speaker 2: opposing center backs something else to think about, so they
8:51
Speaker 2: can't just sort of focus on the play in front
8:54
Speaker 2: of them. They have to always be calculating what's happening
8:57
Speaker 2: in behind them. It's how a good forward comes a
9:01
Speaker 2: playmaker without even touching the ball. You just give space
9:04
Speaker 2: to the guys around you. And you played as a playmaker.
9:08
Speaker 2: You played sometimes outside, sometimes inside, and sometimes he had
9:11
Speaker 2: forwards like that, and sometimes he did sometimes he had
9:14
Speaker 2: guys who would attack the space and behind and sometimes
9:17
Speaker 2: you didn't talk about the difference. How it impacts the
9:21
Speaker 2: game when you have a forward who is always going
9:25
Speaker 2: to be unselfish with those off ball runs trying to
9:29
Speaker 2: get in behind, and how it makes life easier for
9:32
Speaker 2: the midfielders.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you know this is this is a
9:35
Speaker 1: good point to look at because for the players behind,
9:38
Speaker 1: and this is why teams require time to develop. You
9:42
Speaker 1: need to obviously get to know everyone and their their
9:45
Speaker 1: strengths within the team. When you have a forward who
9:48
Speaker 1: can stretch the field the way Baligan can stretch the field,
9:52
Speaker 1: it gives everyone behind them a lot more room because
9:56
Speaker 1: number one, you know, teams.
9:59
Speaker 3: Are are a lot more.
10:03
Speaker 1: Uh, let's i don't want to say scared, but there
10:05
Speaker 1: are a lot more apprehensive in terms of playing that
10:08
Speaker 1: high line, right, so they they're a little bit more careful.
10:12
Speaker 1: By being a little bit more careful, they do take
10:15
Speaker 1: those three or four steps behind, and by taking those
10:18
Speaker 1: three or four steps back, it creates a little bit
10:21
Speaker 1: more room in that in that spot between what.
10:24
Speaker 3: Would be the the.
10:26
Speaker 1: Ford defenders and the defensive midfield area, and that's areas
10:31
Speaker 1: where you create. So I think players like Balligan can
10:34
Speaker 1: do all of that. But let's not let's not forget
10:36
Speaker 1: that ballogn He can stretch the field, but he can
10:41
Speaker 1: also come back and receive. He's a good connector and
10:44
Speaker 1: that's something that is difficult to find those type of forwards.
10:47
Speaker 1: Let's say, like you know, reminds me a little bit
10:49
Speaker 1: of like a McBride. So McBride could come in, knew
10:52
Speaker 1: his exact role, he knew how to hang around the box,
10:55
Speaker 1: he could come back and receive, defeat, play it off
10:58
Speaker 1: and get into the box. And he's a little bit
11:01
Speaker 1: similar to the way McBride used to play. And McBride
11:04
Speaker 1: obviously was to me one of the perfect nines that
11:06
Speaker 1: we had. So it does as as a playmaker. It
11:10
Speaker 1: gives you a lot of different possibilities and it makes
11:13
Speaker 1: it really difficult for the two center backs.
11:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, in those sacrificial runs.
11:20
Speaker 2: A guy that we saw in MLS five years ago
11:22
Speaker 2: doing them all the time was Tati Castianos, and he
11:24
Speaker 2: was a guy who would go hot and cold in
11:27
Speaker 2: terms of his goal scoring, but he did everything else
11:31
Speaker 2: so well. He got that move to Lazio. Now he's
11:34
Speaker 2: scoring goals for West Ham in the Premiership. Twenty five
11:36
Speaker 2: million dollar player. There's a lot of similarities I see
11:39
Speaker 2: between him.
11:40
Speaker 4: And flow Ball.
11:41
Speaker 2: Again, he plays selflessly, which is not a word you
11:44
Speaker 2: usually associate with the center forward. These guys are supposed
11:47
Speaker 2: to be goal hungry all the time, which is not
11:49
Speaker 2: to say he isn't, but he does think about it,
11:52
Speaker 2: or he does play the position in a way that
11:55
Speaker 2: sort of works for the team. Honestly, I see that
11:58
Speaker 2: in Patagimon as well. His movement is not as refined,
12:03
Speaker 2: but he has physical gifts that he brings to bear
12:05
Speaker 2: and is willing to use for the good of the team.
12:08
Speaker 2: And he scored another header this weekend for Derby County.
12:11
Speaker 2: Of Derby County ten on the season. He was, of
12:16
Speaker 2: course the starting center forwards for the US last summer.
12:19
Speaker 4: At the Gold Cup.
12:20
Speaker 2: I thought he did some good work there. He was rugged,
12:23
Speaker 2: his hold up play was useful. He also played through
12:26
Speaker 2: a pretty significant injury, which I think scores in points
12:30
Speaker 2: in Mauricio Pochettino's book It's for Me, he is number
12:33
Speaker 2: two on the depth chart. I think that he has
12:36
Speaker 2: proved his toughness. I think he's now showing goal scoring chops.
12:39
Speaker 2: His movement has become more refined, and those are all
12:43
Speaker 2: things that I think are going to matter to this team.
12:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know you're not wrong there. I
12:49
Speaker 1: think he's certainly. I think, regardless of what happens over
12:52
Speaker 1: the next few months, it seems like Agimon is gonna
12:55
Speaker 1: end up being number two. I don't know who number
12:57
Speaker 1: one will be, but it seems like he will be
12:59
Speaker 1: number too. Right, it looks like Baaligan would be number one.
13:02
Speaker 1: But if Haji Right keeps doing what he you know,
13:05
Speaker 1: what he did over the last couple of days, I
13:07
Speaker 1: think you know, maybekji right move, but I you know
13:10
Speaker 1: that with with what Aljiemn has done so far, And I.
13:14
Speaker 3: Think you're right about a lot of the things that
13:16
Speaker 3: you say.
13:16
Speaker 1: Although I tend to disagree a little bit on the
13:19
Speaker 1: on the hold up play part of his game. I
13:23
Speaker 1: I think that he's not sort of the perfect match
13:26
Speaker 1: for for like a Polisic to play off of.
13:29
Speaker 3: But I do think that his.
13:31
Speaker 1: Play is certainly coming along and I and I do
13:33
Speaker 1: think that he will be a key part of the
13:35
Speaker 1: World Cup team.
13:37
Speaker 2: Let's let's tease out those thoughts on the hold up play, because,
13:42
Speaker 2: like if I think back to last summer the US,
13:45
Speaker 2: by the end of that tournament, the only way we
13:47
Speaker 2: had to progress the ball was long bolster to Pat Ajimon,
13:51
Speaker 2: like there was nothing happening through central midfield. But obviously
13:54
Speaker 2: that was a team that did not have Christian Poulisic
13:56
Speaker 2: on it. That was a team that was missing a
13:58
Speaker 2: lot of the other top attackers. So what did you
14:02
Speaker 2: see from Azimon there that makes you a little wary
14:08
Speaker 2: of the potential fit with Polistic and presumably the rest
14:12
Speaker 2: of the A squad.
14:14
Speaker 1: I think, you know, if I were to look at
14:15
Speaker 1: Azimon and compare him to Baalogan, I see Baligan as
14:20
Speaker 1: as someone who understands the game a little bit better.
14:23
Speaker 1: I see Azimond a little bit behind. And I think
14:25
Speaker 1: for a player like Christian Polisic who comes inside and
14:29
Speaker 1: let's not forget that. You know how creative Christian Polisic is.
14:34
Speaker 1: He's so creative that he he doesn't know what he's
14:37
Speaker 1: going to do next. And because of that, and this
14:40
Speaker 1: is totally normal for creative players, and because of that,
14:44
Speaker 1: you need, I believe, a player like Baligan who understands
14:49
Speaker 1: that type of player, who's playing at that type of
14:51
Speaker 1: level with players who are also like that.
14:54
Speaker 3: And so this is why.
14:56
Speaker 1: And by the way, take nothing away from Azimon because
14:59
Speaker 1: even though if we look at last summer, he's a
15:01
Speaker 1: different player today than he was last summer. I mean,
15:03
Speaker 1: he's he's likely made more strides than any player on
15:07
Speaker 1: the team. I mean you could argue that, you know,
15:10
Speaker 1: you look at every single player we have in our
15:11
Speaker 1: roster and look at and compare him to Azimund in
15:14
Speaker 1: his progress over the last you know, eight or nine months,
15:18
Speaker 1: and it's hard to argue that he hasn't come along
15:21
Speaker 1: more than everyone else. And so that's positive, and let's
15:24
Speaker 1: see where he is going into the summer. But having
15:27
Speaker 1: said that, I still think that he is still a
15:30
Speaker 1: little bit behind in terms of game understanding and giving
15:34
Speaker 1: Christian Polisic different options, and by the way, some of
15:38
Speaker 1: the options sometimes are just getting out of the way
15:40
Speaker 1: and so and so. I think this is something that
15:43
Speaker 1: Baligan at this point still understands a little bit better.
15:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, faster processor, I don't think there's any doubt about that.
15:50
Speaker 2: But I just I love Agimon's upside. I love the
15:52
Speaker 2: way he's willing to use his body. And we saw
15:55
Speaker 2: it again this weekend with the way he scored that goal.
15:59
Speaker 2: I think that is going to make for the US certainly.
16:02
Speaker 4: You know, if the US.
16:04
Speaker 2: End up trailing late in a game, there is like
16:07
Speaker 2: he is the a one obvious attacking sub to bring
16:10
Speaker 2: on if they're just launching it into the box because
16:13
Speaker 2: he's so good at winning those balls in the air.
16:16
Speaker 2: A guy who's been really good at winning balls in
16:18
Speaker 2: the air. On the other side of the field, nineteen
16:21
Speaker 2: year old Nogai Banks, playing really well in the Bundesliga,
16:26
Speaker 2: could end up maybe being a starter in the World Cup.
16:29
Speaker 2: He's been brought to a couple of camps, hasn't played
16:31
Speaker 2: a ton for the US, but he is fully committed
16:34
Speaker 2: to the group by all accounts, and he has really
16:37
Speaker 2: turned a corner. This nineteen year old kid frankly type
16:42
Speaker 2: at a position of neat because I don't think any
16:44
Speaker 2: of the potential partners for Chris Richards have stood out
16:49
Speaker 2: to the point where it's like the partnership is unassailable,
16:52
Speaker 2: Like this job seems open to me.
16:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no question.
16:55
Speaker 1: I'll give Tom Boger a lot of credit for that,
16:59
Speaker 1: because a couple of months ago we put our prediction
17:01
Speaker 1: of our teams together, and he put them on the
17:04
Speaker 1: team and I did not.
17:06
Speaker 3: I do believe at this.
17:07
Speaker 1: Point, if I had to pick a team, I can't
17:09
Speaker 1: imagine not picking him because if he's not you know,
17:12
Speaker 1: and I don't think he will be a starter this summer,
17:15
Speaker 1: and I know that other people are starting to believe that.
17:19
Speaker 1: I don't think he will have enough experience by this
17:21
Speaker 1: summer to be a starter for a team. But I
17:24
Speaker 1: do believe that for many reasons, one of them being
17:27
Speaker 1: that he would likely be the center back of the
17:30
Speaker 1: future for the team. I think he needs to be
17:33
Speaker 1: on this World Cup team. You know that every time
17:35
Speaker 1: I watch him play, he impresses me a little bit more.
17:38
Speaker 1: He's calm on the ball, he's calm using his He's
17:41
Speaker 1: a big boy. I mean He's pushes people around, he
17:45
Speaker 1: wins everything in the air, and you know, and he
17:48
Speaker 1: knows how to use his body well, which for a
17:50
Speaker 1: center back sometimes being that toll is difficult because forwards
17:54
Speaker 1: can man. You know, it's difficult sometimes for a six
17:57
Speaker 1: foot I think he's almost six foot four. For a
18:01
Speaker 1: player that big, to play against forwards that are much
18:04
Speaker 1: smaller is very difficult. And he's handling that really well.
18:09
Speaker 4: Yeah.
18:09
Speaker 2: So it would be nineteen years old this summer, he
18:13
Speaker 2: which would make him the youngest center back I think
18:16
Speaker 2: the US has ever brought to a World Cup. Landon
18:19
Speaker 2: Donovan on his show, penciled him in as a starter
18:22
Speaker 2: last week. Landon was twenty. Landon and DeMarcus both we're
18:26
Speaker 2: twenty years old back in two thousand and two and they,
18:29
Speaker 2: you know, they were starters part time, and well, I
18:32
Speaker 2: think Landon actually started every game, DeMarcus started a couple.
18:36
Speaker 4: It's different.
18:36
Speaker 2: For attackers, it's I'm not gonna say less responsibility, but
18:41
Speaker 2: it's responsibility comes I think in waves as an attacker,
18:44
Speaker 2: whereas for center backs, you are you have to be
18:47
Speaker 2: responsible for the whole ninety minutes. I mean, it's it's
18:51
Speaker 2: the famous saying like you could have eighty nine great
18:53
Speaker 2: minutes as a center back, if you have one bad one,
18:55
Speaker 2: you hat a terrible game. Whereas for a striker especially,
18:58
Speaker 2: you could have eighty nine terrible you have one good one,
19:01
Speaker 2: you got a great game.
19:02
Speaker 4: So it's a.
19:02
Speaker 2: Different sort of mental and emotional skill set. We're seeing
19:06
Speaker 2: this kid do it every single week in the Bundesliga.
19:10
Speaker 2: What would he have to do between let's say the
19:13
Speaker 2: March friendlies and the rest of this Bundesliga season for
19:16
Speaker 2: you to come back on June first on this show
19:19
Speaker 2: and say, you know what he actually should be the starter?
19:21
Speaker 1: Well, I think there's not much more, not much different
19:27
Speaker 1: than what he's doing now. So he's doing all the
19:29
Speaker 1: things he has to do. He plays all the time,
19:31
Speaker 1: he plays well all the time, he's consistent.
19:33
Speaker 3: Of course, we're going to see some mistakes.
19:35
Speaker 1: Between now and May, because that's normal for every defender,
19:39
Speaker 1: in particular when you're that young.
19:42
Speaker 3: And I think he needs to continue to play.
19:43
Speaker 1: I think the issue is going to be, even if
19:45
Speaker 1: he's playing every game, is a little bit of that
19:48
Speaker 1: lack of experience, you know, when it comes to those big,
19:50
Speaker 1: big moments at the World Cup, you're representing your country
19:53
Speaker 1: at home, there's going to be a lot of pressure
19:55
Speaker 1: on the guys to do that. Let's not forget he's
19:57
Speaker 1: playing for Augsburg right now, which the pressure is really
20:01
Speaker 1: let's you know, not to get relegated. You know, it's
20:04
Speaker 1: it's it's a much different scenario. I do find it
20:09
Speaker 1: difficult to think that he's going to be a starter
20:11
Speaker 1: by by June because of all of those things, and
20:14
Speaker 1: by the way, not because he's not one of the
20:17
Speaker 1: best defenders that we will have at that point. So
20:20
Speaker 1: I think that even if he is one of the
20:22
Speaker 1: best defenders, I find it hard to believe that Musio
20:25
Speaker 1: Pochettino is gonna go to a nineteen year old to
20:27
Speaker 1: start the World Cup.
20:28
Speaker 3: But it may happen.
20:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely on the board. At this point, we
20:33
Speaker 2: will see. It's gonna be tough. You know, he's as says,
20:37
Speaker 2: he's just nineteen year old kid. You don't see a
20:39
Speaker 2: lot of center backs anywhere at that age starting games
20:43
Speaker 2: at the World Cup four months away at this point,
20:46
Speaker 2: and for us, it's time.
20:48
Speaker 4: For a break.
20:48
Speaker 2: We'll be back with my World Cup starting eleven for
20:51
Speaker 2: the US men's national team and a deep dive into
20:54
Speaker 2: the tactics we expect to see from Mauricio Pochettino. Please rate, review,
20:58
Speaker 2: and subscribe to Side American Soccer with Tom Boger and
21:02
Speaker 2: tab Ramos.
21:02
Speaker 4: Wherever you get your podcast.
21:15
Speaker 2: Okay, welcome back to Inside American Soccer. Mettal here with
21:19
Speaker 2: tab Ramos and tab I'm calling it an audible supposed
21:22
Speaker 2: to give you the World Cup starting eleven, and I'm
21:25
Speaker 2: not gonna do that. I'm going to give the March
21:27
Speaker 2: Camp starting eleven because I like, I can't stop focusing
21:31
Speaker 2: on this, because it is the last time for Mauricio
21:34
Speaker 2: Pochettino to really learn something about the guys on this roster,
21:38
Speaker 2: the guys like Noahai Banks who could be pushing into
21:41
Speaker 2: a starting role, the guys like Pat Agimon who you know,
21:45
Speaker 2: might be pushing into the second role, or you know,
21:48
Speaker 2: the backup striker role, and the balance in the midfield.
21:52
Speaker 2: Because we've had guys on the past couple of weeks
21:54
Speaker 2: and some people want to use Weston mckenniy a little
21:56
Speaker 2: bit deeper. Some guys want to use him pushed up
21:58
Speaker 2: a little bit more. We've seen him both spots. We've
22:01
Speaker 2: seen the team play without him, so I think this
22:03
Speaker 2: is a chance for Pachaccino to get what is potentially
22:07
Speaker 2: his best eleven onto the field while conducting some I
22:10
Speaker 2: think targeted experiments that can tell us a little bit
22:14
Speaker 2: more about the team. So I'm gonna start at the back,
22:18
Speaker 2: Matt Freeze in goal, We're going to go Jedi Robinson
22:22
Speaker 2: at left back. We're gonna use Chris Richards and Noahkai
22:27
Speaker 2: Banks in central defense together, and we're going to use
22:30
Speaker 2: Alex Freeman as my overlapping right back. Then across midfield
22:36
Speaker 2: left to right, we're gonna have Christian poolisic, We're going
22:40
Speaker 2: to have Tanner Tessaman and Tyler Adams, and then we're
22:46
Speaker 2: gonna have Weston McKenny at the ten, which is what
22:49
Speaker 2: he's been playing for Juventus. And then I want to
22:52
Speaker 2: see Tim Weya at right midfield for at least one
22:55
Speaker 2: of the games, right on the right wing, because he
22:58
Speaker 2: does provide a good final ball and can come in,
23:02
Speaker 2: he can pinch inside as Alex Freeman overlaps. And then
23:06
Speaker 2: I want to see pat Azimon with the first team.
23:08
Speaker 2: So I want pat Ajimon to be the starter for
23:11
Speaker 2: this camp. So let's let's rip it apart.
23:14
Speaker 1: Bud Well I mean, you know, I have to start
23:17
Speaker 1: with the obvious that you went to four in the back,
23:19
Speaker 1: and we can get into that conversation that when Muricio
23:24
Speaker 1: Bortisino still says that you're four in the he's four
23:26
Speaker 1: in the back anyway, right, So yep, But I would
23:30
Speaker 1: I would answer that with okay, where's the ball? And
23:34
Speaker 1: because it could be seven in the back, right, So yeah,
23:38
Speaker 1: I would say four in the back. You know, obviously
23:42
Speaker 1: Freeman can play that right back role and do well,
23:44
Speaker 1: and I think he and Waa together would be a
23:46
Speaker 1: handful for any team, right and in particular, you know,
23:50
Speaker 1: I'm I mean, you're putting this together for the March camp.
23:53
Speaker 1: But if I'm projecting a little bit more towards the
23:56
Speaker 1: World Cup, I would like this a little bit better
23:59
Speaker 1: in the World Cup. And we're likely going to have
24:00
Speaker 1: the ball more, you know, with the friendlies that we
24:02
Speaker 1: have coming up in March. I don't I don't know
24:05
Speaker 1: how much more how much of the ball we will have,
24:07
Speaker 1: And if we're going to be falling into a defensive
24:09
Speaker 1: shape anyway, it's likely that he's gonna go with a
24:12
Speaker 1: five back then then with a three. But this is
24:15
Speaker 1: what you have you have Polistic all the way on
24:17
Speaker 1: the left side right with Testament and Adams in the middle.
24:22
Speaker 1: You know, in this situation, obviously Polisic would be free
24:25
Speaker 1: to to to go forward and he'd have McKenny getting
24:29
Speaker 1: into the box, and you have Algiemond being hold up
24:32
Speaker 1: play getting into the box, you know, being the you know,
24:35
Speaker 1: the one that will receive the crosses from the other
24:38
Speaker 1: side coming from Weea or Freeman potentially, and then Testament
24:43
Speaker 1: and and and Adams just really holding because that's what
24:46
Speaker 1: we have right because you have everybody else will likely
24:49
Speaker 1: be going forward. You have Robinson on the left side too,
24:51
Speaker 1: who as we know, goes forward really well, yeah, this
24:55
Speaker 1: could potentially work. I I'm not I'm not a fan
24:58
Speaker 1: of this lineup for March camps, considering the strength of
25:01
Speaker 1: the opponents that we have and I think and how
25:04
Speaker 1: much they're going to have the ball. But it certainly
25:06
Speaker 1: will be It certainly will be a test, and it
25:10
Speaker 1: will be another experiment. If this is what happens in
25:13
Speaker 1: terms of, you know, what the team could look like
25:16
Speaker 1: in the summer, it could answer likely a lot of
25:18
Speaker 1: questions that I think. I think it's what you're trying
25:21
Speaker 1: to do I think you're trying to answer some questions
25:23
Speaker 1: with this lineup people together?
25:25
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, I'm concerned about about center back. I'm concerned
25:28
Speaker 2: about the balance on that back line. And so the
25:31
Speaker 2: way I'm seeing it is sort of the classic in
25:35
Speaker 2: this case, two fullbacks taking turns overlapping, and that's something
25:40
Speaker 2: we've seen less and less of, both for the US
25:43
Speaker 2: national team and in the in the world of soccer
25:47
Speaker 2: in general. More often it's been one fullback gets licensed
25:52
Speaker 2: to push forward and overlap on the attack, while the
25:55
Speaker 2: other fullback sort of slides inside and becomes a back three.
26:00
Speaker 2: It's what Pachettino started doing. I think about halftime of
26:05
Speaker 2: that South Korea friendly back in September, where it's like
26:08
Speaker 2: it's just asymmetrical. They defend against the ball, you know,
26:13
Speaker 2: you know banks of four, but then when they have
26:15
Speaker 2: their foot on the ball, it looks more like a
26:18
Speaker 2: three four two one or you know three two five
26:21
Speaker 2: if you want to call it. There, and it's it's
26:24
Speaker 2: influenced strongly by positional play by Pep Guardiola and the
26:27
Speaker 2: way he always has certain players in certain positions in
26:32
Speaker 2: order to spread out the opposing back line and create
26:36
Speaker 2: attacking balance. In this instance, though, I do think the
26:40
Speaker 2: US should try going away from that and going back
26:42
Speaker 2: to kind of a Pulley system where Okay, Freeman overlaps,
26:46
Speaker 2: then Jedi is going to stay deep. If Jedi overlaps,
26:50
Speaker 2: then Freeman has to stay deep. And that chemistry between
26:54
Speaker 2: the fullbacks is as important in its way as the
26:57
Speaker 2: chemistry between the center backs, because tab if they get
27:00
Speaker 2: that wrong and then suddenly it's two center backs defending
27:03
Speaker 2: on an island.
27:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's and you know, to be fair, it's
27:06
Speaker 1: an easy concept, right that I think all these players
27:08
Speaker 1: have they've played and I'm sure for coaches who have
27:11
Speaker 1: done that in the past. You know, when full bet goes,
27:14
Speaker 1: the other one stays, it's pretty you know, in general,
27:16
Speaker 1: it's a pretty it's a pretty easy concept that I
27:18
Speaker 1: think that I think they'll get and easy to accomplish.
27:21
Speaker 1: I'd be a little bit more concerned on Jedi's side
27:25
Speaker 1: when you know it's likely a both way and Freeman
27:28
Speaker 1: will attack on one side and and don't forget, Polisic
27:31
Speaker 1: will likely be in the box at the time when
27:33
Speaker 1: those guys are attacking. And I'm you know, so our
27:36
Speaker 1: defensive left side of the field there's going to be
27:38
Speaker 1: some huge holes for for potentially testament uh or or
27:43
Speaker 1: atoms to try to cover when there's a turnover right,
27:46
Speaker 1: So I'd be concerned a little bit about the defensive
27:48
Speaker 1: transition and the shape our team will be in when
27:52
Speaker 1: the bolt turns over more than anything else.
27:55
Speaker 2: So how do you fix that in this roster? Do
27:57
Speaker 2: you do you go back? Like do you go to
28:01
Speaker 2: having Jedi as a left back but never overlapping? And
28:05
Speaker 2: then if you're going to do that, where do you
28:07
Speaker 2: do you use a more two way sort of left midfielder,
28:11
Speaker 2: Because I think one thing we can all agree on
28:13
Speaker 2: is like, we don't want Christian Polistic to have too
28:16
Speaker 2: many defensive responsibilities. We want him in a position where
28:20
Speaker 2: he doesn't have to worry about what's behind him. He
28:23
Speaker 2: could be free to attack. So what is your fix
28:26
Speaker 2: for it with this?
28:26
Speaker 1: Well, I think where you need to get help from
28:28
Speaker 1: is in this case you're using McKinney as your ten
28:31
Speaker 1: right and McKinney also gets into the box. So I
28:34
Speaker 1: think you don't necessarily want to be in this situation
28:36
Speaker 1: where you have as an example, and this may be
28:39
Speaker 1: an exaggeration, but something that could potentially happen. Happen according
28:43
Speaker 1: to the qualities that the players that you have on
28:45
Speaker 1: the field right now. So you have potentially Way and
28:49
Speaker 1: Freeman gone on that right side, you have McKinny getting
28:53
Speaker 1: into the box, Pullicit getting into the box, and you
28:56
Speaker 1: have Auguman obviously in the boxes. He's your nine lot
29:00
Speaker 1: of field to cover for two guys that are in
29:02
Speaker 1: the middle for recovery, right, that's the concern. So I
29:05
Speaker 1: think you're asking how do you fix that? You fix
29:08
Speaker 1: that likely by having you're using, you know, McKinney as
29:12
Speaker 1: at ten, by having that third player being a little
29:16
Speaker 1: bit more conservative and watching the play develop and sort
29:19
Speaker 1: of getting in the box a little bit later rather
29:22
Speaker 1: than early like McKinny likes to do.
29:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, he has been really dynamic off the ball with
29:29
Speaker 2: those sorts of runs for Juventus over the past month.
29:32
Speaker 2: He's in the best form of his life. One of
29:35
Speaker 2: the things that we talk about with managers is you
29:39
Speaker 2: kind of build the team around your star a little bit,
29:43
Speaker 2: not entirely, but you want to make sure that your
29:45
Speaker 2: best players are in the right spots to win you games.
29:52
Speaker 2: At this point, does that mean building around Weston mckennie's
29:56
Speaker 2: strengths or Christian Polistics or is there a way to
29:59
Speaker 2: do both.
30:01
Speaker 3: Well.
30:01
Speaker 1: You know, this is a tough choice for Maricio Porsatino
30:03
Speaker 1: because we haven't seen the best of Polisic on the
30:06
Speaker 1: national team, but we have seen it at AC Milan,
30:11
Speaker 1: and i'd like to see us. If we're gonna build
30:14
Speaker 1: around someone, I'd like for us to build it around
30:18
Speaker 1: Christian Polisic. And what is the best way to do that.
30:21
Speaker 1: The best way to do that is by using Polisic.
30:23
Speaker 1: It's sort of like a second forward, which is where
30:25
Speaker 1: he seems to be most comfortable, you know, playing in Italy,
30:30
Speaker 1: and where he gets you know, he gets on the
30:33
Speaker 1: end of plays all the time, he creates, he scores,
30:36
Speaker 1: He makes a big difference for his team. So I
30:38
Speaker 1: would say you build around Christian Polisic because also we
30:42
Speaker 1: have to remember that McKinney is much more adaptable. I mean,
30:47
Speaker 1: he can do anything, so you could you know, you
30:49
Speaker 1: don't have to build around McKinney. He will adapt to
30:51
Speaker 1: however you build a team. And I think that would
30:54
Speaker 1: that would potentially be a good combination.
30:57
Speaker 2: So if we go for a two up top of
31:00
Speaker 2: Agiman and Polistic, because I do want to see Agimon
31:03
Speaker 2: and Polistic together in this camp, so you're not gonna
31:06
Speaker 2: break me on that one. But we drop Weston into
31:08
Speaker 2: a three man midfield. It's the same three man midfield
31:11
Speaker 2: with Adams, Tessaman and Weston, but Christian just playing is
31:17
Speaker 2: more of a true forward. Then we put Max Arpsten
31:20
Speaker 2: back in at left wing back. Right wing back. Will
31:24
Speaker 2: make it Tim Weaia and then a back three of
31:30
Speaker 2: Jedi Robinson as a left center back. I want to
31:32
Speaker 2: see that, Chris Richards and Noahkai Banks. It's in a
31:37
Speaker 2: lot of ways, it's almost the same exact lineup. We're
31:40
Speaker 2: just dropping one wing back in Alex Freeman for another
31:43
Speaker 2: in in Max Arpsten and Arsten we've seen over the
31:47
Speaker 2: past year can handle himself as a two way player
31:50
Speaker 2: on that left side.
31:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think on paper that look that
31:55
Speaker 1: looks good, you know.
31:57
Speaker 3: I like that.
31:57
Speaker 1: I think the issue is that, I would say, is
32:01
Speaker 1: the same issue that you have when you're a coach
32:04
Speaker 1: and you're on the sideline and you want to make
32:06
Speaker 1: a substitution. How can you make a substitution without affecting
32:09
Speaker 1: too many people? So what you don't want to do
32:11
Speaker 1: is okay, let's let's bring in a left back so
32:14
Speaker 1: that I can move my left back into the left
32:16
Speaker 1: center back position, and then my left center back goes
32:18
Speaker 1: into the right center back and so on. And now
32:21
Speaker 1: you're affecting the team in so many ways and having
32:23
Speaker 1: guys in a way play at a position. Can they
32:26
Speaker 1: do that, Yeah, of course they can do that, but
32:28
Speaker 1: it's not where they're most comfortable.
32:30
Speaker 3: It's not what they do all of the time.
32:32
Speaker 1: And so I would be a little bit concerned with
32:35
Speaker 1: having Jedi played that third center back role only because
32:40
Speaker 1: that's not what he normally does.
32:42
Speaker 3: Not that he couldn't do it.
32:43
Speaker 1: I think he can, and I think again, I see
32:46
Speaker 1: it on paper, and if you gave him Recio Pogatino
32:48
Speaker 1: a couple of months to train with him there, I
32:50
Speaker 1: think he would be great because he has all of
32:53
Speaker 1: the tools to be able to do that.
32:54
Speaker 3: But I'd be concerned.
32:56
Speaker 1: You know, in the national team, sometimes you don't have
32:58
Speaker 1: a lot of time to train to put someone in
33:01
Speaker 1: a position where they're usually not playing.
33:05
Speaker 2: The last one hundred and eighty minutes to train coming
33:08
Speaker 2: up next month for the US men's national team at
33:12
Speaker 2: the end of March, they'll be playing against Belgium and
33:15
Speaker 2: then against Portugal in a couple of very big Friendly
33:20
Speaker 2: is going to learn a lot from those two, both
33:22
Speaker 2: in terms of how the US are going to play
33:23
Speaker 2: and who is going to be playing this summer in
33:26
Speaker 2: the World Cup for US.
33:28
Speaker 4: It's time for one more break.
33:29
Speaker 2: We'll be right back to talk about Tabs twenty nineteen
33:32
Speaker 2: U twenty World Cup team, one that has put a
33:35
Speaker 2: lot of players into this current roster. Thanks for listening
33:39
Speaker 2: to Inside American Soccer. Please rate, review and subscribe. All right, folks,
33:54
Speaker 2: welcome back to Inside American Soccer. I meant to all
33:57
Speaker 2: here with Tab Ramos as always, and we're going to
34:00
Speaker 2: take advantage of Tab's intimate knowledge of this current US
34:05
Speaker 2: or the current US player pool, because, as you probably know,
34:10
Speaker 2: he was the head coach for the USU twenty national
34:12
Speaker 2: team for most of the twenty tens, four straight cycles.
34:16
Speaker 2: I think it was three straight quarter final appearances for
34:20
Speaker 2: you guys time. Some great players came through that program.
34:24
Speaker 2: My favorite of those U twenty groups was the twenty
34:28
Speaker 2: nineteen group had that incredible win over for I thought
34:32
Speaker 2: the world was at our feet when you guys beat
34:35
Speaker 2: Friends in that game. That was the round of sixteen,
34:37
Speaker 2: if I remember correctly, and that team has produced a
34:41
Speaker 2: lot of players for this group. Chris Richards was huge
34:45
Speaker 2: in that tournament. Sir Genio Desk had a breakout tournament
34:48
Speaker 2: for the US. Mark McKenzie I think wore the armband.
34:52
Speaker 2: We saw Tim Weaya scored a stunner, and Richieldesma, who
34:56
Speaker 2: was a backup number ten for that US team and
34:59
Speaker 2: is now in attacking fullback for L three. Tap take
35:03
Speaker 2: us inside that locker room, because these guys are the
35:07
Speaker 2: age now or the age then that Noakhai Banks is now.
35:11
Speaker 2: And there's some elements of you were talking earlier about
35:15
Speaker 2: like who's ready, who's not? What did you see in
35:18
Speaker 2: those young guys at that particular time, and what has
35:22
Speaker 2: surprised you when the year six.
35:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, and first of all, thanks for picking
35:25
Speaker 1: this team because this this was truly a fun team
35:29
Speaker 1: to coach. You know, I believe that on this team,
35:32
Speaker 1: and you talked about the France win in the second round,
35:35
Speaker 1: I truly believe we were gonna win the World Cup
35:37
Speaker 1: with this team. You know, we started that World Cup
35:41
Speaker 1: by losing two to one two Ukraine. You know they
35:43
Speaker 1: were the eventual World Cup champions, and I remember telling
35:47
Speaker 1: the team after the game in the locker room, we're
35:50
Speaker 1: gonna meet those guys again in the final. We're gonna
35:52
Speaker 1: beat them, because I remember the game. We dominated the game.
35:57
Speaker 1: Ukraine beat us on a corner head in the second
36:01
Speaker 1: half on a game that you know, obviously we we
36:04
Speaker 1: were better. And I really had all the trust in
36:07
Speaker 1: this team that we were gonna be okay regardless. I
36:10
Speaker 1: can start by saying that, you know, it was Uh,
36:13
Speaker 1: these were fun guys. I felt like I had a
36:16
Speaker 1: lot of captains on the team, a lot of guys
36:18
Speaker 1: who felt like they wanted the responsibility to be winners
36:22
Speaker 1: and to take this US team somewhere had never been before.
36:26
Speaker 1: And uh, and I really felt like we we had
36:29
Speaker 1: a chance to do it.
36:29
Speaker 3: You know, you go player by player.
36:31
Speaker 1: You mentioned Mark McKenzie had the captain's band. You know,
36:36
Speaker 1: Mark is one of the most professional people that I
36:39
Speaker 1: have ever met. First of all, he's a He's a
36:42
Speaker 1: wonderful person and and that's a great quality to have
36:46
Speaker 1: because Mark is one of those guys, you know. I
36:49
Speaker 1: remember Jurgen Klinsman used to say, you know, on teams,
36:51
Speaker 1: there are givers and there are takers and and Mark
36:54
Speaker 1: is certainly a giver. Being around Mark McKenzie, Mark McKenzie
36:59
Speaker 1: makes other players better. That's the type of person that
37:03
Speaker 1: he is, and that's the type of player that he is.
37:05
Speaker 1: And of course as a player, he does have some limitations,
37:07
Speaker 1: but he understands them and plays around them, which is
37:11
Speaker 1: nice to know that a player is smart enough to
37:13
Speaker 1: know what he's good at. Then we had obviously Chris
37:17
Speaker 1: Richards and Chris Richards. It's you know, it's interesting because
37:20
Speaker 1: Chris Richards. I had people from FIFA come to me
37:24
Speaker 1: after games and ask me who is that player? Because
37:28
Speaker 1: they thought that was the absolute best center back at
37:32
Speaker 1: the World Cup at the time, So he was getting
37:35
Speaker 1: a lot of attention.
37:36
Speaker 3: Again. You know, if you know Chris Richards, he's.
37:39
Speaker 1: From Alabama, super nice.
37:41
Speaker 3: I mean, you would never know.
37:42
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's still the same today, although I haven't
37:45
Speaker 1: seen him in a few years. But but he he
37:48
Speaker 1: is also a giver, also cares about his teammates, He
37:52
Speaker 1: cares about how people treat each other. And I'm telling
37:55
Speaker 1: you these little things because I think these are the
37:57
Speaker 1: things that people don't see, uh and these are these
38:00
Speaker 1: how this is how these personalities have become so big
38:03
Speaker 1: because they truly are great people. And then obviously he
38:07
Speaker 1: was a great player. You know, physically he was a beast.
38:10
Speaker 1: He would win every bowl in the air. He has
38:12
Speaker 1: good feed, he was fast, he had all of those qualities.
38:15
Speaker 1: But I think the fact that you know, having Mark
38:17
Speaker 1: McKenzie and Chris Richards in the back sort of securing
38:21
Speaker 1: the back with with the type of effect that they
38:25
Speaker 1: had on the rest of the guys.
38:26
Speaker 3: On the team, was absolutely huge.
38:28
Speaker 1: And then other guys you mentioned, obviously Tim Way. I
38:30
Speaker 1: was already playing at Celtic at the time and this
38:33
Speaker 1: is you know, and I hate to use the word
38:35
Speaker 1: the word interesting so much, but this was interesting at
38:37
Speaker 1: the time. You know, Celtic was getting ready to go
38:40
Speaker 1: play their Cup final at the time when when Tim
38:44
Speaker 1: was supposed to come to US. I called Tim and
38:46
Speaker 1: I said, Tim, look, I understand you have your Cup
38:49
Speaker 1: final and I think that you know your coach is
38:51
Speaker 1: obviously going to want you there, so I understand if
38:54
Speaker 1: you have to come in late for the World Cup,
38:56
Speaker 1: as long as you come for the second game. I
38:58
Speaker 1: was okay with that. Tim said, absolutely not, I'm coming
39:01
Speaker 1: in from the beginning.
39:02
Speaker 3: And his coach. I actually spoke to his coach. I
39:05
Speaker 3: forgot who it was.
39:06
Speaker 1: It was a big personality at the time, but the
39:09
Speaker 1: coach was really upset. But Tim didn't want to say
39:11
Speaker 1: that was the end of it. He left Celtic to
39:13
Speaker 1: come play for US. So it was a big, big commitment.
39:16
Speaker 1: Missed the Cup final in Scotland to come play for US.
39:19
Speaker 1: And obviously you know the respect that all the guys
39:22
Speaker 1: already had for Tim Way at the time, he had
39:24
Speaker 1: already been a PSG, so he's already he was already
39:27
Speaker 1: a big player. And then there were interesting situations like
39:31
Speaker 1: you're mentioning Richie Ledesma and we can speak about Richie,
39:34
Speaker 1: but also let's not forget Io Quino lot right, because
39:37
Speaker 1: Io ended up going to play for.
39:39
Speaker 3: Canada eventually Canada.
39:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Io played for Canada and Richie Ledesma ended
39:44
Speaker 1: up playing for Mexico.
39:46
Speaker 4: Yeah.
39:46
Speaker 2: So the way you described a lot of those guys,
39:49
Speaker 2: nice guys, nice guys, nice guys. Was there too much
39:53
Speaker 2: of that in that group? And does US Soccer the
39:58
Speaker 2: production line of players coming through now a lot of
40:02
Speaker 2: skillful guys. Are there too many nice guys coming through
40:05
Speaker 2: the academy system?
40:07
Speaker 3: No, but you guys didn't.
40:09
Speaker 2: You guys didn't make the World Cup in nineteen ninety
40:12
Speaker 2: because you were a.
40:12
Speaker 4: Bunch of nice guys.
40:14
Speaker 2: You know, you guys broke that forty year streak because
40:17
Speaker 2: you were sobs on the field to play against.
40:20
Speaker 4: Right.
40:21
Speaker 1: No, And this is why I mentioned, as I said
40:23
Speaker 1: nice guys. I mentioned that that the other guys on
40:26
Speaker 1: the team looked looked at them as guys who wanted
40:29
Speaker 1: to win. So although they were great guys off the field,
40:33
Speaker 1: on the field, they wanted nothing but to win and
40:36
Speaker 1: they would do anything to win the game. So I think,
40:38
Speaker 1: I think this is this is where that line is course,
40:41
Speaker 1: and this is why, honestly, Matt, I had been surprised
40:44
Speaker 1: with our national team over the last four or five
40:46
Speaker 1: years and the lack of desire that we saw on
40:49
Speaker 1: the field over that period of time, because I felt like,
40:52
Speaker 1: these are not these are not the guys I coach.
40:55
Speaker 1: You know, if there was anything, and I will, I
40:57
Speaker 1: won't limit it to only these guys. But if there's
41:00
Speaker 1: there's one thing I can tell you from having coach
41:02
Speaker 1: in four World Cups and in four qualifying events with
41:05
Speaker 1: you twenties, American players will run through the wall for you.
41:09
Speaker 1: If you're the coach and you stay and you put
41:12
Speaker 1: your arm around an American player and you say things
41:15
Speaker 1: the right well the right way, they will run through
41:18
Speaker 1: the wall for you. And I always felt like that
41:20
Speaker 1: was an advantage for us. These players will do anything,
41:23
Speaker 1: and that was surprising to me. But I think these
41:26
Speaker 1: guys that we mentioned on this particular team, they're true
41:29
Speaker 1: leaders of that philosophy.
41:32
Speaker 2: A guy that we mentioned both of us, Richard Ledesma.
41:35
Speaker 2: He was one of my favorite players for that team,
41:39
Speaker 2: number ten, who had what I called easy speed. I
41:43
Speaker 2: remember his ability to just like turn away from pressure
41:46
Speaker 2: and get out within one stride. He was near top
41:49
Speaker 2: speed carrying the ball and then able to play runners
41:52
Speaker 2: through and hit the final ball while at a sprint.
41:55
Speaker 2: It's a skill set you don't see come around.
41:58
Speaker 4: Often.
41:59
Speaker 2: Had some ups and downs on his career path. He
42:02
Speaker 2: is now the starting right wing back for achiev US
42:06
Speaker 2: down in League Amaki's. He has filed a one time
42:08
Speaker 2: switch to El Tree. It looks very likely he's going
42:11
Speaker 2: to be on that team this summer. It is not
42:17
Speaker 2: something that career path that I think anybody saw tam.
42:21
Speaker 1: Nos certainly not because you know Richie was a great
42:25
Speaker 1: player always. You know, there were guys that I like
42:27
Speaker 1: to call slippery in the middle of the field, so
42:29
Speaker 1: you play him a ball and regardless of where they are,
42:32
Speaker 1: they're slipping out and they're getting out. And on that
42:34
Speaker 1: team we had three so we had Richie Ledesma, we
42:38
Speaker 1: have we had packs and Pomacoll at his best before
42:41
Speaker 1: all his injuries, and we had Alex Mendez. These guys
42:44
Speaker 1: just would not lose the ball. And there's nothing better
42:47
Speaker 1: than you being able to play the ball inside. Let's
42:50
Speaker 1: let's recognize that those inside positions, that number six, number eight,
42:55
Speaker 1: number ten role on the field, they are the most
42:58
Speaker 1: difficult position to play on the field bar none. I
43:01
Speaker 1: don't care what anybody says. It's really difficult to play
43:04
Speaker 1: when you have people coming from every which way to
43:07
Speaker 1: pressure you. And those guys were slippery and would never
43:10
Speaker 1: lose the ball. And I'm surprised to see Richie now
43:13
Speaker 1: play on the right side because I think, you know,
43:16
Speaker 1: for me, he was going to be a great player
43:18
Speaker 1: inside for the rest of until he was thirty six, and.
43:21
Speaker 3: So I'm surprised to see him there.
43:22
Speaker 1: But you know, in the end, he's he's still playing,
43:25
Speaker 1: and he found a position at right back, which I'm
43:28
Speaker 1: sure it's incredibly easy for him to play there after
43:31
Speaker 1: having played inside, and I'm not surprised he's having success there.
43:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's shown some real fortitude a kid who was
43:41
Speaker 2: never really given a chance to play inside, but PSV
43:45
Speaker 2: moved him outside. I think under Ernie Stewart a year
43:49
Speaker 2: and a half ago, was a pure attacking right back
43:51
Speaker 2: and he's parleyed that into a big future at the
43:54
Speaker 2: club level down in Liga MCKIS and with l Tree.
43:59
Speaker 2: It's one of those tab where with all the Mexican
44:02
Speaker 2: Americans now so many of them choosing to represent Mexico,
44:08
Speaker 2: I have almost a little bit of American pride about
44:11
Speaker 2: watching the team in green. It's it's something that if
44:14
Speaker 2: you had told me this twenty years ago, I would
44:16
Speaker 2: have said, you're absolutely crazy.
44:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I and I live that, because I lived
44:20
Speaker 1: having to fight recruiting, you know, our American players with
44:24
Speaker 1: Mexican background to stay with us to justin you know,
44:27
Speaker 1: we had to we had to go to homes to
44:29
Speaker 1: do that. You know, I've been to Uli Yanya's home,
44:33
Speaker 1: I've been to you know, Alex Mende's home, to meet
44:35
Speaker 1: with his mom, like I, you know, these are all
44:38
Speaker 1: players that we were fighting to keep on our youth
44:40
Speaker 1: national teams, and it seems like the tables are turned now,
44:43
Speaker 1: right they It seems like it's the other way around.
44:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like we're helping them out, which is
44:50
Speaker 2: I think a good thing for Conca CAF as a whole,
44:52
Speaker 2: and I think it's probably a good thing for US
44:55
Speaker 2: soccer as a whole. It means that there's a lot
44:56
Speaker 2: of talent suddenly coming through the ranks. Tab obviously played
45:01
Speaker 2: a huge part of that as the face of the
45:03
Speaker 2: U twenty program for a long time last decade. And
45:08
Speaker 2: we'll be back next week to talk much more about that,
45:12
Speaker 2: much more about the March friendlies. I think we'll probably
45:14
Speaker 2: pick apart some performances around the world, maybe a little
45:18
Speaker 2: bit about the first weekend of MLS action as well,
45:22
Speaker 2: and I hope you'll join us. So thank you for
45:25
Speaker 2: listening to Inside American Soccer. Please rate, review and subscribe,
45:29
Speaker 2: and please continue to leave your questions and comments on
45:33
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45:37
Speaker 4: We'll see you all next week.