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TABLE TALK: The 2024 Philadelphia Union Season Postmortem · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's going on, everybody. It's Jeff here. I wanted to
0:02
Speaker 1: let you know. We recorded this table Talk interview show
0:05
Speaker 1: on Monday, December second, twenty twenty four. By the time
0:08
Speaker 1: you hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
0:10
Speaker 1: but we hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Table
0:33
Speaker 1: Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table Podcast show, the
0:35
Speaker 1: longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world.
0:38
Speaker 1: That's right, eleven and a half years strong. We got
0:41
Speaker 1: a great show coming your way, a great table talk
0:43
Speaker 1: interview coming up here. We have not gotten into the
0:47
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Union in quite some time here, and we need
0:50
Speaker 1: to dissect not only what happened this past season, but
0:53
Speaker 1: Jim Curtin, longtime head coach, being fired with the ramifications
0:58
Speaker 1: are going to be for this team and for the
1:00
Speaker 1: organization as they move forward, as they try to restructure
1:03
Speaker 1: some things as we move into twenty twenty five here
1:07
Speaker 1: in the near future. So we got our great guest
1:09
Speaker 1: coming your way. Let's get right to it. Joining us
1:11
Speaker 1: this week from philadelphiasoccernow dot com. You've actually heard him
1:15
Speaker 1: a decent amount this season on our Eagles postgame podcast.
1:18
Speaker 1: He helps us do some analysis over there, but to
1:21
Speaker 1: get into this Philadelphia Union team, the aftermath, the post
1:24
Speaker 1: mortem of their twenty twenty four season. My gosh, there's
1:28
Speaker 1: a lot to get into here. We've got our good
1:30
Speaker 1: friend Josh Schuster. Josh, Buddy, how you doing, man.
1:34
Speaker 2: I'm doing good, Jeff. You know, the Eagles are just
1:36
Speaker 2: doing too well. So we just need to create some
1:38
Speaker 2: balance in the universe to talk about a disappointing sports
1:42
Speaker 2: organization in Philadelphia. So congratulations, Union, it's your turn.
1:47
Speaker 1: We can talk about the we can talk about the
1:48
Speaker 1: Sixers too. I know we got the Union on this
1:50
Speaker 1: schedule for a time. I know. It's really amazing what's happening.
1:54
Speaker 1: The balance. You just mentioned that word balance, Like that's
1:57
Speaker 1: what we're seeing here in Philadelphi. Like we're seeing some
1:59
Speaker 1: fun stuff from the Flyers this year. Their season's been
2:01
Speaker 1: pretty interesting thus far. Eagles, like you mentioned, of course,
2:05
Speaker 1: Phillies are in the off season. It was a disappointing
2:07
Speaker 1: end of their season, but you know, we're gearing up
2:09
Speaker 1: for some off season storylines there. But man, the Union
2:12
Speaker 1: and Sixers just horrible. But I know we're gonna get
2:15
Speaker 1: into the Union here, buddy.
2:18
Speaker 2: And all as we go through these questions. I'm gonna
2:21
Speaker 2: compare the two because I do think it hands down
2:24
Speaker 2: the Union and Sixers in terms of ownership. Yeah, really
2:29
Speaker 2: are struggling right now.
2:31
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, let's let's dive into you know, what's happening
2:34
Speaker 1: here with this union organization post mortem here in twenty
2:37
Speaker 1: twenty four. You know, we had we had a feeling
2:41
Speaker 1: after this disappointing season that long term, long time I
2:45
Speaker 1: should say, tenured coach Jim Curtin might be let go
2:48
Speaker 1: and fired after the season. Last time you were on
2:50
Speaker 1: talking about the union, we specifically talked about how that
2:53
Speaker 1: might be a possibility. At the time, we weren't sure. Well,
2:55
Speaker 1: it happened, Jim Curtin let go and fired, and it
2:59
Speaker 1: was kind of a It was kind of bizarre, Josh,
3:02
Speaker 1: how the front office communicated with Curtain and in the
3:06
Speaker 1: public in general the fan base about the firing. I mean,
3:10
Speaker 1: they waited so long to really address it. And also
3:13
Speaker 1: how much you know, Jim Curtin really meant to the
3:15
Speaker 1: organization after so many years. Yeah, twenty twenty four not
3:18
Speaker 1: a great year by any stretch, But really, I think
3:21
Speaker 1: in a disrespectful way, didn't really handle his outgoing and
3:27
Speaker 1: firing essentially, you know, didn't really handle it the right
3:29
Speaker 1: way after so many years. What are your thoughts on
3:31
Speaker 1: how the firing and the immediate aftermath went.
3:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have I have very strong feelings on this.
3:38
Speaker 2: You know, I became a Jim Curtain supporter and wasn't
3:42
Speaker 2: initially at first, And honestly, if I'm taking feelings out
3:45
Speaker 2: of the situation, his situation was probably very similar to
3:49
Speaker 2: Andy Reid. I do think that Jim Curtin will have
3:53
Speaker 2: success in the future. I have no doubt that he
3:56
Speaker 2: will be scooped up very very soon. He is widely
3:59
Speaker 2: respected in the MLS ranks especially, but I just don't
4:04
Speaker 2: know what else he possibly could have done. With the
4:09
Speaker 2: union constantly selling off top performers from the year before,
4:13
Speaker 2: and it is really, really hard. I don't envy whoever
4:19
Speaker 2: is going to come in and take over this manager position.
4:25
Speaker 2: I thought it was extremely disrespectful to Jim Curtin. Yes,
4:30
Speaker 2: I mean that man was with the organization for years
4:33
Speaker 2: and gain the union the most success they have ever had.
4:37
Speaker 2: And it was only because I don't care what the
4:39
Speaker 2: union say. It was only because for weeks the supporters
4:44
Speaker 2: were commenting under everything with all the players that they're releasing,
4:48
Speaker 2: which we'll get into in a little bit, all the
4:50
Speaker 2: players that they're selling off. Where's the stuff for curtain?
4:53
Speaker 2: Where's the stuff for curtain? It's only because people started
4:57
Speaker 2: making a really big deal and honestly, I think people
5:00
Speaker 2: just stopped renewing season tickets until something was done. Wow,
5:04
Speaker 2: and he just was even what they put out was
5:07
Speaker 2: just I have very strong feelings on this. I'm going
5:12
Speaker 2: to be respectful, but they really should be ashamed in
5:16
Speaker 2: how they handled this situation.
5:17
Speaker 1: They should, they should, And I really wanted to touch on,
5:20
Speaker 1: you know that that initial November eleventh press conference, you
5:25
Speaker 1: know that we were all kind of kind of waiting
5:26
Speaker 1: for as well. And I know there was a specific
5:29
Speaker 1: press conference that we're also going to get into in
5:31
Speaker 1: a little bit too. This first one, though, was with
5:33
Speaker 1: owner j Sugarman and sporting director Ernst Tanner. I thought
5:38
Speaker 1: what was interesting during that press conference was both guys
5:41
Speaker 1: pushing back on the notion and perception that the union
5:45
Speaker 1: are just unwilling to spend money on top end signings
5:48
Speaker 1: to keep pace with a growing MLS pool of talent.
5:53
Speaker 1: We know this is happening. Lenn and I have talked
5:54
Speaker 1: about this on the On the show, You and I
5:57
Speaker 1: talked about this as well, and they they talked about
6:01
Speaker 1: investing in their academy and how that's really been their
6:03
Speaker 1: strategy to build for the future. Really sound tone deaf,
6:07
Speaker 1: quite frankly, in a lot of ways. I was shaking
6:09
Speaker 1: my head at that. And while it, yes, it's important.
6:12
Speaker 1: The academy is important because, uh, you know, it's where
6:17
Speaker 1: you do build certain talent within the organization, I just again,
6:22
Speaker 1: it was tone deaf. What what were your thoughts on
6:25
Speaker 1: this aspect of how they're viewing their spending habits and
6:29
Speaker 1: what it means down the road. We're all talking about
6:31
Speaker 1: this Union fans have been talking about it for a
6:33
Speaker 1: long time. They don't spend money, but Jay Sugarman and
6:37
Speaker 1: Ernst Tanner they think they're doing a pretty good job.
6:38
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts, man, Yeah, so I'm going to
6:43
Speaker 2: separate the two, okay. And you've when we've talked to Union,
6:47
Speaker 2: you've heard me be a pretty big supporter of Ernst Tanner.
6:51
Speaker 2: He is under just insane restrictions. Jeff, I have up
6:57
Speaker 2: on my screen here the payrolls from last year. They
7:01
Speaker 2: want to tell me that they're spending money. Yes, there
7:03
Speaker 2: are thirty lines, one of which is the average. So
7:07
Speaker 2: there's twenty nine teams listed. Do you want to guess
7:10
Speaker 2: where the Union are dead last? No, they're twenty seventh.
7:15
Speaker 1: Okay, twenty seventh.
7:17
Speaker 2: The Bion had a payroll of fifteen point nine million dollars.
7:22
Speaker 2: Let's call it sixteen because we're feeling generous with the holidays.
7:26
Speaker 1: Okay.
7:26
Speaker 2: Do you want to know what the tenth or the
7:30
Speaker 2: fifth most spent is?
7:32
Speaker 1: What is it? Twenty four?
7:33
Speaker 2: So you're millions of dollars behind. Now, it doesn't sound
7:36
Speaker 2: like it's a whole lot, but when you look at
7:38
Speaker 2: percentage wise, they are spending well below the top five.
7:43
Speaker 2: So I don't want to hear that you are spending
7:45
Speaker 2: a bunch of money. You're not. You're not spending money
7:48
Speaker 2: on payroll. The question is asked about payroll and bringing
7:51
Speaker 2: players in. It's not about academies. It's not about upgrades
7:55
Speaker 2: to the stadium. It's not about this training complex that
7:58
Speaker 2: you've decided to build with by the way, you got
8:01
Speaker 2: a ton of grants for like I don't I and
8:03
Speaker 2: the supporter, the union supporters don't want to hear about that.
8:07
Speaker 2: What we are tired of seeing is every single year
8:11
Speaker 2: we are at the bottom. So they have this presser
8:14
Speaker 2: together on November eleventh, Yes, then a couple of weeks
8:18
Speaker 2: later Ernst Tanner as his own presser and the whole
8:22
Speaker 2: time what he talks about is the fact that he
8:25
Speaker 2: is on budgetary constraints. Like, I don't understand how you
8:28
Speaker 2: can say in one press conference we're spending, we're spending,
8:31
Speaker 2: we're spending, and then Ernst Tanner has to go out
8:33
Speaker 2: there and be honest and be like friends. There's not
8:35
Speaker 2: much I can do. He already said that they aren't
8:37
Speaker 2: looking for a forward. This team could not score goals.
8:42
Speaker 2: They in all the years since Sebastian Latoo, they have
8:46
Speaker 2: not had anyone who can put the ball in the net,
8:49
Speaker 2: and honestly, maybe they shouldn't be searching there. They have
8:52
Speaker 2: tried mikel Ua. That was a horrible failure. They spent
8:56
Speaker 2: money on that and it has not worked. Strikers have
9:00
Speaker 2: not and forwards have not been a strength for them.
9:02
Speaker 2: They are great at finding midfielders, they are great at
9:05
Speaker 2: finding goalkeepers, and they are pretty good at finding defencemen.
9:10
Speaker 2: The problem is you can't keep telling your supporters. I
9:14
Speaker 2: mean Philadelphia sports fans are smart and many of us
9:18
Speaker 2: follow other squads. Like I mentioned multiple times, I follow Liverpool,
9:22
Speaker 2: right ye, So like I have a general understanding of
9:24
Speaker 2: how things work, I don't understand how in the world
9:29
Speaker 2: when you are selling out your stadium for almost two
9:31
Speaker 2: consecutive years, you're gonna cry poor. That makes absolutely no sense.
9:37
Speaker 2: You didn't sign anybody last year, so you have no
9:40
Speaker 2: new jersey sales. That's a you problem, ye, right, Like
9:43
Speaker 2: the Phillies found out from Bryce Harper when they signed him.
9:46
Speaker 2: Pretty much everyone in Philadelphia has a Bryce Harper jersey
9:49
Speaker 2: and it's pretty much paid for the contract, right Like.
9:52
Speaker 2: I don't understand, you know, Like the where I work,
9:57
Speaker 2: I have to manage a budget, a six figure budget,
10:00
Speaker 2: right like, and I can tell things that work and
10:02
Speaker 2: things that don't work. Right Somehow, this person who is
10:05
Speaker 2: a professional businessman who owns a sports franchise cannot understand
10:09
Speaker 2: the simple fact that you have to spend money and
10:12
Speaker 2: you can't be ranked twenty seventh and then cry that
10:15
Speaker 2: you know you're spending money. But if it doesn't work that.
10:18
Speaker 1: Way, If Josh, if he wants to be ranked top five,
10:22
Speaker 1: he could right I mean that's the point here. If
10:25
Speaker 1: he the decision needs to be made, if he wants
10:28
Speaker 1: to be top five, if he wants to be top ten,
10:31
Speaker 1: he in terms of spending, he certainly can I'm correct
10:36
Speaker 1: in that career, right.
10:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, And this is where I'm going to separate the
10:40
Speaker 2: Union and the Sixers because I can. I can be
10:43
Speaker 2: very frustrated with the Sixers ownership, but you know what,
10:47
Speaker 2: they're paying luxury tax, like they are. Not only are
10:50
Speaker 2: they investing in the community and different things like that,
10:53
Speaker 2: but they actually invest in their roster. Yeah right, So,
10:56
Speaker 2: like it was it a great idea to sign Paul George?
11:00
Speaker 1: Yeah?
11:00
Speaker 2: Probably not? Right, Like I wasn't a huge fan of
11:02
Speaker 2: that sign to begin with because there's only one player
11:04
Speaker 2: who's been out more than Joelle Embiid It's Paul George, Right,
11:07
Speaker 2: So it didn't make But they're at least trying. Yeah right,
11:10
Speaker 2: They're not just sitting on their hands being like, well,
11:13
Speaker 2: Max contract draft paying.
11:14
Speaker 1: Right, Max contracts out the wazoo.
11:17
Speaker 2: So there's the difference between the two. Yes, I will
11:21
Speaker 2: be critical of the Sixers for poor decision making, but
11:23
Speaker 2: what I'm not going to be critical of the Sixers
11:25
Speaker 2: of is not trying right with the union. It is
11:28
Speaker 2: poor decision making. I wonder about business sense, and it's
11:33
Speaker 2: a lack of trying. They just are actively not trying
11:36
Speaker 2: to improve this roster. We'll get into all the changes.
11:39
Speaker 2: They have let go a ton of people from their roster.
11:42
Speaker 2: There is no plan to replace them, right, Ernest Tanner,
11:46
Speaker 2: he already talked about the fact that they already have
11:48
Speaker 2: a certain number of contracts, like there is very clearly
11:51
Speaker 2: no plan to replace any of these players, and they
11:54
Speaker 2: are fine with living in the world of twenty twenty two.
11:58
Speaker 2: Ernest Tanner kept talking about it. Well in twenty twenty two.
12:02
Speaker 2: Guess what that was two years ago, and Messi has
12:05
Speaker 2: come over. The formula for winning has changed. It had
12:08
Speaker 2: need to start.
12:09
Speaker 1: Yep. Absolutely, you talked about this roster that's going to
12:14
Speaker 1: dramatically change in twenty twenty five and beyond. It's a
12:19
Speaker 1: complete overall here. I mean, with the exception of the
12:22
Speaker 1: goaltenders Andre Blake and Holden Trent. They did announce contract
12:28
Speaker 1: options for seven players, while eighteen contracts are guaranteed for
12:31
Speaker 1: next season. From my understanding, so I want to get
12:34
Speaker 1: your take and your opinions on first two players who
12:39
Speaker 1: are out of contract at this point, they're currently under
12:42
Speaker 1: negotiations with the union front office. And again, as I
12:45
Speaker 1: mentioned at the top, some things may have changed here
12:48
Speaker 1: or there, you know when folks are listening to this podcast.
12:51
Speaker 1: But I'm wondering your thoughts about whether or not these
12:54
Speaker 1: two individuals who are going to get into right now,
12:56
Speaker 1: whether or not they should be coming back to the
12:58
Speaker 1: union next year. Why why not? First, it's your guy
13:01
Speaker 1: who you love. We've talked about him before, Aleandro Pedoya.
13:05
Speaker 1: Do you think Bedoya should come back and would he
13:08
Speaker 1: would it be beneficial for the union to have him
13:10
Speaker 1: out there on the field.
13:12
Speaker 2: Well, Jeff, he's going to be back. It's a matter
13:15
Speaker 2: of whether he's going to be on the pitch or not.
13:16
Speaker 2: He has a role in the front office. I have really,
13:22
Speaker 2: especially in America, I really have yet to see where
13:26
Speaker 2: a person on the pitch and in the front office
13:29
Speaker 2: has worked out very well. I think that he needs
13:33
Speaker 2: to focus on one. I think part of the problem
13:36
Speaker 2: last year was Jim Curtin liked to play who he
13:40
Speaker 2: was comfortable with and Bedoya was one of those. And
13:43
Speaker 2: I talked about it often that he basically is an
13:46
Speaker 2: extension of the Jim Curtin coaching system. I think it
13:50
Speaker 2: might be best if he's not on the pitch next year, Okay,
13:54
Speaker 2: And he just has that front office role, because when
13:57
Speaker 2: you have someone who has been there for a as
14:00
Speaker 2: long as Jim Curtin has been, I kind of get
14:03
Speaker 2: why they're cleaning house because it's going to be a
14:07
Speaker 2: hard locker room for whoever comes in. Absolutely, but I
14:13
Speaker 2: love Alejandra Baduya, thank you. I just he's such a
14:17
Speaker 2: good guy as well. But it may it may be
14:22
Speaker 2: time for him just to stick to the front office.
14:24
Speaker 1: All right, Well, next guy, what about Kay Wagner? You know,
14:27
Speaker 1: what are your expectations for him and where his future lies.
14:33
Speaker 2: I think Ernst Tanner already mentioned it with kai Wagner.
14:36
Speaker 2: He he just I think he values himself too high
14:42
Speaker 2: for a number that the Union are willing to pay.
14:45
Speaker 2: Ernst Tanner talked about needing to improve defensively. You know,
14:52
Speaker 2: kai Agner is known for being an individual who has
14:57
Speaker 2: this he shot off his foot, but he really struggled
15:04
Speaker 2: defensively last year. And Kai Wagner is probably like my
15:09
Speaker 2: second favorite player, So like this is for me, this
15:12
Speaker 2: is a very hard off season. Yeah, I just can't
15:16
Speaker 2: get out of my mind Arnstanner constantly talking about budgetary
15:19
Speaker 2: constraints to me, especially when he's asked about signing specific people.
15:25
Speaker 2: That means to me, especially if we're talking about letting
15:30
Speaker 2: like Leon Flock go.
15:32
Speaker 1: Yeah.
15:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't really see them coming back either.
15:37
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, we're gonna get to them, Leon Flock, Joaquin Torres.
15:42
Speaker 1: But I've also wanted to get your thoughts on Jack Elliott,
15:47
Speaker 1: you know, wanted to get your thoughts on whether or
15:48
Speaker 1: not he may be possibly back in twenty twenty five,
15:52
Speaker 1: and even should he come back, as they're looking to
15:55
Speaker 1: revamp this roster and really needing that fresh start. What
15:59
Speaker 1: are your thoughts with regard to Jack.
16:00
Speaker 2: Elliott, Jeff, with any squad, with any team, youth is good,
16:08
Speaker 2: But the problem is if there's no experience around the youth,
16:14
Speaker 2: it hurts development. Yeah, and so I think that's kind
16:18
Speaker 2: of where the Union are finding themselves. Elliott had a
16:21
Speaker 2: bad season last season, Like this isn't breaking news or
16:25
Speaker 2: anything like that. In fact, it was so bad that
16:28
Speaker 2: it was shocking. He has been a staple on the
16:33
Speaker 2: back end. I don't know the answer to that, because
16:41
Speaker 2: you do need to have some veterans out there with
16:44
Speaker 2: the young kids.
16:48
Speaker 1: IOI had the bad year, to be honest, Like, I wonder,
16:51
Speaker 1: you know, we've talked a lot on this podcast platform
16:54
Speaker 1: over the years when guys start performing not to the
16:57
Speaker 1: level that they have but in a very bizarre way,
17:00
Speaker 1: that there's usually something going on behind the scenes or
17:03
Speaker 1: some sort of sports psychology at play. And I wonder
17:06
Speaker 1: if that specifically happened with him this year, where he
17:10
Speaker 1: just wasn't himself. So I don't know if we see
17:14
Speaker 1: that kind of play from him in twenty twenty five.
17:18
Speaker 1: It's hard to believe we would.
17:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I'm really I don't really kind
17:27
Speaker 2: of stuff with him. Yeah, I wouldn't hate if he's
17:31
Speaker 2: back when I hate if he's gone. I do think
17:35
Speaker 2: he can play better than he did last year. I
17:38
Speaker 2: have a lot of confidence in him. A lot of
17:40
Speaker 2: it's because of the track record, and I understand why
17:43
Speaker 2: Jim Curtin would trot him out there, but again, budgetary constraints.
17:49
Speaker 2: Like I just I am not expecting the union to
17:53
Speaker 2: do anything and maybe even have the twenty ninth out
17:58
Speaker 2: of twenty nine payrolls next year.
18:01
Speaker 1: Who's thirtieth?
18:02
Speaker 2: You do you know, like, oh, that was the average.
18:05
Speaker 1: Oh that was the average the average? Okay, I got you.
18:07
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
18:08
Speaker 2: So they kind of put that one down at line thirty.
18:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, but yeah, well you mentioned Leon Floch, Jaquin Torres,
18:17
Speaker 1: Matthew Real forgetting who else? So I was gonna mention
18:23
Speaker 1: here there's another gentleman not slated to come back to
18:26
Speaker 1: the team in twenty twenty five here, And I wonder again,
18:31
Speaker 1: this is this is going to be a roster overhaul
18:33
Speaker 1: and a roster revamp, Like what do you see as
18:36
Speaker 1: the significance in terms of them not being part of
18:39
Speaker 1: the team next season. I mean, I guess it all
18:41
Speaker 1: comes back to not being not willing to invest in
18:45
Speaker 1: guy not willing to invest in the team at the
18:48
Speaker 1: end of the day, Is that what the significance is here?
18:52
Speaker 2: You know, Jeff, I don't know, I'm not a big
18:56
Speaker 2: read into anything kind of a person, but with particularly
19:02
Speaker 2: these individuals that you just mentioned, a couple of them
19:05
Speaker 2: had mentioned that kind of it was personal reasons, which
19:11
Speaker 2: is interesting. I don't know if they were thrilled about
19:17
Speaker 2: the whole Jim Curtin situation in terms of how it
19:21
Speaker 2: was handled in different things like that because for some
19:25
Speaker 2: of them, he's been there for a while. Some of
19:28
Speaker 2: it is just inconsistent play, Like with Torres, you know,
19:30
Speaker 2: he would show flashes and you were like, wow, this
19:33
Speaker 2: is great, and then he would just disappear. Yeah, so,
19:37
Speaker 2: I you know, I really don't know. I'm kind of
19:42
Speaker 2: more happy that we just have an answer on what's
19:43
Speaker 2: happening with them, because there's a lot of roster flux
19:47
Speaker 2: right now.
19:49
Speaker 1: Is there anyone I didn't have this topic that I
19:51
Speaker 1: gave to you, but is there anyone on the roster
19:55
Speaker 1: now that one you wish wasn't there and you wish
19:58
Speaker 1: they would just kind of cut bait at this point?
20:01
Speaker 1: Is there anybody that you know, I mean aside from
20:04
Speaker 1: some of the young guys that I mean, and we
20:05
Speaker 1: know some of the young guys need some playing time
20:08
Speaker 1: in or to get the experience. You know, that's how
20:10
Speaker 1: that's how people grow, that's how athletes grow in general.
20:14
Speaker 1: But is there anybody that you're like, man, I really
20:16
Speaker 1: wish they were not going to be on this roster
20:18
Speaker 1: in the future.
20:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, mil Yeah, you know, they took a gamble on
20:24
Speaker 2: signing him, and when you gamble, sometimes you win and
20:28
Speaker 2: sometimes you do. Not Like dogs, right, Like Gosdog and
20:34
Speaker 2: Wagner are the exact opposite of the mclua situation. They
20:38
Speaker 2: took a gamble on both those players, and they have
20:41
Speaker 2: more value now than they did when they originally came.
20:47
Speaker 2: I it kind of like a couple of post games
20:50
Speaker 2: ago where I was talking about how Nick Sirianni was
20:54
Speaker 2: coaching and getting the team to play in a way
20:56
Speaker 2: that they're probably not going to fire him, Right, that's
20:59
Speaker 2: kind of mikelu situation. Yeah, Like there is this large
21:02
Speaker 2: landscape of just underperforming, just not what they need, but
21:09
Speaker 2: then there's flashes. Yeah, but I swear if I see
21:13
Speaker 2: Michael Ouah miss another wide open net from like ten
21:18
Speaker 2: feet away, I'm gonna lose my mind.
21:21
Speaker 1: Well, you know, Josh to close us out here. And
21:24
Speaker 1: I guess it's more of a general question for you.
21:27
Speaker 1: Where do you want to see I guess, the most
21:30
Speaker 1: improvement on this roster this offseason? I mean the goalkeepers.
21:36
Speaker 1: I mean we got pretty decent goalkeepers on this team,
21:40
Speaker 1: and you know there are other aspects of this team
21:42
Speaker 1: that are not terrible by any stretch. Where where do
21:44
Speaker 1: you want to see the most improvement?
21:46
Speaker 2: So on the pitch, it's got to be upfront. They
21:50
Speaker 2: need scoring. Ernst Tanner mentioned about midfield when he was
21:55
Speaker 2: in his solo presser a week or two ago. I
21:59
Speaker 2: disagree they they need they need scoring up front. The
22:05
Speaker 2: trouble is we don't know what kind of system they're playing.
22:07
Speaker 2: But the biggest, the biggest thing that needs to happen
22:11
Speaker 2: is Jay Sugarman needs to sell the team. He just
22:17
Speaker 2: you know, this season, the Sun's of Ben brought a
22:20
Speaker 2: sign that really wasn't that bad. It just said Sugarman
22:23
Speaker 2: out and and he had it removed. And you know,
22:26
Speaker 2: if you're if you're going to pay only the twenty
22:30
Speaker 2: seventh out of twenty nine ranked payrolls, I don't think
22:35
Speaker 2: that you can tell fans who have worked very hard,
22:38
Speaker 2: especially from your most passioned fan base that stands the
22:42
Speaker 2: entire match, they're not allowed to sit. Yeah, So I
22:45
Speaker 2: don't I don't understand how you can tell them that
22:48
Speaker 2: they can't do something when you yourself are not investing in
22:51
Speaker 2: the roster. It just makes no sense. And the only
22:56
Speaker 2: way it's really going to happen is for things to
22:59
Speaker 2: get super bad.
23:00
Speaker 1: Yeah.
23:00
Speaker 2: But the problem is, I don't know that there's anything
23:04
Speaker 2: that's bad enough that Jay Sugarman would ever consider selling
23:08
Speaker 2: the team. He is like six Ers ownership in the
23:11
Speaker 2: sense that they just collect different teams that they own.
23:14
Speaker 2: There's no allegiance or anything. It's purely investment for them.
23:18
Speaker 2: You know, with Apple signing this deal with the MLS,
23:21
Speaker 2: it's great because you get the minor league stuff, you
23:23
Speaker 2: get all of these extra shows. It really is great
23:26
Speaker 2: and it's a really good product on Apple. And the
23:30
Speaker 2: problem is for owners, they keep making more and more money,
23:35
Speaker 2: and as the Messies of the world come over, that's
23:37
Speaker 2: more and more money. So for Jay Sugarman, he's just
23:41
Speaker 2: rolling in the dough and there's no stopping him from
23:45
Speaker 2: selling right now, Like he has no desire to do that,
23:48
Speaker 2: and I don't blame him.
23:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, it's gonna be a rough twenty twenty five
23:52
Speaker 1: season probably right. I think I think we need to
23:56
Speaker 1: really come to terms with that here as we're as
24:00
Speaker 1: we're closing shop here on our Table Talk Interview show. Buddy,
24:03
Speaker 1: it was great talking to you, and I very much
24:06
Speaker 1: appreciate you jumping on our table Talk Interview show this
24:09
Speaker 1: week to talk about this union team. Anything else to
24:12
Speaker 1: close this out here, Buddy.
24:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to be very interested to see who
24:17
Speaker 2: takes over for Jim Curtin. I don't envy them in
24:21
Speaker 2: any way, shape or form. Jim Curtin was for the
24:25
Speaker 2: most part beloved by the fans. He was absolutely beloved
24:30
Speaker 2: by that locker room.
24:31
Speaker 1: And so.
24:33
Speaker 2: I really I don't even know what kind of system
24:36
Speaker 2: they're going to be playing because Jim Curtin's system was
24:40
Speaker 2: so specific. They really had the players for that system.
24:46
Speaker 2: So I have no idea what they're going to do.
24:48
Speaker 2: But I'm not ready to say that twenty twenty five.
24:52
Speaker 1: Is going to be rough. OK.
24:53
Speaker 2: I need to see who the manager is and kind
24:56
Speaker 2: of what system they're playing and how all the players
24:59
Speaker 2: adapt to it.
25:00
Speaker 1: All right, Very good again, folks. Josh Schuster from philadelphiasoccernow
25:05
Speaker 1: dot com. Follow him on the Twitter slash x great
25:08
Speaker 1: great follow at fly Guy Josh ninety one, and you
25:11
Speaker 1: can hear him every now and again on our Eagles
25:14
Speaker 1: postgame podcast shows. He's been awesome filling in for the
25:16
Speaker 1: guys every now and then. Josh, Buddy, thanks so much
25:19
Speaker 1: for joining us. Come back and we'll talk some more.
25:22
Speaker 2: Union down the road, my friend, sounds good anytime, Jeff.
25:26
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Table Talk
25:28
Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
25:31
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25:34
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25:38
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25:42
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25:45
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25:57
Speaker 1: Take care and well, catch you next time.