Latest / Friends on Football / Ep. 4 - Spurs Avoid Disaster, West Ham Go Down, Unlikely European Qualifiers, USMNT Roster Reaction, MLS Roundup and Serie A's Final Day Theatrics

Transcript

Ep. 4 - Spurs Avoid Disaster, West Ham Go Down, Unlikely European Qualifiers, USMNT Roster Reaction, MLS Roundup and Serie A's Final Day Theatrics · Friends on Football

• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Friends on Football Podcast.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I am Sean Boyle, and as always, joining me today it is Brandon Johnson.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: B.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Johns, how are you?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good, Sean.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Happy to be here.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Always a pleasure to talk some footy with you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We've got a lot to get to today.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's a busy agenda, so we'll spare a long introduction, but we're gonna obviously recap the Premier League.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: That season has come to a close.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Tottenham are staying up.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Get in.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We will do our reaction to the United States men's national team Broster, which has not been officially released, but it has been leaked.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll react to that.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: We will cover some games from the rest of Europe that we teased ahead of last weekend, and then we'll wrap up the show with a couple games to watch, and then are our thoughts on the new United States men's national team HBO documentary, which we've both been tuning into.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot to get to.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start with the Premier League.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: We can't start anywhere else.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Tottenham have avoided relegation.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: 17th, I don't know how, but we wanted M Bell Bow.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, Tottenham staying up means that West Ham have gone down.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: So one London club survives and another one faces a season in the championship.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: What were your thoughts taking this game in?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was uh it was very nerve-wracking.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, woke up Sunday morning and I felt like it that that day was gonna change the rest of my life.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it sounds dramatic, but but I really had no idea how the day would go.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then in seeing the game, you know, I I like I told you, I had no eyes on West Ham, wasn't paying attention to them.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, the commentators kept announcing when things would happen in West Ham, but I wasn't watching that game at all.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, to s to score a goal and go up one nil, and you're like, alright, like we're in a good spot.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, of course you get a little nervous when it's like West Ham goes up one zero, then two zero, and you know you have to hold on.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I I feel like the boys really came into play, and uh the performance was, you know, not not their best, but it they did what they had to do to stay up, and you know, we're we're here and we go again next year.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the performance was enough.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't spectacular, it wasn't fun to watch.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: The whole second half, butthole was clenched, awful football, just hoof it away, run after it for 45 straight minutes, really.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: But Everton weren't very good, they really didn't offer much in the way of attack, so they didn't really even get a sniff on goal.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: They forced Kinski into one really good save late in the game, which was nice to see.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it was just a miserable day, it was a miserable miserable experience.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was an awful last few months, and I'm so, so, so relieved is the word to put this to bed and never go through something like this again.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: It took all my joy.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I I I find joy in very few things in this life.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's not a lot that I go through.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And these Tottenham Hotspur are my number one outlet, that's what I care about the most.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it was an absolute chore to watch them this season and throughout much of last season.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: But the silver lining last year was about a year ago this past week, we played for a European title and we won that.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the thought was the club would kick on from there and take that next step and contend for Premier Leagues and contend for Europe each season.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And we went backwards in a way that only Spurs could.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: The whole season, filled with injuries, filled with terrible management from the top all the way to the bottom.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Poor performances from some players, which I've grown to dislike, which I hate saying, but there's not a ton of Spurs players in that squad that I'm looking to and loving nowadays, which is tough, but all of that goes out the window.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: We survived West Hammer down.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: It feels so nice to just breathe freely without the fear of relegation in the back of your head.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: As you mentioned, the game just just had to get through it.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: The West Ham score, I was right about one thing.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: I predicted West Ham would win.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: I was pretty confident they would.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: You were right about Tottenham winning, which thank God, because I was so happy to be wrong.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'll toss my hand up every day.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was a cover.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't, I couldn't be wrong on here and have my team get relegated.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: So thank God that that's over with.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about West Ham quickly.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Where do they go from here?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's tough for one of the bigger clubs in the league to go down.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: West Ham won a European trophy a few years ago.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now it was the Conference League, which is undoubtedly Mickey Mouse.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: But West Ham weren't a small club and they haven't been down in 15 years.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately for them, they have now the two highest point totals that have led to relegated seasons.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: So tough on the Hammers, tough for Mr.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: James Corden, and tough for my girl Olivia Dean.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I hate to say I'm laughing at you when you're at your lowest.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: I I will say, Sean, I looked at this graph uh that showed the you know team standings throughout the season, and as teams go up and down it moves.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And West Ham was were in 18th for I would say 30 out of the 38 weeks.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you're you know, unfortunately, I don't know if they're surprised.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they were down there the whole season.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, to to I think in our in our situation as Spurs fans, it was much more of a roller coaster.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think we were, you know, in the top three, top four early in the season.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: We looked great, you know, the the boys were flying, and then of course injuries and everything happens and the team kind of falls apart.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: You lose the manager, you lose the second manager.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, West Ham never really got the got the wheels turning.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: So unfortunately, you know, somebody has to go down, and you know, I'm glad it's not us.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: But uh a club like West Ham, uh, you know, if you can keep somehow a few of your solid players, you know, out of mix of maybe some academy guys, some younger guys that are on other teams, I could see them coming back up fairly quickly.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: You don't, you know, of course you have to worry about that slippery slope uh that Sunderland ran into not too long ago, where they went down, I think, two twice.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: And now, you know, Sunderland's back up and they're they're gonna be playing European football next year.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, it happens.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I I think a club of West Ham size and prestige, they'll they'll figure it out fairly quickly.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a two-year stint in the championship, but I can't see them dropping or or staying in the championship for too long.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're you're right, it does happen to clubs, but it doesn't happen to us.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: We are Premier League, so let's just I want the listeners to know put word out, we're back up.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: We we survived, we survived the drop, and now there's no stopping us.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you're now you're gonna get the other version of Tottenham fans, which is the insufferable one.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So be prepared for that all summer.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: But you are right in saying I think West Ham probably would have bounced back rather quickly.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: They they might not be able to keep their entire squad, and the likes of Jared Bowen and Crescencio Somerville will be highly sought after by other clubs in Europe, but I think they'll have enough to bounce back and, for lack of better words, run the championship.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's just brutal for those fans because they're they're all they're also in the same boat where they're they hate their ownership currently, and oftentimes that's where you point to when you can't really blame the players who gave their all and you can't really blame the manager.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's a much bigger problem than just those two things.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: So West Ham have a lot of work to do.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: They are down joining Wolves and Burnley in the championship next season.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Coming up, we had the playoff final on Saturday at Wembley, Spygate, but whole city were the story.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Whole city are coming up to join the Premier League ranks.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm excited about this one.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was a thrilling final, and when I say thrilling final, it was a thrilling last five minutes.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: The game was borderline unwatchable until those five minutes when Ollie McBurney scored the winner in the 87th minute, I believe.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So late, late theatrics, but really a sight for sore eyes that game.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think about Hull joining the Premier League?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you have to feel a little bit badly for Middlesbrough.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: They got their hopes up by getting placed in the playoffs a few days before, and then they got their hearts ripped out.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think you know, Hull is a deserved team.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: I believe they last time they were up was 2017.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, the crop of Premier League fans probably do remember them being up, so it's not like they're this brand new team coming out for the first time.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as far as Middlesbrough, it's that's a it's a tough, it's a tough beat.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you know, dealing with the spying situation.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of glad, you know, we've talked about this on this pod, that the FA did come in and allow them to play in that final.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but of course, you know, now you're playing on with three days to prepare, and yeah, you had guys who didn't even expect to to be in this game.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so to have that is is a little rough, but you know, uh unfortunately, you know, with the way that the wage structures are and these budgets for these bigger teams, you know, it's gonna be a challenge for for Coventry, Ipswich, and Hull to stay up.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've seen it where the three teams that have come up have gone down the next season.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's gonna take a lot of investment, probably a little bit of luck, but you know, like you saw with with Tottenham, you know, you just have to be not one of the three worst teams, and you get to stay up.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I I I could see I could see one of these teams staying up, but I wouldn't be surprised if two of the three go back down to the championship following next season.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we were kind of lucky, and it might have it was almost at Tottenham's expense, but we were lucky to see two of the teams that were promoted this season survive because each of the last two years we saw three up, three down.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a pitcher retiring the side.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: So happy, happy that we actually have some diversity, some different teams staying up in the top flight.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I I would agree with you early, obviously, to predict this, but I would be happy with one of those three that are coming up to stay up next season.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think, like you said, Hole slightly more deserving.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Middlesbrough had kind of lost their chance to play in this game anyway, so it would have felt a little bit unjust if they were to get in ahead of Hole.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But it certainly shouldn't have been Southampton.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I do agree the FA did the right thing.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: A tough weekend for our guy Aidan Morris.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: The boy played a hell of a game, I would say, in the middle of the park.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: He completed the most passes, he was pretty tidy on the ball, but he loses in the most heartbreaking game in English football, in my opinion, because it's either the thrill of the Premier League or the agony of another season in the championship.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then he gets left off the World Cup squad, which we'll dive into later.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: But what are your thoughts on our guy Aiden?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it that's tough.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's he he goes to Middlesbrough and gets a chance coming from the MLS, and he he's definitely been one of their best players all season long.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I like we've talked about, I would have thought he was gonna make the the uh USA roster, and for him not to do that is tough.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, obviously to lose that one-game playoff against Hall, even rougher, but you know, he's still young.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I I don't I don't want to just point to the future and say, hey, you know, he'll make the next team, but um, you know, he's young enough where he he will have a chance in 2030 to to prove himself, but it's gotta sting.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's gotta really sting for him and you feel for a guy like that because he he he's one of those guys where you love to have him in the midfield.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: He'll do whatever it takes, he'll make every tackle, he'll make the right pass.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's not it's not always flashy, it's not always you know stat stuffers, but he does what it takes to be successful and to help his team win.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, to to lose like that in the in the manner they did, and then to then not make the World Cup team either.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you definitely feel for our guy eating.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really sad.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: I will say I couldn't agree more that he he does some good things in midfield and he certainly does some better things than two of the clowns that we packed with us for this trip.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll get into that in just a bit.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: The relegation fight was where our attention was this weekend for obvious reasons, but this was an interesting final day of the Premier League for a variety of reasons.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: We had a thrilling European race that came down to the final few minutes.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: You alluded to it earlier.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest storyline is that Sunderland, in their first year back up in the Prem, have qualified for not only European football, but for the Europa League, which is a competition they will feel they have every chance to go on and win.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is thrilling stuff.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: In the Champions League, we obviously had Arsenal, we had Manchester City, Man United, Aston Villa, and the fifth spot goes to Liverpool.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: The Europa League was Sunderland and Bournemouth, and then the Europa Conference League will be Brighton playing European football.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got some new clubs entering the mix of European football, which is awesome to see.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: The likes of Bournemouth, Sunderland, and Brighton getting a chance to play in Europe.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Huge for those clubs, huge financially for them, huge for their fans to have some away days on the continent.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's thrilling stuff, and I love to see it.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: It also came at Chelsea's expense on the final day, which was great.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, all in all, it really turned out to be a pretty great last final day of the Premier League season.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I agree with you.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, that that taste of Europa League or Conference League is a great preparation, you know, for ideally teams to make the Champions League in the future.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you got you're going to these countries on a Tuesday where, you know, it's in the very most remote parts of Europe, and you know, you have five, ten thousand fans screaming against you, and the ultras are waiting for your for your bus to pull up.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's a lot different than a Premier League, you know, Saturday morning.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it it'll be a good experience for these teams.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um you reference Sunderland, I think it's great for them because now they have a chance to really prove themselves.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, you know, I I think all three teams are gonna have to improve their squads, uh, you know, like you've seen with even the bigger teams.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: You you need rotation, you need players that can play that don't necessarily get minutes on the weekend to then play in the Champions League, or vice versa.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to get a bit bigger squad that has depth, and then obviously staying healthy is important too.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it'll it'll be good to see those new teams getting a taste of this European European football.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and for us, you know, it's probably good.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: We'll take a break for a year, you know, just focus on focus on the Premier League, get healthy, and and hopefully, you know, we can be in this conversation next season.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think you made the point I was going to bring up, and I want to hammer it home.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: The big takeaway for me is while it is super exciting for these clubs to be entering the mix in Europe, couldn't be happier for Sunderland to, in the face of my good friend Joe Zweibel, a big Newcastle fan.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: He hates Sunderland and their arch rivals, and just seeing Sunderland be a much, much better run football club than Newcastle throughout the whole course of the season, that was great.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm excited for them.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: I will just caution them that it's a bit scary when you go into Europe without the squad that you need.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: As you mentioned, you really need to add depth, you need to add rotation options because it can sneak up on you quick where playing two times a week, you're simply not going to be at your best on the weekend.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: And there are a bunch of clubs and pretty big clubs, mind you, that finish between 9th and 17th that are going to be well rested and pressing with a lot more energy than you'll have on the weekend.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it could get away from you in the league season pretty quickly when you go into Europe, especially for the first time.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, squads like Man City and Arsenal, they have built out over the course of years where they're they're able to sustain different sorts of environments, different sorts of travel.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: They're deep enough to do that.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: I just think some of these squads that we just mentioned won't be, and they don't necessarily have the resources to go out and spend and buy two at every position.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I would be just a little bit worried about that, but I'm sure the fans will take a season of maybe a little bit of a dip in league form to enjoy Europe.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I was gonna pose that question to you, Sean.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're a fan of one of these teams, Sunderland, Bornman, Brighton, you know, uh what are you looking forward to next season?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Is it obviously the the chances play in Europe, but are you looking for a great European finish, or are you looking to, you know, do better in the Premier League where you can go back to Europe again uh the following season?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's I feel like it's an interesting debate.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And being a fan of a team that's smaller like this, um, you probably don't have, like you said, the squad size to really maintain quality in both in both con uh tournaments in both leagues.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, just wondering how you would feel if you were a fan of one of these teams.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would prioritize European glory because I wouldn't, it's interesting, it's almost the exact dilemma Tottenham faced last season, where they were making a deep Europa League run, but it was coming at the expense of very poor performance in the Premier League.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now they finished 17th, they were really never in the relegation fight.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think they finished 15 or 13 points clear.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So they were never really down in the mix like they were this year, but it's that exact hypothetical that played out.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I would prioritize Europe.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: I would sacrifice some, I would say five or six league positions in order to make a deep run in Europe, because to be frank with you, Brighton, Bournemouth, and Sunderland aren't going to win the Premier League.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And while investors and owners might think it's more prudent to finish as high up as they can in the league and get European football for the next season, get that check that comes associated with finishing in the top five or six, that might make more sense financially.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think the fans, the game's about glory, and I think making a deep run in the Europa League, especially, which I think all of these clubs would be capable of doing, I think that would be a lot more rewarding than it would be to finish, say, seventh again.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's where my answer would be.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: And say you finish 14th, but you make a Europa League final, that's well worth it for me.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can win that final and get into the Champions League anyway.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: You can go again the next season and qualify, playing one game a week for those European competitions.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how I would go about it.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think probably some of the same.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you you make a very good point.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it it's we talk about Leicester City winning the Premier League.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: That probably will never happen again.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: A team of that size and wage structure and and organization winning a Premier League title is just not really something you'll see.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you're right, like Sunderland, Bournemouth, and Brighton without some massive, massive you know, injection of cash or or resources are kind of in that same boat.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: So you're right.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's like why not go at Europe as as as tough as tough as you can and and hope for hope to get a trophy out there rather than the Premier League.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: And and maybe you do sacrifice some Premier League spots, but you know, like we said, as long as you finish in 17th, yeah, you get to go again.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think I think I would I would agree with you.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um that that European glory does sound pretty nice.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it just boils down to the chance to win something, also.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas I think every fan would choose a tangible trophy as opposed to a sixth or fifth place finish that turns out to be a record finish for one of these clubs.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: So both things are good and provide value.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And again, the owners might say differently because the financial security that comes with a high finish in the Premier League might be more enticing to them for me, and I think for most fans, I think they would err on the side of let's go for it all and try to bring something home.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be interesting to monitor as we prepare for next season.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: A new era is upon us really in the Premier League.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we have the World Cup to get to, but just moving off of the Premier League, some legends are leaving, their clubs, some managers are leaving, and there's gonna be a lot of shuffling in that department.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked about Pep already, and that's obviously the biggest one.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's the most important storyline.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: What do Man City look like going forward?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about Moresca.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: A changing of the guard also happened at Liverpool.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like Arna Slott's gonna be able to keep his job, but most Salah has played his last game there.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Andy Robertson's on his way out.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Seamus Coleman was at Everton for 17 years, he's on his way out.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the final day also provided some very nice farewells.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: What did you think about some of those departures?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And is the Premier League gonna look a little bit different next year now that Klopp's been gone, Pep's gone?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: We've certainly got some new blood entering the fray.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think from a managerial perspective, it will look different.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have that big, those big names anymore.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of those guys have kind of moved on, and you know, kind of our generation growing up, it was like Sir Alex Ferguson, it was, you know, Arson Wenger at Arsenal.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like these names are are guys that you just expected to be there every year.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And now seeing that change is is interesting.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: I also think that can be we can talk on a much larger scale about uh you know manager the leashes that these managers have, because I feel like no one has a chance to get in and do their thing.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: They they they want winning instantly, so these managers just don't have a chance uh really to stay that long.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: So that that frustrates me a little bit.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: But as far as players go, you know, with the Saudi league, some question marks around that league and the investment of the Saudis, I do think the quality will still be there on the field.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, of course you're gonna see some guys go to the the top teams in France or Germany or or Spain, but but the quality will still be there in the Premier League.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Mo Sala, I feel like, you know, maybe we haven't talked about him a lot.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't heard a lot about him in the media, but that that I mean him leaving Liverpool is huge.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I don't know where he's going.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: I've heard MLS, I've heard some other things, but you know, you you're gonna miss guys like him in the Premier League.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, uh, you know, I'm not a Liverpool fan by any means, but you kind of need some of those staples to just hey, when you have you know, you're having the casual conversation with somebody who maybe doesn't follow soccer as much, and you're like, oh, Liverpool, and they're like, oh, most solid.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're those conversations are now becoming a little bit harder because these players are changing teams so often, these coaches.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are changing teams so often there's not that consistent figure at these clubs.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, it'll it'll be interesting to see what happens in the Premier League.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think the quality, like I said, will still be there, but um, it'll be cool to see this new generation of stars kind of emerge and sort of cement themselves uh in the Premier League history books.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think that was well said.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: We'll jump back to Europe to round out the show, but we we've waited long enough to dive into the We gotta do it.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we gotta do it.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is the reported US MNT roster.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: It is it's pretty been pretty much confirmed at this point, I would say.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tom Bogart, Paul Tenorio, they're some of the best in the business.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: They've gone and signed off on this one.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I think we're safe to talk about it.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read the roster quickly and then we'll we'll do our deep dive.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: But for listeners who have not seen it yet, our goalkeepers are Chris Brady, Matt Freeze, and Matt Turner.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Our defenders are Max Arfston, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Tim Reim, Chris Richards, Anthony Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scalley, and Austin Trusty in the midfield, four brave souls.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Tyler Adams, Bastion Burrhalter, Weston McKenny, and Christian Roldan.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Attacking midfielders and wingers, we have Brendan Aronson, Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Arena, Malik Tillman, Tim Weya, and Alejandra Zendejas.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then at Striker, we have brought Falor and Balogan, Haji Wright, and Ricardo Pepe.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, Brandon, first of all, let's start with, I guess, our predictions.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: We both we both went through and predicted what we thought Pachetino would do.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: I believe by your count, we had 23 of 26 correct.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: That yep, that looks correct.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, not too bad.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: Where where did we miss?
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: What were some of our misses?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: We got the goalkeepers right, we nailed that.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Pachetina decided to bring 10 defenders, which neither of us really had in our cards.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: He brought Joe Scaly, which we didn't see coming.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: He brought Miles Robinson, which we mentioned could happen, but neither thought would happen.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I guess we got something wrong there.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: No Noakai Banks in that pool.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that in a minute.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: In the midfield is where we both we really whiffed.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: We thought Adam Morris was definitely in the mix.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: We thought Tanner Tessman was a certainty.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: I went on this very platform.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have to issue a hand up.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: I called Diego Luna a lock.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon, you were right.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: You said, I don't know.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, lock, throw away the key.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Wrong, wrong.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: I was wrong.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we got some stuff wrong for sure, but I guess so.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: We have some structure to this, Brandon.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't we just ask what was your general reaction to the roster?
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Did it instill confidence in you seeing this list of 26 names before we get to some of those player-specific issues we have?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, not talking specifically.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: I would say generally, you know, you and I we went through it and we weren't off by much.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we had, I guess, 23 out of 26, and while the misses we had, I guess, kind of look bad now.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if any of them are big uh difference makers in the team.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we talked about having a 26-man roster and it's a lot of players, and there's only 11 on the field at one time.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, you know, I'm not too too worried about that.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, does it instill confidence?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Not not really, Sean.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'll be honest.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's very defensive, but we also you know, only have four midfielders and uh two.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: We have we have two, and then two we have two guys who can play soccer.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so and we'll get into the guys specifically, but I I think the biggest question mark is this that holding midfield role, like who's gonna play it and what happens if Tyler Adams or Weston McKinney get get hurt because you're you're very thin in that in that space.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we'll get into names specifically, but that's kind of my general census.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: What what did you think about the uh the release?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: I th my first takeaway was whoa, whoa.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was just a little bit different than what I was expecting.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: So that was my first word I wrote down, whoa.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Next, similar to you, I wrote down if Tyler's hurt, cancel Christmas.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just just cancel Christmas, Tyler gets hurt.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that that was my just seeing the four next to the midfielders, I was I was blown away by that.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last thing that stood out to me, just thinking about it for a couple seconds, bringing 10 defenders think it screams to me that Pachatino has decided he's going to predominantly play a back three slash back five.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something I thought he might do a little bit of, but by the roster configuration, it seems like he's planning to do that more than I was expecting.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that is the big thing, and it's certainly going to change how we preview our starting 11s, what we think of our formation and shape, it's gonna change from what I guess we expected and when we predicted the roster.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think both of us thought that the back three was an option, but I think we were predicting as if the back four would be our primary mode of attack.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you agree with that?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: The the back three, back five situation is interesting and definitely, like you said, the based on the roster makeup, it looks like that will be our primary, uh primary shape.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start at the back.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: We'll go position group by position group and kind of highlight what we like about that and what we don't, and then afterwards we're going to rank all the position groups in the team from our most confident to least confident, which will be a fun exercise.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll start at the back.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: The keepers, it was what we expected.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was bang on, it was Matt Freeze, Matt Turner, and Chris Brady.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think about that?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Anything of note here?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, I think that's the right decision.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have Turner and Freeze who will both compete to kind of be that number one guy.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then you have Chris Brady who's looking at the more towards the future, I would say.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Probably will not play, but it's good to have a guy like that get some World Cup experience under his belt.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: So unlike your you know, two-goalie theory, this is the traditional way to do it, and I believe it's the correct way to do it.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you said yourself probably won't play.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds a lot like luggage to me.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I the only thing I would say, this is what we expected Poch to do, and I think it makes sense.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get me wrong.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing I would ask, and maybe it's me playing Devil's Advocate, is there something to be said about having Matt Freeze or Matt Turner looking over their shoulder?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: If one of them gets named the starter, is there a little something to they're both pretty equal in not only our eyes, but in Pochettino's eyes?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: It seems to be pretty close, at least.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think he prefers Freeze, as I do, but it's at least arguable.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there could be a case made that it's a little bit risky to bring in a direct competitor and not have a full standalone shot stopper number one where we've had in the past.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess that would, if I was playing Devil's Advocate, that would be the concern.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: I hear you, but I I think the way goalies are, especially when it comes to the national team, whoever's the starter, the other guy will get behind him and and support.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think club soccer, you probably run into that a little bit more, but I think these guys understand the the task at hand, and if anything, it's gonna push each push each of them are gonna push each other to get better.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I hear you, but I don't think that's gonna be a worry.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And and while I think we both expected this, I wouldn't say it's a standout group.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get into exactly where we rank it, but it's not like any of these guys are inspiring too much confidence in me.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think Matt Freeze is very good, and I hate Matt Turner.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: So we're off to a bad start with those two, but let's move on to the defense.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about center backs first, and I guess it's gonna get tricky in how we categorize these players, but the guys who are nailed on center backs are Chris Richards, Tim Reem, Mark McKenzie, Austin Trusty, Miles Robinson.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think we could see guys like Alex Freeman and Joe Scalley also play center back, and I would argue Joe Scaly might be brought as a right-sided center back in a back three to begin with.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really see him as a right wing back.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: He could play right back in a back four, but he's not attack-minded enough, in my opinion, to really play as a wing back.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do we feel about the center backs?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess the big shock to us was Miles Robinson on the team.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: I I was texting you over the weekend.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think we have to have a debate on this on this channel here between Miles Robinson and my guy Walker Zimmerman.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: But give me your thoughts on the center backs first before you hate on my guy Walker.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh no, I think the center backs are are fine.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think Chris Richards is a very bright spot and playing Premier League football, and he he's definitely a threat in the air set pieces, so he's gonna help us out from that point.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I know there is a potential injury with him as well, so we'll have to monitor that.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: As far as the others go, I mean Tim Reim, he's played at a World Cup before with us, so you kind of know what you're gonna get with him.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Austin Trusty and Mark McKenzie are a little bit unproven, I think, at this level.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: They've played with the national team, but I don't believe they've played at a World Cup.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then Miles Robinson, you know, I know that's not your guy, but useless.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think he's a good enough ball winner.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's he's he's quick enough, he's good enough in the air.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: He he deserves a spot on this team.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think I don't know if he starts, you know, all of our games, but I I think there's a spot for him on this team.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I just disagree with you on this one.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: We just have different opinions on that.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's fine.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad I'm glad we have some disagreement.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want this to be an echo chamber.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he has a place on this team, especially when you add in the fact I know this is another guy you hate because he hasn't committed to the United States, but my guy, Noakai Banks.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: He still's got US7T in his bio, if that means anything to you guys out there.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: He has to get his Instagram bio, US7T, and Potch said, no, you're not coming anywhere.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's tough.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: I would have just rather brought him.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think Miles Robinson has a use on a 26-man World Cup roster, I would say.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think anything that he's going to give you, we can find in other areas.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I even brought up the point half in jest, but I said, hey, I think I might even prefer Walker Zimmerman.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you this, Walker Zimmerman, you could toss on at the end of the game.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna whack that ball away with his head.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Step peace, he that ball will find his head and he'll head it away.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's more of a use, in my opinion, than Miles Robinson brings.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: But overall, I would say I feel decent about the center backs if Chris Richards is healthy and firing.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that might be the biggest if of the tournament, aside from the type the health of Tyler Adams.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the those are the two groups where we just can't afford to lose either of those guys.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Chris is dealing with an ankle sprain of some sorts.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: In England, they call everything a tear.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: They say he tore ligaments in his ankle.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's a sprain.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a severe sprain, maybe, but he should be good to go for the World Cup.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: But we'll get to where we rank the center back pool.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the most inspiring, it's not the least, I would say.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a little bit worried about how Tim Reim holds up too.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's aging like milk these last few months.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's not been good.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: We needed him to just last a couple months longer, it seems like.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: But we'll we'll get into that in a bit.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: Fullbacks on the right side, we have Serginho Desk and Alex Freeman, potentially Joe Scaly.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: And on the left side, we have Jedi Robinson and Max Arfston.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is our deepest, strongest position, in my opinion.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: We also have Tim We could come back and play a right wing back role.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think we've got loads of options at wing back, and I feel really good about them.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that's nice.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I it's funny, we'll get into the rankings later, but when we when I was sitting to rank these, that was the first thing I wrote down.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, they're a lock at the number one.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: It feels good.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: It feels good to win one.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, hey, we got guys here.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: It does.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: And you, you know, you get the experience of Dest and Robinson who played at the last World Cup.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: So you have guys who have done it at the highest level.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Freeman is an emerging star.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm a big Freeman guy.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, Arson rep in the MLS.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: I I really like Max Arson.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I don't know if he plays over Anthony Robinson, but I love I love the way he plays.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: So so having that in our in our arsenal is great.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, Joe Scalley, I guess we can kind of put between both groups, but you know, that's fine.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like we said, we have 26 spots.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: I guess Joe Scalley gets one.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, this is without a doubt the the position group that I'm most confident about.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm right there with you.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I was a Max Arston hater at first.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: I thought he couldn't defend at all, but I think he's made strides in that area.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's certainly gotten better, which glad to see.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, credit where it's due.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and he's showing a little bit of something in his hack.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: I saw a nice goal from him over the weekend, cutting back in off the left side, right foot, tucking away neatly.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: That'll boy Max.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: We like that.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I think we feel pretty good about the full back position, the wing back position.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: We now we get to the part of the roster where I do have a bone to pick, too.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: We we said maybe none of these decisions could impact the overall success of the team of the tournament.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think the one that could is leaving out Tanner Tasman.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: So the midfield, we mentioned it's McKenney, it's Adams, it's Roldon, and it is Mr.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sebastian Bearhalter.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I can't stand the last two as football players.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: It seems by all accounts Christian Roldon's a lovely guy who's a good locker room guy.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Cargo Christian, I've called him.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, if you want to bring him, fine.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: You could do with one piece of furniture, equipment, whatever.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can't bring two as part of your only four midfield options.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think about this group, Brandon?
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I think okay, I think t leaving Testman at home is and if and if we don't have a plan and and in place that's gonna, you know, hide us in this area, we're we're we're not making it past the group stage.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, that sounds drastic, but you're right.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like with this group, I don't know how we are successful if Weston and Tyler don't play 90 minutes every single game.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, can they?
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: But we know how aggressive they both like to play.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna pick up yellow cards.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, it's the international tournaments with the uh international yellow card rules and things, so it there is a very good chance they're gonna have to miss some time.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I don't know if Christian and Sebastian are the guys.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I know.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know, they're not.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think you do too.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think you're just being nice.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: They're not.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm trying to uh trying to stay optimistic here.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, Sebastian Berhalter can hit a set piece, like he can do some good things, but in this team, I don't know if you need him to be hitting set pieces.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: They have plenty of other guys who can do that.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's it's a big, big question mark, and like we talked about we'll get to the rankings later, but as you can tell, I'm extremely, extremely nervous about this position group.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I brought up the point last episode too about how Bearhalter could hit a set piece.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, we have to have the ball in attacking positions to win a set piece, and and also it's not like he is Di Maria on set pieces or or or messy.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's not some Argentinian, like absolute wonder kid.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: He he's he's he's a bum, relatively speaking.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he's he's a bum that we decided to bring to the World Cup.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if 3G's still pulling strings.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what happened with Potch here.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: He lost his mind for a minute and he blacked out when picking this midfield.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing, not only do we need Weston and Tyler to play 90 minutes every match, Tyler has been the only one that has played in this deep lying role for Potch.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: West has not done that.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: Sebastian Berahalter's done it not well, and Christian Roldan does it sparingly, but Christian is kind of uh nice to have, like you toss him on, you don't trust him to play 90 minutes at a high level.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: Weston has not played in this deep lying role for Pochettino.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's played on the right side in that sort of right wing back role.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's played as the number 10, but he's not played next to Tyler Adams in a pivot.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's concerning that we haven't seen that yet.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we'll see it in the friendlies leading up to the World Cup.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: But boy oh boy, did it just seem like a baffling decision to not bring one of Tanner Tessman or Aidan Morris, who can at least do the role that Tyler Adams does to a worse level, but we know what we're gonna get with them.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we just don't know what we're gonna get with Roldon and Bearhalter.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if we can predict something, it's not at the level that we need.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously that's a bit of a concern, bit worrisome, but we we we move on, we move further up the pitch.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: What did you think about the attacking midfielders and wingers crew?
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think it's a good it's a good group.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Polisic and Raina and Weya all have experience.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: They've been here before, they've done it.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron, you know, I I think we we both have talked about this before.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like he he doesn't have quite that finishing quality in the final third.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: He'll, you know, he'll he'll do the runs, he'll give you the he'll do the dirty work, but that final pass or that final finish isn't quite there yet.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think he's developing, but you know, that that takes time.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then I guess Tillman, Tillman maybe could play a little bit deeper if you had to move somebody out of this group into the other group.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh another good player.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think he fits in with this group, and then Zendehaus, who I, you know, praised on this podcast last time, put him in my team, just saying he's he's in great form.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: He'll compete for minutes, I think.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if he's starting, you know, on day one or anything like that, but I think he can compete, and I think he can give you a little something off the bench that maybe some guys can't.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, there's drama with you know him and not Diego Luna, probably pretty similar players.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, we can we can debate that, but this group is I'm I'm pretty confident about this group.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think this group can produce, and and I think it's definitely, in my opinion, one of our better, our better position groups in this team.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm with you on that.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: And in large part of that, it's due to the trust I have in Christian Pulisic and just the level that he brings to the table.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned Brendan Aronson.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: Brennan's a nice guy to have on the team.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: Do I trust him to really put a chance away?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: But he's kind of like one of those wind-up toys where you wind up and then they just go in any direction quickly and then they run out of steam.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: Brennan's perfect for just like, hey, last 30 minutes of match, he's gonna run around frenetically.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: Some some good might he could press the ball, he could win a ball high up the pitch.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: He might give it right away, but at least he's gonna do something out there, which I I kind of like.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't feel bad about him.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad we brought your guys and Dehas.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: That was a good shout by you.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: You wanted him, and I wanted him on my team as well.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: I just it was kind of a combination of I didn't think he would make it, and I I wanted to go for the gozo shout.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: But thrilled, thrilled that we got some De Has in the mix.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think what we've seen from him at club level has been much better than what we've seen from him in the US shirt, but who's to say that can't come at a tournament like this?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody hasn't proven anything at the international level until they do.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's a good candidate to do something, which is nice.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: Malik Tillman, you mentioned, can drop a bit deeper.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I would do in instances where maybe McKenny or Adams have to leave the pitch.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: I would drop Malik deeper.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen Pachatino do that very sparingly.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think he might have played 20 minutes in a match as a deep lying midfielder, but at least he he has that in his locker.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: I feel decent about this group.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: It it might not be our best on the roster, but it's certainly not the worst.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's a nice place to be.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then we move forward to our front line, our strikers.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's Haji Wright, it is Ricardo Pepe, and then it is the likely starter.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: It is Mr.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: Fulor and Balogun.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think about these guys?
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not thrilled, but I also we we both knew that these would be the guys.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's one of those things where it's like we're just picking from who we have and it's gonna be these guys.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we we mentioned a gozo or a Julian Hall, um, which don't really exactly fit into this category, but I guess more of like the tens, but you know, when when coming down to true forwards, these are the guys that we were gonna have.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we we knew what we're getting into.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Balogin has been good, I think, overall.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Ricardo Pepe, you kind of know what you're gonna get from him.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_01: He'll he'll get a dirty goal, a scrappy goal.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if he's you know hitting a hitting a 25-yard strike.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then Haji Wright, I mean, he'll run in the channels, he'll he'll finish, he'll he he's probably the one I think has a has a very high, you know, he has a high ceiling, and I think he could have a really good World Cup because I think if he stays in the form he played in this season at Coventry, he can do some special things.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_01: But overall, you know, going back to that earlier question about being inspired, I don't think this position group inspires me.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I also knew what I was getting into with his position group.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_01: There were no surprises here.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that I'm pretty much in the same boat as you.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: I like Florin Balogun a lot.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think he has a chance to take another step.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: He's but he's had a good good season at Monaco in France.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think he has a chance to take another step for the US, and I would love to see that.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think he has that potential, which is nice.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: Ricardo Pepe, a nice player.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like you said, he'll he'll do what he's supposed to do.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: He'll do a job, he'll be scrappy in the box, he could tuck away chances in a pretty convincing fashion sometimes.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: He he lacks a little bit of the all-around game for me at times, where you kind of want a little bit more in some instances, but I'm not sure he could give that to you.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then Haji Wright is a bit different from both of them, where he, like you said, he can run into the channel, he could play on that left hand side if he if need be, and you can move Pulisick more to a central position.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: Haji provides he provides goals at a club level pretty consistently.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: He's been good in a lot of US games too.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: He scored a great goal in the last World Cup.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think also the fact that Haji's been a part of that crew, the Adams McKenney Pulisick.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: He's boys with those guys.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's a good locker room guy.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to complain about this group too much.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: The word inspire, you're right.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm not.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to tell my kids about this strike force.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's no, there's no landing.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_01: There's no Clint Epstein.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh in that group.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: We yeah, we're just missing that.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what's different about this team a little bit is that we used to have that talisman striker, and we used to have a goalkeeper, where it was pretty nailed on that the spine of the team would start and end with two stars.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: We just don't have that right now.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess let's kick off the discussion what position groups we feel best about and which ones we feel worst about.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked about it.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: I guess we could just go ahead and put in with a bullet where we're feel great about the fullback, wing back crew, correct?
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's my number one for sure.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm right there with you.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: What's the next group you feel good about?
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_01: I put like the tens, the attacking midfielders, the Pulesa Terina, Tillman, Wea group, Zendehaas group.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: I I I would agree.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: And now if we were to separate it a little bit further between tens and wingers, do you want to I think I would I would put them both in that same, I would go tens, then wingers, right?
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's exactly exactly.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because like we talked about, there's just enough quality in there that I trust they'll figure it out and figure out how a good attack looks and be able to execute it.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen it consistently, but I'm just kind of putting some blind faith in the fact that we will.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we we've gone fullbacks, we've gone tens, we've gone wingers.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Where do we go next between center backs, strikers, and deep lying midfielders?
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think we go I think we go center backs next.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know and this is of course with an asterisk.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh if Chris Richards is truly healthy, if he's healthy, I think that's the next bet.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um having him and Tim Marie next to each other is is promising.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: They've done it before.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: We've seen it.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: That third center back, Mark McKenzie, whether it's Mark or Austin or Miles, you know, to be seen, but uh, or Joe Scaly, as we mentioned, too.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that's the next group I would go with, uh, just based on a little bit of experience and kind of knowing what we can get we get out of these guys.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm right with you, and I'll say that because I think playing three center backs actually elevates all of them.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a rising tide with fall ships, and I feel a whole lot better about Tim Reem in a back three than I do a back two.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: I feel he could be pretty easily attacked with with his lack of pace in some situations in a back two, and with this back three having either McKenzie or Richards alongside of him, I feel a lot better about that.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: And similarly with Mark McKenzie, I'm a big fan of Mark McKenzie.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: I would actually start him next to Richards if it was just a back four we were gonna play.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm not sure Potch has ever shown he would do that.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the back three would help him in some instances too.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: He can once in a while just get caught committing to something and getting turned, and just having a little bit of added protection back there, I think, helps all of them.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then Richards can just dominate aerially.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: So overall, I feel good about the unit.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: I just don't like the depth of it, which is why I would have brought Noah, Noakai Banks in just for the future of the position, because I'm very worried about the future of the position.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think we might be able to duct tape together for this World Cup.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, I think that's a good conversation to even have, Sean, is that that future conversation because you know, while it is important, the next World Cup isn't for four years.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_01: So you still have a lot of time to develop that next generation of player.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: However, I I do see your point though.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I do think bringing a young guy and having him see the see how it works at the World Cup level is important.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because in four, I mean, granted, in four years, you you definitely lose Ream, but you probably still have the rest of the group.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, probably not Miles in your in your mind, but better not be.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: You you better not be.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_01: You still have Richards, you know, Mackenzie and Trusty are mid-20s.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you still probably have the the core of that center back group, but but I do agree.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: There there could be some value in bringing a young guy.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that where I net out on it is like if we were gonna if you told me we were gonna bring 10 defenders and one of them wasn't Noah Kai Banks, I would be very upset.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of where I sit.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you're you're not wrong.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like right now, there's probably not a huge drop-off between Miles Robinson and Noah Kai Banks, and I doubt that either of them will play in this tournament.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if they do, it won't be a big role.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that we're arguing over spilled milk, essentially.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I guess we feel better about the center backs than the midfielders.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think we would both agree if we're gonna talk about just that double pivot of Tyler and Wes, we feel great.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: Those two out there, we feel fantastic.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably our strongest position.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's just you can't play a whole tournament with just two of those guys, and that and the drop-off is so severe to that next person that it unfortunately brings this group down to a place we can't really trust.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, I actually had them as dead last.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: So you had the goalies in that, yeah.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I just had the goalies and then the the the number nines and then the the holding midfielders.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I would I have those flipped, but I'm gonna go holding midfielders and just pray that we stay healthy.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_00: Then I'll go nines and then I'll go goalkeepers.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just I'm not a huge I guess it's because of the guys we've been blessed with, the Tim Howards, the Friedels, the the guys that are just legends for the US.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that we don't have one of those and we're not 100% sure who our number one is, and the fact that I don't like Matt Turner, but that whole group just scares me a little bit.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_00: And also they're the one group that they can toss one in their own net.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas a striker having a bad performance might not kill you.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: You might be able to get a goal goal from Pulisic or Weya.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: A goalie having a bad performance could kill you.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's where I have them last, which is weird to say for a US national team.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: But again, I I don't mind our strike force.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: I have them rank second weakest position.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's just that word again, inspire.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not so sure that left to their own devices, they're gonna be able to get us out of a mess.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: And ideally, you would really like one of those guys to be able to do that.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, your your point about the goalies is is more than fair.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think the last four years we've gone all over the place.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we had Zach Stefan in the mix for a bit, you know, Gaga Soninha is supposed to be the guy.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, uh Clinsman's son is supposed to be the guy for a bit.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we you know, we've gone all over the place with goalkeepers.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's definitely a finicky position.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, in a country like the US where goalkeeping has always been the staple, it's always been kind of that once that one, you know, spot on the team sheet where you were like, hey, we're good here.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_01: To not have that is is a little frightening.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, it's it's a very precarious position, and you know, a goalie messes up and it's a goal, you know, versus Peppy slips and he misses a tap-in, fine.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, Matt Turner or Freeze or Brady could literally score for the other team.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a very it's a very tough spot to be in.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I obviously wish them the best, but yeah, they're gonna have to have some standout performances.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and you never know, like from a shot stopping standpoint, I guess I do feel better about this crew than I do from a playing out from the back perspective.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not too sure how many teams we're gonna face, definitely in the group stage, that are gonna be pressing the goalkeeper often.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think we'll be able to get by without having to deal with too much trouble there.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's just kind of that next stage of game where you're gonna run into some powerhouses and you're gonna be under the cosh a little bit, and that's where they need to flex their shot stopping ability.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's where they need to pass pretty calmly with the ball at their feet.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see how all that breaks down, but hopefully the goalkeeping is not an issue.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of this is kind of like the Tottenham are gonna get relegated conversation.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of just putting it out there so it doesn't happen.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: Fair enough.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we I mean, look, all you can do is is get these guys right, train them and get them ready.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we gotta just see what happens when the when the ball gets kicked.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have a friendly, I believe, on Sunday against Senegal, which is the first time we really get to see this team.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: We might have another podcast for you later in the week, Brandon and I haven't discussed that yet, but we'll see if there's enough to talk about before we dive in.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's a pretty good place to leave the national team, Brandon.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have anything else?
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I think that's a good spot.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be interesting to see this weekend, like you said, Sunday at 3.30 Eastern.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_01: They play Senegal uh in Charlotte.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it'll be interesting to see that game and see what we go with.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, are we tinkering with formations or is it gonna be, hey, this is who our starter starting lineup's gonna be.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it'll be interesting to see what how Pock lines it lines the boys up.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_01: But uh yeah, I think more to come, obviously, as we get closer and closer to the real lights, lights coming on.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll we'll definitely dive into that game after it happens.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon, this weekend was the last weekend in the MLS before this long World Cup break.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_00: What happened?
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_00: Was there anything noteworthy?
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_00: What were some of the takeaways from the weekend at large?
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would say generally the teams that won the games were expected to win the games.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um the craziest game, I think, of the weekend was actually the Philly Miami game.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Philly played at Miami and lost six to four.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_01: But at halftime the score was four to four with the most goals ever in the first half of an MLS game with eight split between the two teams.
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: I watched that game, Sean.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was VAR review, potential red card, downpouring rain, two hat tricks, a hat-trick on each team.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was everything you could ever think about in a soccer game happened.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it was one of those games where I think it was actually broadcast on, you know, over-the-air television rather than just Apple.
• 54:01
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, people probably watch this game that don't typically watch soccer and they were like, what is this sport?
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because it was it was just scenes.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like it, there was no defense, there was nothing happening in the middle of the field.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, Sean.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: Did you did you happen to see this by chance?
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_00: I saw the first 60 minutes of this game, which was perfect because I saw the 4-4 first half, and you said it.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_00: There was literally no midfield on the pitch, either side.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: Teams just played right on through and had a chance in on goal each time down.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_00: Electric factory of of stuff going on.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_00: I I hate Dane St.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: Clair.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is a hot take of mine.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's pretty well known in the MLS as a good keeper.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_00: I every time I watch him, he's awful.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and in that game, he was once again not good.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: He gave away a penalty for a foul.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_00: He he's just all around the shop.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's always talking.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just not a fan of him.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_00: He was in Minnesota when I lived there, and I saw a couple games and I was just like, hey, not for me.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then I saw he signed with Inter Miami, and he's Messi's keeper now.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, whoa.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_00: That that that's all crazy.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, what a wild game.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and this one was on cable TV.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: So interesting if this was the first MLS game you've ever watched.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh boy, that was a treat.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that that all happened, and then on top of that, we didn't even talk about it.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_01: But Messi left the game early with a potential injury, kind of subbed himself out in the second half.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that'll be interesting to see in the coming weeks.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_01: But outside of that, yeah, pretty normal weekend.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Vancouver and San Jose both with pretty good wins on the road.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_01: Cincinnati put six goals in on Orlando.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_01: They've been firing, and uh just just broke earlier today.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_01: Phil Neville, coach of the Portland Timbers, was fired.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um they started the season pretty rough, four eight, four, eight, and two.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: They they've struggled to kind of come come to fruition, and unfortunately, uh Portland decided to let him go.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_01: Which, you know, I I think if you're gonna let a coach go, this is the time.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_01: We do have a seven-week break, so if whether they have an interim or they're gonna get somebody in, um, that gives them some time to kind of work with the team.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_01: But uh unfortunately that happened, and then the only other note I have, Sean, is uh the Union are actually in last place at MLS.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um unfortunately, they only have one win um and just seven points total.
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: There is still a lot to play for.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_01: We still have about 20 games left in the season, so we're about I think 40% through.
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_01: All the teams have played about 14 games, so yeah, it's it's it's been an interesting league so far.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm interested to see what happens though in the summertime with the World Cup and then the signings that happened from the World Cup.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now the whole world is watching these players.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, you might see a player break out and have a moment and get a big transfer to MLS.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_01: MLS teams have been known to kind of throw cash at big international names.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it'll be interesting to see who who signs some players, what happens in these next seven weeks.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, yeah, it's been a good, it's been it's been an interesting MLS season so far, and definitely we'll be uh you know keeping our eyes on it when we get back from the break.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's perfect.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you keeping me and the listeners abreast of what's going on.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's good stuff there in the MLS.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like you said, it could be a completely different league when we come back in seven weeks.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you never know how teams are gonna refine their footing after the long break or what kind of transfers will take place.
• 57:21
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be interesting to watch that all play out.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_00: In Europe, the season came to a close almost officially this week.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: We still have two pesky little games left, but we had some games that we talked about that were worth watching this weekend.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll quickly run through some of those.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: We had the Lans vs.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_00: Nice Coupe de France final.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, I said no one cares about the French league, but we promised to deliver the result of this one, so there it is.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I have to say to you.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_00: A 3-1 victory for Lons over Nice.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's all we need.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: Keep going.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's all we need.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_00: In Germany, we had Bayern Munich win the domestic double.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_00: They won the DFB Pokal.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_00: Harry Kane scored a hat trick in the final.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_00: My main takeaway was God, do I miss Harry?
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_01: Retweet, Sean.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_01: Retweet.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_00: Disgusting.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're in a relegation scrap.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_00: He's bagging goals in a farmers league.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he he did tweet about Tottenham staying up, which was nice to see.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_00: He still cares about us.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: I like seeing that.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and a one a late addition to the sheet for me here, the Taka de Portugal.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_00: Another cup final took place this weekend, and this one was interesting.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_00: A stunning upset.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about the magic of the cup sometimes and how teams, small teams can make deep runs.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Portugal is dominated by the big three clubs, the two Lisbon clubs, Sporting and Benfica, and then the team up north FC Porto, traditionally win all of the trophies in Portugal.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it would, it's rare to even have a different team in the final in a lot of instances.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Torenza, a second division club, made a run to the final of the Taca de Portugal, and they beat Sporting two to one to win the trophy.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable scenes on the pitch after that.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that was that was cool to see.
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then, Brandon, we have to talk about some final day drama in Serie A.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't quite as dramatic as the Premier League.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't have a club the size of Spurs on the brink of relegation, but they had some big, big names in a bout for Champions League positions.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_00: So the winners from the final day were Roma and Como.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_00: Both of those two clinched Champions League football.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_00: The big losers were Milan and Juventus.
• 59:36
  SPEAKER_00: Milan have since sacked their coach.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: They've sacked their sporting director, they've sacked some scouts.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: They cleaned house after this meltdown to end the season.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_00: Massimiliano Allegri, who is one of the six Italian managers that are straight out of special casting for just mob boss Italian coaches, he's out.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is a meltdown for Milan.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_00: They spent a lot of money on the squad this season and they failed to qualify for the Champions League.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a question for you, Brandon.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_00: Christian Pulisic was a part of this mess and a part of this meltdown.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want Christian to make a move this summer, or are you comfortable with him waiting and seeing what happens at Milan?
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's a tough one.
• 1:00:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I do I do think Christian could use some fresh, you know, a f a fresh new start outside of Milan.
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, where does he go?
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a bigger question, and you know, we can debate that till the cows come home.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_01: But I I think he, you know, could could go for a change.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think he, you know, he did his thing at Dortmund, he went to Chelsea, did his thing there, and Milan, I would say the first half of the season he looked great, but he kind of fell out of form in the second half, and you w you know, you wonder if there's other things coming into that, or if it's just bad bad play.
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I I wouldn't be opposed to seeing him seeing him go to a new club.
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh maybe maybe Germany, maybe Spain, maybe even the Premier League, depending depending on who who's interested.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we we talked about those teams earlier, the the Bournemouth and the Brightons, uh playing this in these European uh cups now.
• 1:01:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, does he get on a team like that and kind of become their uh a guy to help out their squad and build their depth?
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_01: Could be interesting.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, of course you want to see him play 90 minutes every week wherever he's at, but if he does go to a bigger club, that might not be the reality.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or he could he could always go the other way and go to a smaller team and and kind of be the guy.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_01: But I I I could I could I think he could do well with a new start uh somewhere else.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm torn on this.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: I I I'm gonna choose the third option, which is wait and see.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want to wait and see what Milan do with manager.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see who they bring in, how they set up or plan to set up for next season, because I do think the style of play in Serie A fits Pulisic really well.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's very technical.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: It allows him to showcase just how skilled he is.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I worry just about his body holding up in the Premier League.
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: I I think it's a little bit more rigorous.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot more pressing, there's some more hard yards there, and he dealt with some soft tissue stuff more frequently at Chelsea than he has at Milan.
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I worry about him from that aspect, but I do love what you said about one of those Sunderland, Bournemouth, Brighton type clubs because he's certainly at the level where he should be playing in the Champions League.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's kind of the it's a tough line.
• 1:02:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know where I want him.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think this style of play, for a long, long-term outlook for his career, I think La Liga and Serie A fit him really well because it allows him to showcase his skill without it being so rigorous.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_00: But it's something to monitor.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see how it plays out at Milan.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_00: He's certainly not going to be moving before the World Cup, so we'll just keep an eye on that as the summer goes along.
• 1:02:44
  SPEAKER_00: A very similar situation, I have a question for you about in Juventus.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_00: This game, they played Turin on the final day of the season.
• 1:02:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a crosstown rivalry.
• 1:02:53
  SPEAKER_00: The teams hate each other.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_00: The kickoff was delayed 50 minutes due to fights amongst fans and the ultras outside.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_00: We love that.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_00: But we talk about Milan having huge financial problems and spending a lot of money and failing to reach the Champions League.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's no better example of that than Juventus.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_00: Just boy oh boy, they're always in financial trouble.
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_00: They like to cook the books, and they made another mess for themselves.
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_00: So our guy Weston McKenny is also gonna miss out on Champions League football next year.
• 1:03:19
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want Wes to stick around Juventus?
• 1:03:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's funny how I said Christian should go uh first.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_01: For some odd reason, I think West should stay.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um he's managed to always be in the team.
• 1:03:36
  SPEAKER_01: They I think he's played under three, at least three different managers there.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_01: So and each time he's kind of proved himself, you know.
• 1:03:42
  SPEAKER_01: He maybe wasn't pegged to be the starter at the beginning of the season.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_01: He worked his way into the team.
• 1:03:47
  SPEAKER_01: And he seems comfortable in Italy, seems to really like the country overall.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think it does fit his skill set pretty well.
• 1:03:54
  SPEAKER_01: And his ability to play multiple multiple positions definitely helps.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think he could stay.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_01: Again, or it could be a wait and see, like you mentioned with Christian, you know, see who they bring in, see what changes they make.
• 1:04:06
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I could I could see West staying in Italy.
• 1:04:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm with you on this one.
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_00: I I think obviously all of these come with like the added fact that we should wait and see.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: Just it would be prudent to see how things, how the duck settles up the World Cup.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I think West has just established himself in in Juventus, and he is kind of always on the outskirts to start every season in all of the fans' eyes.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_00: You hear some fans talking about oh it's McKenney, like uh we should sell him.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_00: But then by the end of every year, all of them are pointing to him as one of their most important players.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because he he just is up for anything, he's a gamer, he never says no to playing a new position or pitching in however he can.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he shows his quality in a lot of different moments throughout the season, too.
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's always getting on the end of goals and assists, he's making things happen in some teams that haven't always been functional in Juventus.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Wes has a chance to just be one of those guys that is always kind of cast aside, but then you look back and he's been at the club for 10 years and he becomes a club legend.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm hoping that's his career arc at Juventus, which is one of the more iconic clubs in world football.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_00: So if he could carve out that for himself, that would be a spectacular career.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where I'm kind of at with Wes.
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_00: But Juventus were the second loser from this weekend.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_00: My Roma.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_00: Boy, oh boy, what a thrill.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_00: We get to go back to the Champions League.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was a great Sunday for me.
• 1:05:23
  SPEAKER_00: I said I would be watching this game regardless after the Tottenham defeat or after the Tottenham match, and I was just praying for not relegation.
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I stayed up and then I got to enjoy Roma beating Hellas Verona to qualify for the Champions League.
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of positives from this season in Rome.
• 1:05:40
  SPEAKER_00: Gian Piero Gasparini, another legendary Italian manager, he was at Atalanta for a long time.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_00: He's established a really strong culture there, especially defensively in his first season, but he really likes to play expansive attacking football.
• 1:05:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he was getting a bit frustrated towards the end of the year that Roma hadn't clicked on the way he wanted to in terms of their goal.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: Output, but they they're really in a good position to take that next step next year.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_00: One interesting note is my favorite non-Tottenham player ever, Brandon.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_00: Can you guess who this is?
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is an interesting question for you.
• 1:06:12
  SPEAKER_00: He's an Argentinian Argentinian player.
• 1:06:14
  SPEAKER_00: Tottenham almost signed him seven years ago.
• 1:06:18
  SPEAKER_00: It was rumored to be a done deal, but it did not get over the line.
• 1:06:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um favorite ever non-spur.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's a crazy uh designation, but uh no, I I'm not sure.
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is Paolo Dybala.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_00: I uh I love Paolo Dybala.
• 1:06:37
  SPEAKER_00: He is La Jolla is his nickname, the jewel.
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: He he's at Roma and he's out of contract, which is interesting.
• 1:06:44
  SPEAKER_00: They he's let his contract wind down.
• 1:06:46
  SPEAKER_00: He's technically a free agent, I think, starting in June.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Roma are pretty optimistic about re-signing him, but this is a big deal for them.
• 1:06:52
  SPEAKER_00: They need to get this over the line.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_00: He's their highest paid player, and while he's 32 years old and probably doesn't command those wages anymore because of his body wearing down and a lot of injuries are his biggest issue.
• 1:07:03
  SPEAKER_00: They need to bring him back next year, and the vibes for Roma will be really good heading into next season.
• 1:07:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then lastly, in Serie A, the biggest story of the season is Como.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_00: They have qualified for European football for the first time ever, and it's not just European football, it is the Champions League.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_00: They have basically a football manager type team.
• 1:07:22
  SPEAKER_00: Any young, talented player from along the continent, they're just saying, I'll have one of you, I'll take you.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_00: And they have Ses Fabrigask as manager, and he is doing an unbelievable job.
• 1:07:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hate to say it because he's an Arsenal scum, but boy oh boy, does he play some really attractive football?
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_00: And he seems to check all the boxes of one of the best up-and-coming managers in world football.
• 1:07:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's interesting to see.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I know uh I personally don't follow the Italian league that closely, but I know Como has that stadium that's like on the water, and it's that's gonna be beautiful on a Tuesday night, playing there.
• 1:07:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's gonna be beautiful in the Champions League.
• 1:07:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited for them.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
• 1:08:01
  SPEAKER_00: Who wouldn't want to go sign for that club?
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we get to play front foot attacking football and live in Como.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, tough.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, rough life.
• 1:08:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really tough.
• 1:08:09
  SPEAKER_00: I saw I was watching one of their games over the it was around the holidays.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was miserable weather, even in Italy.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was cold and rainy.
• 1:08:17
  SPEAKER_00: And Kira Knightley and like Natalie Portman were just in the crowd watching a Como game.
• 1:08:21
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, what the f- I mean, it must be nice.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_00: So so interesting story for the Champions League, though.
• 1:08:26
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, what a great away day.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you're one of those teams that are in the Champions League, boy boy, circle that como trip because that's good stuff.
• 1:08:33
  SPEAKER_00: Really quickly, just two games to watch this weekend.
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're 95% through this champion this European season.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_00: We could almost shift all of our focus to the World Cup.
• 1:08:42
  SPEAKER_00: First Wednesday, we have Palace playing Real Volcano for the conference league.
• 1:08:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a bit Mickey Mouse.
• 1:08:48
  SPEAKER_00: Our only hope here is that Chris Richards does not play.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:08:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he can't play.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, no, thank you.
• 1:08:55
  SPEAKER_00: Don't even travel.
• 1:08:58
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, Oscar.
• 1:08:59
  SPEAKER_00: Just say that.
• 1:09:00
  SPEAKER_00: Head into New York for that little roster announcement.
• 1:09:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you?
• 1:09:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then on Saturday, Brandon, we have another hate watch lined up.
• 1:09:08
  SPEAKER_00: High noon on Saturday.
• 1:09:10
  SPEAKER_00: It is PSG taking on Arsenal for the Champions League.
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is he Sepedi?
• 1:09:16
  SPEAKER_00: We.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we.
• 1:09:18
  SPEAKER_00: Mother, my God.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_00: PSG.
• 1:09:21
  SPEAKER_00: Boys, boys, boys, boys.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is a must win.
• 1:09:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is bigger than the we cannot let them be champions of Europe.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you're the better team.
• 1:09:31
  SPEAKER_00: Act like it, play like it, take care of business.
• 1:09:33
  SPEAKER_00: Please just get the job done.
• 1:09:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:09:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's I mean, well said, Sean.
• 1:09:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like we Arsenal wins this.
• 1:09:42
  SPEAKER_01: I can already feel my text blowing up, my phone blowing up.
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like hey, but we're up next year.
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_01: So you gotta run it back through, you gotta run through us to run it back next year.
• 1:09:51
  SPEAKER_01: So hey, do I find with that?
• 1:09:53
  SPEAKER_00: I heard a story.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is a this is just football culture taking the piss.
• 1:09:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love this bloke.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_00: I never met him, never will meet him.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_00: But there was one of these guys, a Tottenham fan, getting on the tube heading back from the Tottenham match, and there was a couple Arsenal fans on the tube as well.
• 1:10:09
  SPEAKER_00: And in walked a West Ham fan, and the Arsenal fans are just giving it to him.
• 1:10:14
  SPEAKER_00: He's just been relegated.
• 1:10:15
  SPEAKER_00: He's he should be at his lowest point ever.
• 1:10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he just starts singing right in the Arsenal fans' face, champions of Europe, you'll never sing that.
• 1:10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because they won the conference league.
• 1:10:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's an absolute piss taker.
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_00: I love that guy.
• 1:10:28
  SPEAKER_00: He just got relegated.
• 1:10:29
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's he's low.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_00: He's down bad.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_00: He's just with the Tottenham lads.
• 1:10:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's good stuff.
• 1:10:36
  SPEAKER_01: We need more of that.
• 1:10:37
  SPEAKER_01: We need more of that.
• 1:10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, like you said, this is a this is a must-win.
• 1:10:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, do whatever it takes for PSG to win this game because yeah, we we cannot have Arsenal be the champions.
• 1:10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, one final hate watch for the boys.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_00: We watched we hate watch Tottenham for a few months.
• 1:10:52
  SPEAKER_00: One more.
• 1:10:53
  SPEAKER_00: One more.
• 1:10:53
  SPEAKER_00: One more.
• 1:10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's wrap up the show, Brandon, with just a little shout out for the US men's national team documentary that is coming out each Tuesday night on HBO.
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I believe three episodes will be out at the time of this podcast.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_00: We here at the Friends on Football, we've got eyes on it.
• 1:11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I can't say they're the most dedicated eyes.
• 1:11:12
  SPEAKER_00: I have not watched episode two yet.
• 1:11:14
  SPEAKER_00: I half-heartedly watched episode one.
• 1:11:17
  SPEAKER_00: My question for you is gonna be have you seen any of this?
• 1:11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And who a lot of these documentaries are to kind of make you feel a little something for the players for the team.
• 1:11:28
  SPEAKER_00: What player are you hoping to learn more about or maybe become a bigger fan of because of this?
• 1:11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, so I I watched episode one, uh, but like you, I have not watched episode two yet.
• 1:11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh probably we'll do that in the coming days.
• 1:11:41
  SPEAKER_01: I I think for me, Haji Wright is a guy that's interesting.
• 1:11:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he's coming up to the Premier League next year.
• 1:11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I feel like I just don't know a lot about him.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Would love to learn his story, learn his background.
• 1:11:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of the core of the this men's national team is the same from 2022, so you we kind of know those guys.
• 1:12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um but you have a guy like Haji, who I think could have a really big World Cup, so I would love to learn learn a little bit about him, his background, his upbringing.
• 1:12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so so I think Haji's my guy.
• 1:12:10
  SPEAKER_01: What about you?
• 1:12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I echo your statement with just we kind of feel like we know a lot about these guys because it's a similar core.
• 1:12:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that I'm not gonna find anything mind-blowing from this documentary.
• 1:12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's probably not for us as real passionate fans of US MNT, but it's nice to get some more interest, some more eyeballs on the guys, get to know a bit about them before the tournament starts.
• 1:12:31
  SPEAKER_00: My answer would be I'm hoping to tolerate Christian Roldon.
• 1:12:34
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to find just a redeeming quality or two from Roll Dawn or from or from Bearhalter.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_00: One of these two, and we had way too much Greg Bearhalter in the first episode.
• 1:12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just say that, listeners, fucking way too much.
• 1:12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I I've seen nothing from Sebastian that's made me even become interested in this guy.
• 1:12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe this documentary will give me a reason to care about one of those two bozos in the middle of the park.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Sean, we need all these guys.
• 1:13:03
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta get you gotta get behind these guys.
• 1:13:05
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I know, I know they're not your your guys, but we need you for the next next few weeks here to get to get behind these guys.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon, you're 100% right.
• 1:13:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I do I do need to I do need to reshift my my thinking.
• 1:13:18
  SPEAKER_00: I will be rooting for just a hamstring tweak for both of them and the two friendlies, because we do have we do have some flexibility then with the roster, if if they do get hurt.
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if I meet you halfway.
• 1:13:31
  SPEAKER_00: If they survive those two warm-up games and they're in playing for the US and the World Cup, they've got my full support.
• 1:13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Fair enough.
• 1:13:39
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Is that fair?
• 1:13:40
  SPEAKER_00: I can I can yeah, I can I can agree with that there.
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's fine.
• 1:13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I wouldn't hate Matt Turner just tossing one in his own net against Paraguay so we can get him out for the real games.
• 1:13:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I think well, we could we'll talk about this as we get closer, but I I think Freeze might be the guy.
• 1:13:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think I hope so too.
• 1:14:00
  SPEAKER_00: I hope so too.
• 1:14:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think he will be.
• 1:14:01
  SPEAKER_00: I we both yeah, we both think Potch is leaning that way, but uh it's just not a certainty yet.
• 1:14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, we'll we'll see as we get closer.
• 1:14:09
  SPEAKER_00: But Brandon, anything else before we wrap up?
• 1:14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I thought this was a this was a fun episode, a lot to get through.
• 1:14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, this was a good one, Sean.
• 1:14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, just just a lot more on the horizon.
• 1:14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, Sean, we got a few more European games this week, but after this week, we're really gonna be World Cup centric and hoping to, you know, really get you guys through the summer, explain everything that's going on and who we're cheering for, what we're what we're looking for, and hopefully, you know, we're we're back here in July celebrating at least a you know World Cup semifinal run or something.
• 1:14:41
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that that's all I got, Sean.
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And we're kind of doing the behind-the-scenes stuff out loud right here.
• 1:14:47
  SPEAKER_00: This might be bad hosting, but Brandon, we I'll probably need to get with you this week.
• 1:14:51
  SPEAKER_00: We probably need to start doing some research for World Cup previews because that's gonna be a massive undertaking since we have 48 Mickey Mouse teams now.
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there's just not that many days before this really kicks off.
• 1:15:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we might need to take a look at our schedules and get some time on the books, but that's a conversation for another day.
• 1:15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Now, listeners, we will be we'll be in our books, we'll be uh doing our research, we'll be we'll be grinding to bring you the best episodes we can.
• 1:15:17
  SPEAKER_01: So keep sticking with us, listen to us, follow us, subscribe, like, all the other things, whatever I'm missing, Sean.
• 1:15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Fill me in.
• 1:15:25
  SPEAKER_01: But no, we we really appreciate the support, and it's been great getting to do this with you and you know, excited for the for many more episodes.
• 1:15:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's a perfect outro.
• 1:15:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need I don't need to do anything.
• 1:15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, subscribe, comment.
• 1:15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon took care of it.
• 1:15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Brandon, thank you as always for joining me.
• 1:15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Listeners, thank you all for tuning in.
• 1:15:42
  SPEAKER_00: We appreciate it.
• 1:15:43
  SPEAKER_00: A lot more to come in the next few weeks, as we talked about.
• 1:15:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
• 1:15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm starting to get really excited.
• 1:15:49
  SPEAKER_00: So until next time, take care.