Latest / Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos / Tab & Tom Are BACK! USMNT Roster Predictions & Americans Scoring in Europe

Transcript

Tab & Tom Are BACK! USMNT Roster Predictions & Americans Scoring in Europe · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

0:00
Speaker 1: Don't forget, we ended this World Cup with thinking, you know,
0:02
Speaker 1: Gio Reyna, OK, you know, he's played in two World
0:04
Speaker 1: Cups already.
0:05
Speaker 2: It's about time this this.
0:07
Speaker 1: Guy sort of starts delivering because, you know, his career
0:10
Speaker 1: is almost over.
0:11
Speaker 2: And here we are.
0:12
Speaker 1: He's 23 years old and he's just now starting to
0:15
Speaker 1: play in Europe and just now starting to to get going.
0:21
Speaker 3: What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Inside American Soccer.
0:25
Speaker 3: I am USMNT insider Tom Bogret, and I'm joined by
0:28
Speaker 3: one of the greatest players in USMNT history, my good friend,
0:31
Speaker 3: Tab Ramos. Tab, how nice is it to be back?
0:35
Speaker 3: We are back after a two-month break. It's good to
0:37
Speaker 3: see your face. It's good to hear your voice.
0:40
Speaker 2: We are back.
0:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so great to be back. Obviously, we went
0:45
Speaker 1: through a little bit of the World Cup withdrawal thing
0:50
Speaker 1: And then we had that camp in September, you know,
0:53
Speaker 1: which is a little bit of everything with young players
0:56
Speaker 1: coming in and out. But I think we took a
0:59
Speaker 1: good break and now we're re-energized and ready to go.
1:04
Speaker 3: Listen, we talk about fixture congestion and managing minutes for players. And,
1:09
Speaker 3: you know, we want to preach what we practice, what
1:11
Speaker 3: we preach. So I think that it's important that we
1:13
Speaker 3: live by those words. It is nice to see you.
1:15
Speaker 3: There's been a lot that has happened over the last
1:17
Speaker 3: two months. It is now fall in New Jersey, which
1:19
Speaker 3: is my favorite season of the year. I haven't gotten
1:22
Speaker 3: an haircut in two months, which I was going to
1:24
Speaker 3: say is a joke. And then I looked in the
1:25
Speaker 3: mirror and realized, That's true. Air is getting out of control.
1:28
Speaker 3: Maybe this will get me back into game shape and
1:30
Speaker 3: we'll do something about that. But it was busier for
1:32
Speaker 3: the U.S. men's national team and it's going to keep
1:35
Speaker 3: being busy this fall. So looking ahead, we've got the
1:37
Speaker 3: CONCACAF Nations League against Haiti. It is a home and
1:41
Speaker 3: home series. And this one's in the more literal sense
1:43
Speaker 3: for the USMNT because Haiti's home leg is being played
1:46
Speaker 3: in Miami as they can't host games in Haiti due
1:48
Speaker 3: to political unrest in that country. It was originally scheduled
1:51
Speaker 3: to be in Jamaica. on the same night that Mexico
1:53
Speaker 3: was playing Jamaica in Jamaica. So Haiti decided to move
1:56
Speaker 3: that game to Miami before they go to Cincinnati for
1:59
Speaker 3: the return leg in the United States on November 17th.
2:03
Speaker 3: But Tab, before we look ahead, we got to look back.
2:05
Speaker 3: There's been a lot that's happened over the last two months,
2:07
Speaker 3: even after the World Cup. This is when it's supposed
2:09
Speaker 3: to be a slow time, but there's never a slow
2:11
Speaker 3: time with this program. So here's what happened since we
2:13
Speaker 3: last did an episode. Risa Pochettino and his staff called
2:16
Speaker 3: in all the kids, giving 13 debuts over the fall window.
2:20
Speaker 3: That fall window was the first of a new kind
2:22
Speaker 3: of combining the September and October window. So there was
2:24
Speaker 3: four games instead of a normal two. So more players
2:27
Speaker 3: were called in, more players played. It was an exciting time.
2:30
Speaker 3: Matisse Alvarez set a new USMNT record for youngest goal
2:32
Speaker 3: scorer ever. And then Kevin Sullivan said it again a
2:35
Speaker 3: few days later. And oh, by the way, four wins
2:37
Speaker 3: out of four for the US against Peru, Chile, Mexico
2:40
Speaker 3: and Canada. Everybody is happy. The vibes are good. And
2:43
Speaker 3: a whole lot more that we're going to dive into.
2:45
Speaker 3: But Tab, what was the most important thing that you
2:47
Speaker 3: saw in the September window?
2:49
Speaker 1: Well, a couple of things, you know, I'll go back,
2:51
Speaker 1: you know, and you started with saying, you know, Mauricio
2:54
Speaker 1: Pochettino decided to call, you know, obviously a bunch of
2:57
Speaker 1: young players. You know, we had had 11 players debuted
3:01
Speaker 1: against Peru in the first game. But I think, you know,
3:03
Speaker 1: let me go back a little bit more because we
3:05
Speaker 1: ended the summer in a situation where we were trying.
3:08
Speaker 1: If you remember, we were trying to look for coaches
3:10
Speaker 1: and seeing what are the options that were for U.S.
3:13
Speaker 1: And then obviously, you know, U.S. soccer decided on Mauricio Pochettino.
3:16
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of people were in favor of that.
3:18
Speaker 1: Some people were not. Um, but then we found out
3:21
Speaker 1: in September at some point that the contract had already
3:24
Speaker 1: been done before the world cup, which I thought that was,
3:27
Speaker 1: you know, that was not something that we had considered. So, um,
3:31
Speaker 1: so I thought that was a little bit, uh, a
3:33
Speaker 1: little bit of a curve ball that we were, uh,
3:35
Speaker 1: we were thrown. Um, but there we were in the
3:38
Speaker 1: September window and then, you know, going into the September window,
3:41
Speaker 1: it started to make us think a little bit.
3:43
Speaker 2: About, okay, what, what do we want out of this? Right. Because.
3:46
Speaker 2: there's a number of ways to look at it.
3:49
Speaker 1: Obviously, the goal is 2030 at this point, qualifying to
3:52
Speaker 1: the World Cup and having a better World Cup than
3:55
Speaker 1: the one we just had. But I think, are we
3:58
Speaker 1: looking to play better or are we just looking to
4:02
Speaker 1: bring younger players in and start with a new generation
4:05
Speaker 1: of players? Because more than half of our roster that
4:08
Speaker 1: just went to this past World Cup is going to
4:11
Speaker 1: be over 30 in the next World Cup. And when
4:14
Speaker 1: we looked at numbers, we saw that Most World Cup
4:17
Speaker 1: teams only have two to four players over 30 and
4:21
Speaker 1: the rest are younger. And so there's no question that
4:24
Speaker 1: we need to change. And there's no question that Mauricio
4:27
Speaker 1: Pochettino realized that. And I think he did the right
4:31
Speaker 1: thing by inviting a bunch of young players, probably more
4:36
Speaker 1: than any of us could have guessed. But again, there
4:39
Speaker 1: hasn't been a single camp in which we guessed anything
4:42
Speaker 1: that Mauricio Pochettino really was going to do. So it
4:46
Speaker 1: was along those lines, but very positive, I think, because
4:50
Speaker 1: all of the players who were there were deserving of
4:52
Speaker 1: the call. And to be fair, without getting into names,
4:56
Speaker 1: they all did really well.
4:58
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm really.
5:00
Speaker 1: Optimistic about the future of this new generation of players
5:04
Speaker 1: without tagging them as a X generation, because we know
5:09
Speaker 1: that that didn't work with the past generation. But I'm
5:12
Speaker 1: really looking forward to these new young players coming in
5:14
Speaker 1: because they offer something a little bit extra.
5:18
Speaker 2: And it's nice to see.
5:19
Speaker 3: It really is. I couldn't agree more. And I want
5:23
Speaker 3: to go back to a few things that you pointed out.
5:25
Speaker 3: One of the words that you said was deserving for
5:27
Speaker 3: the kids that got called up. I think it is
5:29
Speaker 3: really important that this wasn't just like, okay, new cycle,
5:32
Speaker 3: just pick your favorite 10 U21 players and whatever. If
5:35
Speaker 3: they're ready, if they're not, we got to bring them
5:37
Speaker 3: because that's what we have to do. Now, like Kevin
5:39
Speaker 3: Sullivan's been one of the best players in MLS since
5:41
Speaker 3: the World Cup break, full stop. Julian Hall is a
5:43
Speaker 3: double-digit goal scorer in MLS. Aydin Mehmedi, Neil Pierre, Matisse
5:47
Speaker 3: Albert is breaking into the Dortmund first team. He's, I
5:49
Speaker 3: think we know how talented he is. In terms of
5:51
Speaker 3: first team minutes, I think he had the fewest and
5:53
Speaker 3: there was no qualms about him being there because if
5:56
Speaker 3: he played for, I don't know, insert a mid-table German team,
5:59
Speaker 3: he'd be playing more, right? The importance of this group
6:02
Speaker 3: coming through wasn't like, hey, you had a good few weeks.
6:07
Speaker 3: We know how good you were with the U-20s and U-17s,
6:09
Speaker 3: and we want to bring you along. It was every
6:11
Speaker 3: single one of these guys earned their roster spot. So
6:15
Speaker 3: that's very important. But the second part of it is
6:17
Speaker 3: I was pleasantly surprised with Pochettino and his staff. I
6:20
Speaker 3: just didn't think that there was going to be that
6:22
Speaker 3: as many wholesale changes because there were still a lot
6:24
Speaker 3: of World Cup guys that were around. And like, I'm
6:27
Speaker 3: not even saying that as negative that I didn't expect it.
6:29
Speaker 3: It's not easy to just call in 13 uncapped players
6:33
Speaker 3: and I think eight or nine teenagers. And, you know,
6:35
Speaker 3: a guy like Brian Schwalke, who has not been on
6:37
Speaker 3: the radar of the USMNT, but he's been, he's had
6:40
Speaker 3: his first full season as a starter in MLS. He's been,
6:42
Speaker 3: he's probably going to be the goalkeeper of the year or,
6:44
Speaker 3: you know, staying in that position, Diego Cochi. Again, he's
6:46
Speaker 3: another player that we knew how good he is coming
6:48
Speaker 3: through Barcelona. He probably had five starts maybe in Denmark
6:53
Speaker 3: for first team and he brought him in. And yes,
6:54
Speaker 3: he's been with the team in the training camp this summer,
6:58
Speaker 3: like during the World Cup, just being extra goalkeepers. But
7:00
Speaker 3: it's not an easy thing what Pochettino did in calling
7:03
Speaker 3: in all those players. And to give him a little
7:05
Speaker 3: bit more credit, he struck a really good balance in
7:10
Speaker 3: believing in these guys and showing them his belief. And
7:13
Speaker 3: I've talked to a number of these players who kind
7:15
Speaker 3: of raved about that, about how he would put his
7:17
Speaker 3: arm around them and know when to support them, know
7:19
Speaker 3: when to challenge them. But publicly, you could not get
7:23
Speaker 3: an answer out of him if you asked about a
7:25
Speaker 3: direct player. Obviously, the media core tried, particularly Gavin Sullivan,
7:29
Speaker 3: Julian Hall, Justin Ellis. Every time he would answer a question,
7:33
Speaker 3: he'd bring it back to the collective or the group,
7:34
Speaker 3: you know, hey, like, we need to be careful to
7:36
Speaker 3: not put on too much too soon. And what he
7:38
Speaker 3: also did is, that first game against Peru Tab, like
7:41
Speaker 3: you said, 11 debuts. He started Cabin Sullivan. Again, he
7:44
Speaker 3: earned that. He started Justin Ellis. He earned that. There
7:46
Speaker 3: was a number of guys. And he brought in just
7:49
Speaker 3: about all the rest off the bench. And so instead
7:51
Speaker 3: of it being, when's Cabin going to start? Or when's
7:54
Speaker 3: Ellis going to take you? When's Hall? It was, hey,
7:56
Speaker 3: we did all of that in the first game. You
7:58
Speaker 3: can talk about it, write about it, whatever. We're going
8:00
Speaker 3: to move forward with soccer. And the man management side
8:03
Speaker 3: of this and the managing of the moments I thought was,
8:06
Speaker 3: was really well done by Pochettino and the staff. And
8:09
Speaker 3: it's a smaller thing. And maybe we wouldn't be safe
8:11
Speaker 3: if they're losing three, one to Peru and this happened,
8:13
Speaker 3: maybe this wouldn't be the initial takeaway. But for me,
8:16
Speaker 3: I think those things are important.
8:18
Speaker 1: Yeah. I, you know, I don't, again, you know, I
8:20
Speaker 1: don't think that Pochettino is under any kind of pressure now.
8:23
Speaker 1: So I think that of course makes it easier. Um,
8:26
Speaker 1: And I think a 3-1 loss to Peru, I don't
8:29
Speaker 1: think would have changed anything. I don't think it would
8:31
Speaker 1: have changed his mind in terms of probably what he
8:34
Speaker 1: had set out to do for this camp, which is
8:37
Speaker 1: totally okay.
8:38
Speaker 2: This is what you want.
8:40
Speaker 1: He must have a plan on how, obviously, he's going
8:42
Speaker 1: to build this out. I thought what was really interesting,
8:45
Speaker 1: and you mentioned again the 11 debuts in that first game,
8:49
Speaker 1: is normally, or at least in the past, the way
8:52
Speaker 1: it has always been for every national team, When you
8:56
Speaker 1: start bringing young players in, you normally bring two or
8:58
Speaker 1: three new ones at a time. And the reason for
9:02
Speaker 1: that is because, you know, the older players are usually
9:05
Speaker 1: setting the culture of the team. And you want to
9:08
Speaker 1: get them surrounded by those guys and you want to
9:10
Speaker 1: include them. And that doesn't only mean if you're a
9:14
Speaker 1: right winger, can you be included into the game plan or,
9:18
Speaker 1: you know, the tactical plan for a particular game.
9:22
Speaker 2: It includes everything.
9:23
Speaker 1: It includes, you know, going to the meals a certain way,
9:26
Speaker 1: the way meetings are done back at the hotel, the
9:30
Speaker 1: way you prepare for going to games, the way players
9:33
Speaker 1: interact with each other. You know, young players sometimes are
9:36
Speaker 1: in the locker room and they're thinking, you know, they're
9:38
Speaker 1: trying to figure out if it's okay to celebrate a
9:41
Speaker 1: good moment or like, so they're looking at the older
9:44
Speaker 1: players to see how they react.
9:45
Speaker 2: You know?
9:46
Speaker 1: And so normally you would bring in a couple at
9:49
Speaker 1: a time to make them feel comfortable and to make
9:52
Speaker 1: them adapt. And in this case, it was just like
9:55
Speaker 1: sort of a lot of a lot of new players,
9:57
Speaker 1: a much more difficult way to do it. But but
10:00
Speaker 1: a way that not, you know, had we had not
10:05
Speaker 1: gotten results in this window, I think because of the
10:08
Speaker 1: magnitude of new players that we had, I don't think
10:11
Speaker 1: we we would have been upset about it because it
10:13
Speaker 1: would have been like, hey, you know what? We tried
10:15
Speaker 1: new players and they did OK. But this was this
10:18
Speaker 1: was much more than okay. I think, you know, I'm
10:21
Speaker 1: sure we'll get into names, but, but to me, you know,
10:23
Speaker 1: there were certain guys, um, you know, guys like, like, uh,
10:27
Speaker 1: the Pierre and Brooklyn rains and Mehmeti and Ellis.
10:30
Speaker 2: Who are, who are not quite there, right. For, okay.
10:35
Speaker 1: We need them now for this window to win games,
10:38
Speaker 1: but they're right there where you can call them in.
10:40
Speaker 1: And that would include Peyton Miller in that class too,
10:42
Speaker 1: where like, I think he can come in and he
10:44
Speaker 1: can help if we need them.
10:46
Speaker 2: Right.
10:47
Speaker 1: But I think certainly, you know, Julian Hall and Kevin
10:50
Speaker 1: Sullivan kind of show like, hey, you know, we're a
10:53
Speaker 1: little bit more than that.
10:54
Speaker 2: And I think we can help right away.
10:55
Speaker 1: And I I believe that what I saw from them
10:58
Speaker 1: was was really impressive. And and they put themselves right
11:02
Speaker 1: up there. You know that when you're going to call
11:04
Speaker 1: the roster like we're going to get into this next one.
11:07
Speaker 1: Those are guys that you're certainly looking at.
11:10
Speaker 3: I would totally agree. And the takeaway and the most
11:13
Speaker 3: exciting things to talk about and dig into about the
11:16
Speaker 3: fall is the young players. before kind of sticking back
11:20
Speaker 3: into that, you talk about the leadership, right? It was
11:23
Speaker 3: Adams and Richards. Those are two of the, like Adams
11:25
Speaker 3: was named captain for this cycle, which I'd like to put,
11:27
Speaker 3: you know, did that early, but, but Adams Richards, those
11:30
Speaker 3: two guys were going to be the leadership council. And
11:32
Speaker 3: you know, when Pulisic McKinney come back, like those are,
11:35
Speaker 3: there'll be a number of key players, but like in
11:37
Speaker 3: terms of leaders, it's Adams and Richards. So at least
11:39
Speaker 3: that they were in this camp. But what was funny
11:41
Speaker 3: is Alex Freeman, it's October 27th. five months, four months ago,
11:46
Speaker 3: he was the rising young talent in the World Cup
11:49
Speaker 3: spot for the US. At this camp, he was a
11:52
Speaker 3: veteran and he was somebody that like the young players
11:55
Speaker 3: were coming to him to. And he was, he was funny,
11:58
Speaker 3: like talking about it. Like he goes, yeah, you know,
12:00
Speaker 3: I'm pretty, like I've not really ever been in a
12:02
Speaker 3: leadership role like this, but like I'm embracing it because
12:04
Speaker 3: like I look around and like I'm one of the
12:06
Speaker 3: more experienced players in this camp. Gio Reyna was saying
12:09
Speaker 3: the same thing. Like he's been the hot young talent
12:11
Speaker 3: for forever. And he was even joking about that, like,
12:14
Speaker 3: Justin Ellis said you know Gio Reyna was my favorite
12:16
Speaker 3: player going up and Gio made fun of just like
12:19
Speaker 3: the two of them became very close over this camp
12:21
Speaker 3: that was really cool to see but it was just
12:22
Speaker 3: like Gio was just like man like I'm not old
12:25
Speaker 3: it's like 23 and 24 and so it was funny
12:27
Speaker 3: watching even the younger guys but not the youngest now
12:31
Speaker 3: are developing into these new roles and Gio in particular
12:35
Speaker 3: I was impressed with like kind of off the field
12:36
Speaker 3: stuff in the way that he carried himself and Like
12:38
Speaker 3: he assists Ellis for the opening goal against Peru in
12:41
Speaker 3: Orlando where Justin Ellis plays in front of the supporters section.
12:44
Speaker 3: And like he had the biggest cheer when they announced
12:46
Speaker 3: him and Freeman had the biggest cheers when they announced
12:48
Speaker 3: the lineup that day. And Ellis celebrates all the teammates
12:52
Speaker 3: come together. It was really cool and genuine. The left
12:54
Speaker 3: and everybody's giving a smack on the top of his
12:55
Speaker 3: head and back of his neck. But it's like a
12:57
Speaker 3: team celebration. And as they're starting to walk back, Gio
13:01
Speaker 3: grabs Ellis and pushes him out. Towards the supporters, like,
13:05
Speaker 3: take your moment. This is about you right now. Like,
13:07
Speaker 3: those are little things that I didn't... We haven't seen
13:10
Speaker 3: that from him because he's been the young player. Alex
13:11
Speaker 3: Freeman has been the young player. So those are just, like,
13:14
Speaker 3: funny little nuances. And Pochettino saying things like, yeah, like,
13:18
Speaker 3: I feel younger around these guys. Like, that's pretty cool.
13:21
Speaker 3: Just little naiveties, like, Matisse Albert didn't know that he
13:26
Speaker 3: was the youngest goal scorer in USMNT history until after
13:28
Speaker 3: the game when he scored. Kevin Sullivan, after his debut...
13:33
Speaker 3: the way that it works is like there's a friends
13:34
Speaker 3: and family because the players get tickets for these games
13:37
Speaker 3: and they're in a particular sector for parents, partners, kids,
13:40
Speaker 3: all of these But Kevin Sullivan didn't know that. Kevin
13:44
Speaker 3: Sullivan's parents just bought tickets somewhere else in the stadium.
13:46
Speaker 3: And Kevin was joking about it after the game because
13:49
Speaker 3: the other side of the stadium is where his parents were.
13:51
Speaker 3: And he was kind of motioning towards the security guard saying,
13:54
Speaker 3: can you let them down? Those are my parents. And
13:56
Speaker 3: Kevin was asked about it after the game. And he goes, yeah,
13:59
Speaker 3: I won't make that mistake again. It's good to know
14:01
Speaker 3: that I can get them tickets and they don't have
14:02
Speaker 3: to find their way to the stadium. Those are the
14:05
Speaker 3: little things that are just funny and made for a
14:08
Speaker 3: really fun camp.
14:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt.
14:11
Speaker 1: And you're absolutely right because, you know, don't forget we
14:14
Speaker 1: ended this World Cup with thinking, you know, Gio Reyna, okay,
14:17
Speaker 1: you know, he's played in two World Cups already. It's
14:19
Speaker 1: about time this guy sort of starts delivering because, you.
14:24
Speaker 2: Know, his career is almost over. And here we are.
14:26
Speaker 1: He's 23 years old and he's just now starting to
14:29
Speaker 1: play in Europe and just now starting to get going.
14:33
Speaker 2: Get back on track.
14:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, but, you know, there's no question that worldwide the
14:37
Speaker 1: game is getting younger.
14:39
Speaker 2: Right?
14:39
Speaker 1: The game is for, it's a, it's a young person's
14:41
Speaker 1: game and, and the good players are now teenagers, you know,
14:45
Speaker 1: the great, I'm sorry, the great players are now teenagers.
14:48
Speaker 1: You know, we saw it, you know, this weekend with
14:50
Speaker 1: Yandia Monday at 19 and the classical, right. He played
14:54
Speaker 1: a great game and, you know, playing against let me, Jamal,
14:57
Speaker 1: who just turned 19, but it seems like he's been
14:59
Speaker 1: playing for the last three, four years on the first team.
15:01
Speaker 2: So, so players are, you know, the, the game is
15:04
Speaker 2: getting younger.
15:05
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, it's interesting because, I saw
15:07
Speaker 1: somebody tweeted something about they had some videos of back
15:11
Speaker 1: in the old days, like when the game was being
15:13
Speaker 1: played and just back in the 90s and late 80s.
15:16
Speaker 1: And you see like all these people hacking each other,
15:18
Speaker 1: you know, everywhere. And and I do remember that as
15:22
Speaker 1: as a young player at the time, I remember thinking. hey,
15:25
Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to get whacked here somewhere. I
15:28
Speaker 1: better make sure that at least the linesman is watching because,
15:32
Speaker 1: you know, the referee, like if you're running back, the
15:34
Speaker 1: referee is looking at the play, not looking at you.
15:37
Speaker 2: So somebody could actually punch.
15:38
Speaker 1: You or hit you or trip you or, you know,
15:40
Speaker 1: or kick you. Like these things were happening off the ball.
15:44
Speaker 1: You know, and so you had to make sure that
15:46
Speaker 1: you were in line of sight of the linesman that
15:48
Speaker 1: maybe he's paying attention. So anyway, to sum it up,
15:53
Speaker 1: I think it was much more difficult in the past
15:55
Speaker 1: to be a young player. And now with everything being
15:58
Speaker 1: seen now, it's just purely about talent. And we can
16:01
Speaker 1: tell that the talented players are moving up as fast
16:05
Speaker 1: as they can deliver. And fortunately for us, I think
16:08
Speaker 1: we have a bunch of young players who I think
16:10
Speaker 1: can deliver.
16:12
Speaker 3: I would agree. So Kevin Sullivan, Julian Hall, guys we named.
16:15
Speaker 3: Rook and Reigns was a pleasant surprise for me. I
16:18
Speaker 3: didn't know what he would look like at this level.
16:19
Speaker 3: And he's been awesome all year for New England. And
16:22
Speaker 3: I talked to a U.S. soccer executive who, before the
16:25
Speaker 3: first game, was like, this guy's been really, really good
16:26
Speaker 3: in training. Ajma Mehdi, Neil Pierre, we talked about both
16:29
Speaker 3: of them. Incredibly high on those players. The other debuts, Albert,
16:34
Speaker 3: we spoke of. Xavier Gozo, Justin Ellis, Peyton Miller. Peyton Miller,
16:37
Speaker 3: by the way, you know he's fast. Probably the fastest
16:39
Speaker 3: player in MLS. That might have been the first time,
16:42
Speaker 3: at least the first time in a while, I've seen
16:43
Speaker 3: him in person. And as dumb as this sounds, dear God,
16:46
Speaker 3: that guy's fast. It's explosively frightening. And that'll translate forever
16:52
Speaker 3: at any level.
16:52
Speaker 1: And by the way, a good player who can play
16:55
Speaker 1: on either side of the field.
16:57
Speaker 2: And I was actually surprised.
16:59
Speaker 1: And I think it might have been the game against Canada,
17:03
Speaker 1: the last game.
17:04
Speaker 2: I'm not sure. Let me see how we started that game. Yeah,
17:07
Speaker 2: it was the game against Canada.
17:08
Speaker 1: That you know he started trusty at left back and
17:11
Speaker 1: that really surprised me because he definitely had Peyton Miller
17:14
Speaker 1: had played well before so instead of seeing trusty struggle
17:19
Speaker 1: at that left back position I would have liked to
17:21
Speaker 1: have seen Peyton Miller there because I thought he did
17:23
Speaker 1: really well.
17:24
Speaker 3: Yeah I do too and then he's been playing a
17:27
Speaker 3: lot as a winger for New England and he's just
17:28
Speaker 3: his intelligence and his like physicals has made him useful
17:31
Speaker 3: but New England Revolution know that he's a future left-back wingback.
17:34
Speaker 3: I think that is his best position, but it's cool
17:36
Speaker 3: to see him in back game in positive ways. The
17:38
Speaker 3: rest of the debutants, Brian Schwalke, Diego Cochin, Cole Campbell,
17:41
Speaker 3: Frankie Westfield, and also Chris Brady, who had debuted before
17:44
Speaker 3: he got his first start. So that's 13 new players
17:46
Speaker 3: plus a 14th got his first start. Younus Moussa returned
17:50
Speaker 3: from the Colt. It was more of a back four
17:53
Speaker 3: in this camp than, you know, the 3-5-2, the 3-4-2-1,
17:56
Speaker 3: the fluidity that we saw. And that allowed Alex Freeman
17:59
Speaker 3: to excel. And like, he does really well in that
18:02
Speaker 3: right-sided center-back role. But the way that he broke through
18:04
Speaker 3: with Orlando City, the reason why Villarreal was desperate to
18:08
Speaker 3: sign him was he was an overlapping right back, an
18:10
Speaker 3: attack-minded right back, somebody who could change the dimensions of
18:13
Speaker 3: the field. And particularly him and Calvin Sullivan on that
18:15
Speaker 3: right side was really, really good. And he can do
18:20
Speaker 3: either well, and that helps for Pochettino of how they
18:23
Speaker 3: want to go tactically, even if it's window-to-window, game-by-game, whatever.
18:26
Speaker 3: That's a major asset, that whether you put him at
18:29
Speaker 3: two distinctly different roles, he's going to be really good.
18:32
Speaker 3: And then Gio Raita started eight games in a row
18:34
Speaker 3: for Strasburg in the USMNT. That is the first time
18:37
Speaker 3: in his career he's done that. He went 90 minutes
18:40
Speaker 3: a couple weeks ago for Strasburg. I think that was
18:42
Speaker 3: the first time he did that for club soccer, maybe ever.
18:45
Speaker 3: It's been a really good fall for Gio Reyna and
18:48
Speaker 3: looking at the opponents, Mexico is down pretty bad and
18:51
Speaker 3: Canada are very thin. They were missing half of their
18:54
Speaker 3: starters against the U S and some of the guys
18:56
Speaker 3: that bring it off the bench was not the same
18:59
Speaker 3: level of caliber of some of the young kids that
19:00
Speaker 3: the U S was coming through with. So when you
19:03
Speaker 3: look at it in the region, it's a good time
19:04
Speaker 3: for the United States.
19:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, without a doubt.
19:07
Speaker 1: And I'll go back on three players from all the
19:09
Speaker 1: players that you mentioned that I hadn't talked about before.
19:13
Speaker 1: For me, you know, I was pleasantly surprised with Diego
19:18
Speaker 1: Cochen and his calmness in such a big game that
19:22
Speaker 1: he played.
19:22
Speaker 2: Because I was there. I was at the game in Phoenix.
19:25
Speaker 1: It was definitely one of those, you know, Mexico-U.S. atmospheres
19:29
Speaker 1: with about, you know, 60,000, 70,000 people in the stands.
19:32
Speaker 2: Not easy. Again, you know, young players get thrown in there.
19:35
Speaker 1: His calmness on the ball with his feet is something
19:39
Speaker 1: that I think our other goalkeepers don't have. And by
19:41
Speaker 1: the way, you know that I don't comment on goalkeepers.
19:44
Speaker 1: I was really impressed with this one. I I'm, you know, I'm,
19:47
Speaker 1: I'm starting to think like maybe this is our guy
19:50
Speaker 1: moving forward. Uh, because I really liked the calmness. I, he,
19:53
Speaker 1: he made a great save. I think with the, with
19:56
Speaker 1: the game, it might've been two, one else at the
19:58
Speaker 1: time or one zero us.
20:00
Speaker 2: He made a big save at one point.
20:02
Speaker 1: Um, and he didn't have to come up big too much,
20:04
Speaker 1: but he came up big when he needed to. Um,
20:07
Speaker 1: I thought he played a perfect game against Mexico. I
20:09
Speaker 1: was really surprised with that. I'll move to Moussa. You know,
20:15
Speaker 1: and Moussa has been playing well in Europe. He's been
20:18
Speaker 1: playing great for Milan. He's an important player there. But again,
20:22
Speaker 1: you know, we put him sort of on the right side.
20:26
Speaker 1: You know, Pochettino, for some reason, likes him in a
20:29
Speaker 1: wide position. And it's a position in which Moussa will
20:33
Speaker 1: not succeed. You know, he just doesn't.
20:35
Speaker 2: We've seen it.
20:36
Speaker 1: Many, many times, not just with the national team, where
20:39
Speaker 1: I think he played his way out of the team,
20:42
Speaker 1: but also for Atalanta, he was coming in sort of
20:44
Speaker 1: on the right side and, and then not gaining more
20:47
Speaker 1: playing time. So I feel bad for Musa because I
20:50
Speaker 1: really like him as a central midfielder. I think Reigns
20:53
Speaker 1: is very much in the sort of in the category
20:56
Speaker 1: of Musa, you know, which I, I really like Reigns
20:59
Speaker 1: as well. But I think Musa has a lot more
21:01
Speaker 1: to give us still. And then I'll go, I'll go,
21:04
Speaker 1: I'll finish with Reina, right? Because, I think, if anything,
21:08
Speaker 1: I've been saying for the last year that Reyna needs
21:11
Speaker 1: to just go back to his club and play 90-minute games.
21:14
Speaker 2: For a while.
21:14
Speaker 1: And then things will work out, but he needs to play.
21:18
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people were saying that.
21:20
Speaker 1: And now he's playing, and I think the results are
21:23
Speaker 1: clear for us to see. And so hopefully he can
21:25
Speaker 1: stay away from injuries, and hopefully he can be on
21:28
Speaker 1: the field all the time. And if he is, listen,
21:30
Speaker 1: I mean, you have Reyna, Tillman, and Pulisic as your
21:33
Speaker 1: three in front of the.
21:36
Speaker 1: In front of Adams and McKinney, that's pretty good.
21:40
Speaker 2: That's pretty good right there. So I'm happy to see that.
21:43
Speaker 3: And Tab, that's a midfield combination that we've been dreaming
21:47
Speaker 3: of since... You know, Reina was 17, 18, right? And
21:51
Speaker 3: I don't really think we've ever seen it or haven't
21:53
Speaker 3: seen it for an extended run of time. So maybe
21:54
Speaker 3: this is the time, but it's also time for a
21:57
Speaker 3: quick break. Up next, we're going to look ahead to November.
21:59
Speaker 3: We're going to talk more about these players, who is
22:01
Speaker 3: going to stay in the roster for the November Nations
22:03
Speaker 3: League games against Haiti. So please rate, review, and subscribe
22:07
Speaker 3: to Inside American Soccer with Tom Borgen and Tad Ramos
22:09
Speaker 3: wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to Inside American Soccer.
22:21
Speaker 3: The USMNT will be playing Haiti in the CONCACAF Nations
22:25
Speaker 3: League in November. It'll be a different window. These are
22:27
Speaker 3: competitive games to have. There will be two games instead
22:30
Speaker 3: of four. And there will be some big names back.
22:32
Speaker 3: Christian Pulisic, Flo Balgan, Weston McKinney. They were not there
22:35
Speaker 3: in September, nor was a half of the World Cup
22:38
Speaker 3: roster was not in that most recent camp. More of
22:41
Speaker 3: those names will be back. Less players will be called.
22:43
Speaker 3: Less room for some of the kids. So the biggest
22:45
Speaker 3: question is, as you said in the first segment, who...
22:48
Speaker 3: are some of the young players that were in the
22:50
Speaker 3: September camp that you expect to see staying for November?
22:54
Speaker 2: Yeah.
22:55
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, first I'd have to say the, the,
22:57
Speaker 1: the guys that I expect seeing, uh, def, I would
23:00
Speaker 1: definitely go with, uh, Julian Hall and Kevin Sullivan. I
23:03
Speaker 1: think those are guys that I think can help the
23:05
Speaker 1: team right away. Um, I would be, you know, and again,
23:09
Speaker 1: it depends on how many players we're calling in, you know,
23:11
Speaker 1: cause Pochettino could call 26 again or 28 or, or
23:15
Speaker 1: maybe makes, you know, calls a few less, uh, But
23:17
Speaker 1: if he did expand the roster a little bit, I
23:19
Speaker 1: wouldn't mind seeing Justin Ellis go in there as a
23:23
Speaker 1: guy that can come in maybe for 10 minutes at
23:25
Speaker 1: the end of a game if we need a goal.
23:27
Speaker 2: I think he can do that. He's a good finisher.
23:30
Speaker 1: Again, we'll have to see where Pepe is because for
23:33
Speaker 1: some reason we can't get Pepe in all the time.
23:36
Speaker 1: And then Balogun, of course, will be the starter there anyway.
23:40
Speaker 1: I think for me, those are likely, out of the
23:44
Speaker 1: young players, the guys that could be coming in unless...
23:47
Speaker 1: Of course, you know, I really like Peyton Miller on
23:50
Speaker 1: the left side. And I think if he decides not
23:52
Speaker 1: to bring Arfston, for example, I think Peyton Miller is
23:55
Speaker 1: a good option. So in terms of young players, oh,
23:57
Speaker 1: and Diego Cochen, because to me, as you'll see from
24:01
Speaker 1: my starting 11, I have Diego Cochen in the starting 11.
24:04
Speaker 2: Yeah.
24:05
Speaker 3: Yeah. So I agree. I think Sullivan and Hall absolutely
24:08
Speaker 3: should be there. Cochen and Swacky probably should be there,
24:13
Speaker 3: but maybe he'll bring Brady over one of those two.
24:15
Speaker 2: We'll see.
24:16
Speaker 3: But In terms of the goalkeepers, it's its own thing
24:18
Speaker 3: because of where that depth chart is and how open
24:20
Speaker 3: it is. Not behind Matt Fries. I don't think he's
24:23
Speaker 3: started at the moment. He hasn't been great in MLS
24:26
Speaker 3: in the fall. But you could see that going any
24:28
Speaker 3: number of ways. But in terms of the outfield players,
24:31
Speaker 3: Sullivan and Hall, for me, are no damage. Then it
24:34
Speaker 3: becomes like Brooklyn Reigns. I think on form in the
24:39
Speaker 3: fall would earn consideration, but center mid is really hard
24:42
Speaker 3: to break into. And then... Peyton Miller, it comes down
24:46
Speaker 3: to if it's him or Arvidsson at that second left
24:48
Speaker 3: back line, Anthony Robinson. And then like somebody, again, Neil
24:52
Speaker 3: Pierre and Adjumedi, I think that they're awesome. And I
24:54
Speaker 3: think that they're absolutely going to make a ton of
24:57
Speaker 3: caps for the national team and play key roles over
24:59
Speaker 3: the next four years. I wouldn't be shocked if they
25:02
Speaker 3: were the 23s. I think Neil Pierre in particular, for sure. Adjumedi,
25:06
Speaker 3: he struggled a little bit in the first 12 to
25:08
Speaker 3: 15 minutes of his first start. And what I loved
25:11
Speaker 3: about him is, like, he adapted to the level. He
25:13
Speaker 3: adapted to the pace. He adapted to the players around him.
25:15
Speaker 3: I don't think that they used him. They had him,
25:17
Speaker 3: instead of dropping in and getting on the ball facing forward,
25:20
Speaker 3: they had him in more half spaces sometimes. Like, they
25:22
Speaker 3: had Reigns dropping him more. So, all that is to say,
25:25
Speaker 3: I'm a huge, huge fan of Adjamedi. I wouldn't be
25:28
Speaker 3: shocked if he's not included in this roster.
25:30
Speaker 1: So....
25:32
Speaker 3: Another guy that we were talking about a little bit,
25:34
Speaker 3: Yunus Musa. Did he do enough to stay? And then
25:36
Speaker 3: there's Tim Weah. He hasn't been great in the county
25:39
Speaker 3: year of 26. Didn't have a role really at the
25:42
Speaker 3: World Cup, and he wasn't great in the friendlies before
25:44
Speaker 3: the World Cup or in that March window. He's been
25:47
Speaker 3: really good for Marseille. He's the captain, and I'm expecting
25:51
Speaker 3: him to come back. But I think that's another guy
25:54
Speaker 3: that sometimes we forget about just because of what's happened
25:57
Speaker 3: over the last nine or ten months.
26:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, it does seem like Weah doesn't fit into Pochettino's
26:05
Speaker 1: plans for some reason. And to be fair, if he's
26:09
Speaker 1: not going to be playing that wide wing back, he's really,
26:13
Speaker 1: I think, not technical enough to play that attacking role
26:17
Speaker 1: in the.
26:19
Speaker 2: 4-2-3-1 to be one of those three.
26:22
Speaker 1: He's more of a winger in that case, which is
26:24
Speaker 1: not really what we do because if there's if there's
26:27
Speaker 1: something we've been seeing now, and we saw in the
26:29
Speaker 1: last four games in September is that those three players
26:32
Speaker 1: are interchangeable, right?
26:33
Speaker 2: They go all over the field.
26:34
Speaker 1: And although when Kevin Sullivan played, he stayed mostly on
26:38
Speaker 1: the right side. Um, the other two guys, Tillman and
26:40
Speaker 1: Raina were like all over the field. So they're obviously
26:43
Speaker 1: free to go wherever. Um, and I just don't think
26:46
Speaker 1: Tim way as that kind of player, right? He, you're
26:49
Speaker 1: going to have, he's going to have to be stationary
26:51
Speaker 1: on one side, right or left and kind of be wide.
26:53
Speaker 2: That's how he can help you best. So, I'm not
26:56
Speaker 2: seeing him fitting in.
26:58
Speaker 1: In terms of Moussa, yeah, it's a difficult one because
27:01
Speaker 1: if he's– again, he's bringing Moussa in to play the
27:03
Speaker 1: wide position. I just don't think there's anything Moussa can
27:06
Speaker 1: do that others wouldn't be able to do better in
27:09
Speaker 1: a wide position. But if it's inside, now you're also
27:13
Speaker 1: looking at very competitive roles, right? Because now you may
27:16
Speaker 1: have to start considering guys like Morris again.
27:18
Speaker 2: Let's not forget Morris is still playing great.
27:21
Speaker 1: And Tessman is playing– he, he didn't play great this weekend.
27:26
Speaker 1: I think it was against PSG that they were playing.
27:29
Speaker 1: He was not great, but he's still, you know, playing
27:31
Speaker 1: 90 minute games and, and, and I, and I kind of,
27:35
Speaker 1: I'm starting to put Testament in that Johnny Cardoso role,
27:38
Speaker 1: you know, like they're starting to look the same to me.
27:40
Speaker 2: We're like, yes, there are, there are big club.
27:44
Speaker 1: Yes.
27:44
Speaker 2: They're playing big games, but for some reason they just happen.
27:48
Speaker 1: To be behind the other guys, you know? And I,
27:51
Speaker 1: I really can't explain that. Uh, but that's sort of
27:53
Speaker 1: where I see them. And, And I think, you know,
27:55
Speaker 1: your call on Brooklyn Reigns, again, if he's bringing in
27:59
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Reigns to play one of those internal roles in midfield,
28:02
Speaker 1: of course he can help.
28:03
Speaker 2: I think he's a very good player. I've liked him
28:06
Speaker 2: since the summer.
28:07
Speaker 1: I was asking for him to get called in because
28:09
Speaker 1: I saw him play for New England, and he took
28:13
Speaker 1: over a couple games that I saw. And he's an
28:16
Speaker 1: eight that gets into the box and runs all over
28:18
Speaker 1: the place. So I really like him. But, yeah, that's
28:21
Speaker 1: where we are. Central midfield is tough. It's tough to get,
28:24
Speaker 1: you know, to call your four or five guys that
28:26
Speaker 1: will get called in for those positions.
28:29
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'm going to go through a projected squad
28:33
Speaker 3: that I came up with. Feel free to disagree at
28:35
Speaker 3: your leisure. In terms of the numbers, like, I'm just
28:38
Speaker 3: calling 23 here, or I'm going to put down 23.
28:40
Speaker 3: It's probably going to go up to 26. Like, you know,
28:43
Speaker 3: the more, why not? But, like, I'm looking more at, like,
28:45
Speaker 3: the core of the roster here, and you can add
28:47
Speaker 3: on guys after. But starting in goal, Matt Freese, Brian Schwalke,
28:50
Speaker 3: Diego Cochin. I just don't think Chris Brady's been very
28:53
Speaker 3: good for the U.S. in his minutes, and he's been
28:55
Speaker 3: good in MLS, but like Chwaki, he's been better in MLS.
28:57
Speaker 3: And coaching has more to offer in terms of talent
29:01
Speaker 3: and potential. So those three for me, but then Brady
29:04
Speaker 3: and Matt Turner would be the others to be under consideration.
29:08
Speaker 3: In defense, centerbacks, Chris Richards, Austin Trustee, George Campbell, Mark McKenzie.
29:14
Speaker 3: McKenzie was not in camp this September. I think he's
29:18
Speaker 3: somebody that could be called back. Miles Robinson. Has not
29:21
Speaker 3: been very good, but he keeps getting called in. So
29:24
Speaker 3: he's another one that could be under consideration. Fullbacks, Alex Freeman, obviously.
29:29
Speaker 3: Serginio Dest, who I don't know if Pochettino sees him
29:32
Speaker 3: as a right back anymore. So that's something to monitor,
29:35
Speaker 3: particularly in this system. And then left backs, Anthony Robinson
29:38
Speaker 3: and Max Arfson. And then depending on what the squad is,
29:43
Speaker 3: Peyton Miller, somebody who could be under consideration, and Joe Scali.
29:45
Speaker 3: But Tab, I'll pause here. Any qualms or disagreements on
29:49
Speaker 3: the back?
29:51
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I'm starting to think, and this is
29:53
Speaker 1: one of my big concerns moving forward, because at the
29:56
Speaker 1: end of the day, we're going to have to start
29:57
Speaker 1: plugging holes on things that we were not good at,
30:00
Speaker 1: you know, and we saw at the World Cup that
30:03
Speaker 1: we were not good at, and places where we lack talent, right?
30:10
Speaker 1: And I think if I were to look at a place,
30:12
Speaker 1: obviously the goalkeeping situation is one that we've been monitoring
30:15
Speaker 1: now for six or seven years, but so has been
30:19
Speaker 1: the center back role. Right. And so I always felt,
30:22
Speaker 1: although I think Tim Rehm has had an incredible career,
30:25
Speaker 1: I think Tim Rehm at the height of his career
30:29
Speaker 1: was not good enough to be on the national team
30:31
Speaker 1: as a starter. I think, I think, you know, when
30:34
Speaker 1: you had guys like Cameron and Beisler and, and the
30:37
Speaker 1: guys that were playing in front of them at the time,
30:40
Speaker 1: they were, they were just better. And sort of towards
30:42
Speaker 1: the end of his career, it was sort of at
30:44
Speaker 1: the beginning, a little bit by default, you know, and
30:46
Speaker 1: Tim Rehm ends up playing all the time and, and,
30:49
Speaker 1: no disrespect to Tim Rehm. He's had an amazing career. Um,
30:52
Speaker 1: but I think I'm starting to see a little bit
30:55
Speaker 1: of the, you know, you just mentioned Miles Robinson for
30:57
Speaker 1: some reason, he keeps getting called in. Um, I think
31:00
Speaker 1: Austin trustee is the same situation for me. You know,
31:02
Speaker 1: Austin trustee keeps getting called in, but I'm just not
31:05
Speaker 1: sure what, what are, what are the, what the strengths
31:09
Speaker 1: are of, of Austin trustee to be like, to be at,
31:13
Speaker 1: at that level, you know? And, and so, The center
31:16
Speaker 1: back position, you know, of all the guys you name,
31:19
Speaker 1: I'm excited to hear that you named George Campbell because
31:22
Speaker 1: I thought Campbell did well in the last camp, you know,
31:25
Speaker 1: and he was steady, you know, and maybe that's the
31:29
Speaker 1: partner that Richard needs. We know McKenzie can do the job.
31:35
Speaker 1: He doesn't have great feet, but he can do the job.
31:38
Speaker 1: So I think between, you know, when I'm looking at
31:40
Speaker 1: center backs now, unless we said, okay, let's put Freeman
31:43
Speaker 1: at center back, next to Richards, but you don't want
31:47
Speaker 1: to waste Freeman.
31:48
Speaker 2: At center back. He has to be wide. He has
31:50
Speaker 2: to be going forward.
31:52
Speaker 1: I think our solution for the center back position for
31:55
Speaker 1: the next couple of years is likely going to be
31:57
Speaker 1: between Richards, Campbell, and McKenzie. I think that's all we have.
32:02
Speaker 1: And then hoping that Neil Pierre is coming through and
32:05
Speaker 1: that he develops and maybe someone else comes through. But
32:09
Speaker 1: I think right now when I look at the talent
32:11
Speaker 1: of our center backs, I I'm just looking at three
32:14
Speaker 1: guys right now.
32:16
Speaker 3: Campbell in that first game against Peru, he had a
32:18
Speaker 3: mistake that led to a goal. It was an air
32:20
Speaker 3: test and, and it was really noticeable after that. He
32:23
Speaker 3: was extremely careful on the ball and, and, to the
32:25
Speaker 3: point where being risk averse created issues because it led
32:29
Speaker 3: to Peru triggering presses on him slash, okay, he's going
32:32
Speaker 3: to get it. It's going to take him a second.
32:34
Speaker 3: And then he's going to play the quickest, shortest pass.
32:36
Speaker 3: And that's when we bring all the lines forward and
32:38
Speaker 3: move the players forward. And I think Campbell's good. And
32:41
Speaker 3: one of the fun things about him when he was
32:43
Speaker 3: with Montreal before he went to West Brom was he
32:45
Speaker 3: would carry the ball out of the back dribbling. And
32:47
Speaker 3: I don't know if I would recommend that at this level,
32:49
Speaker 3: but I know that he's not uncomfortable on the ball.
32:51
Speaker 3: So that was a little uncharacteristic, but I'd like to
32:53
Speaker 3: see more from him. That's why I have him in
32:54
Speaker 3: the squad. McKenzie, I think, is good. Trusty, I think,
32:56
Speaker 3: is solid. I think it just comes down to a
32:58
Speaker 3: tad of your point, like a lack of other options.
33:00
Speaker 3: Neil Pierre is somebody I've got great hoping. Josh Winder
33:03
Speaker 3: is somebody, if he can, he's been good for the Rebs.
33:06
Speaker 3: He was sought after by a lot of teams. He
33:08
Speaker 3: ended up going to Benfica, and he's just struggled with him.
33:12
Speaker 3: And if he can get past that, he's got plenty
33:14
Speaker 3: of time left in his career, and he's starting to
33:16
Speaker 3: do so with the Rebs right now. He's another young
33:18
Speaker 3: center back that we can look at. And then to
33:20
Speaker 3: your point, maybe somebody will materialize because We weren't looking
33:23
Speaker 3: at George Campbell, for example, as somebody. Shoot, when Tim
33:27
Speaker 3: Rehm was 31, we weren't looking at Tim Rehm. And
33:29
Speaker 3: I think that he was there on merit and stuff.
33:31
Speaker 3: So we'll see who else emerges. But right now it's
33:34
Speaker 3: try to find a partner for Richards and try to
33:35
Speaker 3: find some sort of continuity. And then at left back,
33:40
Speaker 3: we've talked about this a hundred times, but like Max Arfson,
33:43
Speaker 3: really like him in a left wing back role. Don't
33:45
Speaker 3: love him in a left back role. And currently they're
33:47
Speaker 3: playing with a back four. I'm curious to see what
33:49
Speaker 3: that looks like against maybe stronger opponents in Haiti. No
33:51
Speaker 3: disrespect to Haiti. but when you get to a World
33:54
Speaker 3: Cup and it's not a team like that, they're in
33:56
Speaker 3: the region, they made the World Cup, but he wouldn't
33:59
Speaker 3: have had a real chance, I don't think, defensively against Belgium.
34:02
Speaker 3: That's a World Cup knockout round game. I get it,
34:04
Speaker 3: but that's kind of my point. We'll move into the midfield.
34:07
Speaker 3: We'll go with the box-to-box, the six and the eights
34:10
Speaker 3: for me. Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Wesson McKinney, Malik Tillman
34:15
Speaker 3: and Brooklyn Reigns. Those are the five I called. The
34:17
Speaker 3: others that you could consider, Moussa, Johnny Cardoso, who picked
34:20
Speaker 3: up a knock. I don't know what his status is.
34:22
Speaker 3: There hasn't been a timetable. He's out this weekend was
34:25
Speaker 3: the latest reports. I don't know if he'll be back
34:27
Speaker 3: ready by mid-November or not, but that's something to consider.
34:29
Speaker 3: Aiden Morris would be my pick of this bunch. I
34:32
Speaker 3: think he's been so good for Burrell, but I don't
34:34
Speaker 3: know if the coaching staff sees him there. Tanner Tessman,
34:37
Speaker 3: as you said, and Ajmer Eddie, as I said. I
34:39
Speaker 3: think those are the other central midfielders to consider in
34:42
Speaker 3: terms of like six and eights.
34:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the first four, I think, have to
34:46
Speaker 1: be in, right? Those are our best four guys. Obviously,
34:50
Speaker 1: Adams and McKinney leading the way. And also Sebastian Berhalter,
34:56
Speaker 1: because he's done a great job. I mean, he's solidified
34:59
Speaker 1: himself as a national team player, as a guy that
35:02
Speaker 1: needs to be called in every time. He leaves everything
35:05
Speaker 1: on the field. Now, when the game gets When the
35:07
Speaker 1: game gets fast, he struggles a little bit in terms
35:10
Speaker 1: of the possession side of it, and he's not as
35:12
Speaker 1: clean coming out of the back. But I think he's
35:16
Speaker 1: definitely one that's there. And I think the only one that,
35:20
Speaker 1: you know, and if you're right now and you're calling
35:22
Speaker 1: in Brooklyn Reigns, and I like that call. I mean,
35:24
Speaker 1: I like Brooklyn Reigns, but I think you're right. That
35:27
Speaker 1: fifth position, if there's going to be five, Brooklyn Reigns
35:30
Speaker 1: is going to be probably the.
35:32
Speaker 2: One that's in the picture of who's that last guy in.
35:36
Speaker 3: Right. Right. And then I don't have, as you joked earlier,
35:41
Speaker 3: it's difficult to predict what the coaching staff is going
35:44
Speaker 3: to do. So I don't have, I'm not saying that
35:45
Speaker 3: this is gospel or anything. Plus, like, as I said,
35:48
Speaker 3: I'm naming 23 guys and it's probably going to be
35:50
Speaker 3: more like 25 or 26. So maybe there's room for
35:53
Speaker 3: Reigns plus Morris, Reigns plus Mamadi, whatever it ends up
35:56
Speaker 3: being if Cardoso is available. Moving forward, I'm going to
35:59
Speaker 3: call this group attacking midfielders and wingers. Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna,
36:04
Speaker 3: Calvin Sullivan, Tim Weah. So, Tab, your point on Weah
36:08
Speaker 3: is a good one. And the best moments for the U.S.,
36:12
Speaker 3: particularly U.S.-Mexico, talked about Freeman and Calvin Sullivan. It was
36:15
Speaker 3: Calvin Sullivan inverted, cutting in on his dominant left foot,
36:19
Speaker 3: so he's playing in more of the half spaces, as
36:21
Speaker 3: it's Freeman making the vertical runs and being the widest
36:25
Speaker 3: player in possession. Well, that's what Tim Weh would do.
36:29
Speaker 3: Tim Weh is best when he's on the right and
36:31
Speaker 3: he's a right foot dominant player. So that would change. Okay,
36:34
Speaker 3: then Freeman makes an underlapping run. Is that best for him?
36:36
Speaker 3: So it's interesting that in a back four, so if
36:41
Speaker 3: he wants to play as his normal winger, it's different
36:43
Speaker 3: than what the other players played. But when it was
36:45
Speaker 3: the back three of the World Cup and he might
36:47
Speaker 3: look really good for that right wing back role, Well,
36:50
Speaker 3: that's where Pochettino liked Dest, and Dest probably is ahead
36:53
Speaker 3: of him in there. And in this system, in this team,
36:56
Speaker 3: I don't know if Pochettino sees Dest as a right back.
36:58
Speaker 3: So maybe Dest is the other winger, and maybe it's
37:01
Speaker 3: a different defender that comes in place there. So this
37:04
Speaker 3: is another one that I don't have enough confidence in.
37:06
Speaker 3: Some other options would be Brendan Aronson, who can also
37:09
Speaker 3: play centrally as like a free eight. Zendejas, who I'd
37:12
Speaker 3: like to see him get a run in this system
37:14
Speaker 3: as more of a pure winger. Matisse Albert, those are
37:17
Speaker 3: some of the attacking wingers that would be out of consideration.
37:21
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, all, all good points.
37:23
Speaker 1: And, and I think the, the exact reason why, you know,
37:26
Speaker 1: it's for me, it's, it's unlikely that way I gets
37:29
Speaker 1: the call and, you know, and I think by the way,
37:32
Speaker 1: where is deserving of a call because he's doing so
37:34
Speaker 1: well at, you know, at Marseille, but, but you know,
37:38
Speaker 1: I just, I see those three spots as more spots
37:42
Speaker 1: of that go to players who can play all three
37:44
Speaker 1: positions during the game at any time.
37:47
Speaker 2: Right.
37:47
Speaker 1: And, And so if we're looking here, because obviously we're
37:50
Speaker 1: looking at a 4-2-3-1, that's what we're talking about. So
37:53
Speaker 1: if it's a 4-2-3-1, those three players in those positions
37:57
Speaker 1: have to really be able to play all over. And
38:00
Speaker 1: I just don't see Weah being that type of player.
38:03
Speaker 2: And that's why I.
38:04
Speaker 1: Just don't think he fits into Pochettino's system.
38:08
Speaker 2: Now, where could he help? He could help right back, likely.
38:12
Speaker 2: But right back, obviously Freeman will be the starter. Scali.
38:16
Speaker 1: This weekend had a goal and an assist, and I
38:18
Speaker 1: think he's a proper backup.
38:20
Speaker 2: You know, Scali's a proper backup for that right side.
38:23
Speaker 3: Come play multiple positions, too.
38:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, you could throw him at center back as well, although,
38:27
Speaker 1: you know, I think he struggles a little bit in
38:30
Speaker 1: that position, but I think he can do it. Yeah, so,
38:33
Speaker 1: you know, Weah, unfortunately, is in a situation where if
38:37
Speaker 1: we were a 4-3-3 team, for sure, you can– Weah
38:40
Speaker 1: is one of your wingers you bring in to play
38:42
Speaker 1: on either side, and you can throw him in any time.
38:45
Speaker 1: And a 4-2-3-1 is a little bit more difficult because
38:47
Speaker 1: you need a little bit more of a creator. And
38:50
Speaker 1: Ware is not so much a creator, but more of
38:52
Speaker 1: a finisher of opportunity.
38:54
Speaker 2: So that's what I'm seeing in those positions. But I
38:59
Speaker 2: like your picks.
38:59
Speaker 1: Obviously, Pulisic, Tillman, and Reina are likely the guys that
39:03
Speaker 1: are going to lead the way, with Kevin Sullivan being
39:05
Speaker 1: the fourth guy that's going to help any of those
39:08
Speaker 1: three guys at any time, who can come in at
39:10
Speaker 1: any time. So that's a pretty good four that we're
39:14
Speaker 1: talking about.
39:15
Speaker 3: I would agree. Before we get to our 11s, the
39:18
Speaker 3: center forwards that I'm expecting to be called, Flo Balgan,
39:21
Speaker 3: Julian Hall, Ricardo Pepe. Pepe was going to be in
39:23
Speaker 3: the September camp, but he picked up an injury and
39:25
Speaker 3: couldn't play. So I'm expecting him to get the call.
39:28
Speaker 3: And Justin Ellis, I think, is... it's his 26 players,
39:32
Speaker 3: he could be the fourth center forward. And he can
39:34
Speaker 3: play as like a nine and a half as well.
39:35
Speaker 3: So he can play more than 10 if needed. He's
39:38
Speaker 3: just a very good player. But as terms of like
39:40
Speaker 3: pure center forwards, if it's just three, Balgan, Hall, Pepe.
39:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think without a doubt. And I think the
39:48
Speaker 1: order there is going to be Balogun, Pepe.
39:50
Speaker 2: And Hall, right? And Hall being the younger guy that'll
39:53
Speaker 2: come in at the end.
39:54
Speaker 1: And likely, you know, with the way Pochettino's been doing things, likely,
39:58
Speaker 1: you know, maybe Balogun starts one and Pepe starts the
40:02
Speaker 1: other and Hall comes off the bench in.
40:04
Speaker 2: Both, you know.
40:05
Speaker 1: But again, you know, Haiti in the upcoming games, Haiti
40:09
Speaker 1: is not, you know, let's not forget Haiti's a World
40:11
Speaker 1: Cup team. You know, they played Brazil in the World Cup.
40:14
Speaker 1: They have some experience now. They're not just a team
40:17
Speaker 1: you can brush aside. So I think they'll make us
40:21
Speaker 1: have to play hard.
40:23
Speaker 3: I agree. So, Tab, if you were naming a starting
40:25
Speaker 3: 11 for that opening game against Haiti, what would it
40:28
Speaker 3: look like?
40:29
Speaker 1: So for me, I would go with Cochran in goal.
40:32
Speaker 1: I would go with Freeman on the right side. First
40:35
Speaker 1: of all, it'll be a 4-2-3-1, obviously. So it'll be
40:38
Speaker 1: Cochran in goal, Freeman on the right side with Richards.
40:42
Speaker 1: and either McKenzie or Campbell as the pairing for him.
40:46
Speaker 1: Robinson on the left, Adams and McKinney in the center
40:50
Speaker 1: as the two sort of holding with Reina, Tillman, and
40:54
Speaker 1: Pulisic in front of them and Balogun up top.
40:56
Speaker 2: I think that would be our best 11.
41:01
Speaker 3: So pick the center back pair.
41:04
Speaker 2: If I had to pick the pair, I'm going to
41:05
Speaker 2: go with Richards and Campbell as the two.
41:08
Speaker 3: Cool. I wouldn't mind seeing that. For me, as I
41:12
Speaker 3: was putting mine down, there was several kind of decisions
41:17
Speaker 3: or things that could go either way. Same system for me.
41:21
Speaker 3: I will also go with coaching in goal, back four
41:24
Speaker 3: of Freeman, Richards, Trustee, and Anthony Robinson, Adams, McKinney, and
41:29
Speaker 3: Tillman as the central midfield trio, with Tillman being more
41:32
Speaker 3: of the attacker there, and then a front three of Sullivan, Baugan, Pulisic.
41:36
Speaker 3: I do think that Sullivan did enough to start. It
41:39
Speaker 3: feels difficult to leave Reyna out after kind of what
41:42
Speaker 3: he had in September. And Pochettino really likes his players
41:45
Speaker 3: very clearly. He picks them whenever he has the chance to.
41:48
Speaker 3: So that will probably be what it is. But for me,
41:51
Speaker 3: I'm pretty desperate to see Sullivan and Pulisic and Baugan
41:53
Speaker 3: all start together. And I think Reyna can play a part.
41:56
Speaker 3: And maybe that is Sullivan coming off the bench. But
41:58
Speaker 3: for me, that's the attacking combinations that I'd like to see.
42:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, and here's the difference between the team you picked
42:04
Speaker 1: and the team I picked. I think the team I
42:07
Speaker 1: picked would give Reyna the opportunity to kind of be
42:09
Speaker 1: more of the distributor, creator.
42:12
Speaker 2: And when you're.
42:13
Speaker 1: Picking Sullivan and Pulisic as the white guys, now you're
42:16
Speaker 1: going at teams, right? So, which you don't get with Reyna.
42:20
Speaker 1: With Reyna, you get a little bit more of the possession, right? So,
42:23
Speaker 1: depending on how Pochettino is thinking about this game, going
42:27
Speaker 1: with Kevin Sullivan is certainly an option because he, he,
42:30
Speaker 1: there's one thing he, he does all the.
42:31
Speaker 2: Time is go at people.
42:33
Speaker 1: And, and you, you would have that on one side
42:35
Speaker 1: with Pulisic on the other side, doing exactly the same thing.
42:39
Speaker 3: And to have Reina with, with instead of Sullivan, and
42:42
Speaker 3: then that puts Pulisic even more as like a second forward,
42:45
Speaker 3: rather like, It's just interesting how that the knock on
42:48
Speaker 3: effects of what the lineup looks like. And then maybe
42:51
Speaker 3: with if it's Raina, because he's so comfortable dropping in
42:53
Speaker 3: and getting on the ball. McKinney is more dangerous with
42:56
Speaker 3: box box crashing runs. And you could have less worry
43:00
Speaker 3: that you're going to get caught out rather than. If
43:03
Speaker 3: McKinney goes and Tillman has to stay, and the two
43:05
Speaker 3: of them were so good at that in the World Cup,
43:07
Speaker 3: in that system of, if they both go, of knowing
43:10
Speaker 3: kind of how to be back in rest defense and
43:12
Speaker 3: transition defense. But again, we're in a good spot right
43:16
Speaker 3: now where I think that there's more deserving starters than
43:19
Speaker 3: starting places in the midfield in the attack. And there'll
43:21
Speaker 3: be plenty of minutes to go around for everybody. And
43:23
Speaker 3: it's sad if we learn one thing over the last...
43:26
Speaker 3: six years here is anytime that you say, oh, no, no, no,
43:29
Speaker 3: you know, at the Copa America, at the Gold Cup,
43:31
Speaker 3: this is what the 11 will be. Never happens, right?
43:34
Speaker 2: Right.
43:35
Speaker 3: Exactly. So, so it's good to have more, more options
43:38
Speaker 3: and maybe starting spots and, and in modern soccer, right?
43:41
Speaker 3: You need, you need to have your 15, 18, you know,
43:44
Speaker 3: first choice level player, starting level players and then, find
43:47
Speaker 3: the right combinations they're in. And, you know, neither of
43:49
Speaker 3: us picked Berhalter. If Berhalter starts both games, I'll be happy.
43:52
Speaker 3: And that's just a dude that I want on the
43:53
Speaker 3: field all the time. But when you're thinking, this was
43:55
Speaker 3: like Aronson in the last cycle where you never really
43:58
Speaker 3: would put him in, in like the best first choice 11.
44:00
Speaker 3: And he's just always playing because coaches love him. He's consistent.
44:04
Speaker 3: He's reliable. He's got the work and he's always available.
44:06
Speaker 3: And I think that's, that's what Berhalter is now. And
44:08
Speaker 3: really quickly, because we haven't talked about him, just, he
44:11
Speaker 3: continues to get better. He's been so good for Burrow. Um,
44:15
Speaker 3: And he's just so easy to root for, Tab. Like,
44:17
Speaker 3: just his story, the way that, you know, he's Greg
44:21
Speaker 3: Berhalter's son. And Pochettino talked to, like, Greg has talked
44:24
Speaker 3: about this. He's like, I don't know. I don't think
44:26
Speaker 3: I would have been able to call him up, right? Like,
44:29
Speaker 3: just how difficult that would be given the atmosphere and
44:31
Speaker 3: everything else. And Pochettino was, like, the first time I
44:33
Speaker 3: called him up, I brought him in and I said, hey, man,
44:36
Speaker 3: I know this is hard for you, right? Like, your
44:37
Speaker 3: dad was a coach. Like, you're here on merit. Like,
44:40
Speaker 3: he's helped him, like, Peralta is one of the strongest
44:45
Speaker 3: mentally in terms of players and his resilience, his work rate,
44:47
Speaker 3: his drive, his determination. But Pochettino pulled him aside at
44:50
Speaker 3: one training session and said, who are the best center
44:53
Speaker 3: mids in the world right now? Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, insert
44:57
Speaker 3: whoever your favorite one is. Pochettino says, why can't you
45:01
Speaker 3: be as good as him? you can be as good
45:03
Speaker 3: as them. And it was more of just like, put
45:06
Speaker 3: Pochettino under my belt. Like, no, man, like you're here
45:07
Speaker 3: on merit. And I see, I see the world, the
45:10
Speaker 3: world is ahead of you and it couldn't happen to
45:13
Speaker 3: a better guy. He's, he's got such a, such a
45:15
Speaker 3: high character, but like we're all too many. It's just
45:17
Speaker 3: one of those stories that you love to report. Yeah.
45:19
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, if, if you, if you had
45:21
Speaker 2: a pick, you know, this is the way I would
45:23
Speaker 2: look at it.
45:24
Speaker 1: You know, you take our roster of 23 players and
45:27
Speaker 1: if you had a name, let's say, Four or five
45:31
Speaker 1: players that every coach would.
45:32
Speaker 2: Pick out of our team.
45:34
Speaker 1: He he would be one of those guys because I
45:37
Speaker 1: think he fits, you know, he fits into every system.
45:40
Speaker 1: You want that guy on your team and sometimes he's
45:42
Speaker 1: going to be a starter and maybe sometimes he's not.
45:45
Speaker 2: But I would want him on my team. That's for sure.
45:48
Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more. And even if he will play minutes,
45:51
Speaker 3: but even if he doesn't play any minutes, that's a
45:52
Speaker 3: dude that you want in the locker room, on the
45:54
Speaker 3: training ground, everything else. But it's time for one more
45:56
Speaker 3: quick break. It was a very good weekend for Americans
45:59
Speaker 3: abroad in Europe. And we're going to dive into that
46:01
Speaker 3: real quickly. So don't forget to subscribe to Inside American
46:03
Speaker 3: Soccer wherever your bike is. Welcome back to Inside American Soccer.
46:17
Speaker 3: Let's take a look at what happened over the weekend
46:19
Speaker 3: for Americans, particularly abroad. We'll start with Christian Pulisic. He
46:21
Speaker 3: scores in a Milan win. It's been a slow start
46:23
Speaker 3: to the season, coming back from injury and it being
46:26
Speaker 3: a little bit difficult to break into Ruben Emmerich's Milan team,
46:28
Speaker 3: as he has, but he scores. And Tab reports just
46:32
Speaker 3: saying that he's verbally agreed to a new contract to
46:34
Speaker 3: stay with AC Milan for the summer of 2031.
46:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great.
46:37
Speaker 1: You know, he played really well in the weekend and
46:40
Speaker 1: I think it's great for him if he can agree
46:42
Speaker 1: to stay at such a great club. you know, he's
46:45
Speaker 1: done well there. The fans love him there. And, uh,
46:48
Speaker 1: and he sort of led the, led the way this weekend.
46:50
Speaker 1: So I, you know, um, I'd like to see that
46:53
Speaker 1: he continues that, uh, you know, to play well and,
46:57
Speaker 1: and continues to be part of, uh, you know, one
47:00
Speaker 1: of the bigger clubs in the world.
47:02
Speaker 3: Yeah. And then I think it's a really good level
47:04
Speaker 3: for me and it's a big, big club and he's
47:06
Speaker 3: somebody that I think will be an integral player for
47:08
Speaker 3: Ruben Amarin and this group. Um, I didn't, I'm going
47:12
Speaker 3: to be honest, I didn't see it happening or I
47:14
Speaker 3: thought he was going to take the contract down closer
47:16
Speaker 3: because the contract's up this summer, but Milan has an
47:20
Speaker 3: option to extend it. They're going to do that because
47:22
Speaker 3: whether they wanted to keep him or not, obviously they
47:24
Speaker 3: did because they wanted to sign a new contract. They
47:25
Speaker 3: were going to trigger that option because even if you're
47:27
Speaker 3: selling them, then you can get more value for it.
47:29
Speaker 3: I thought that he was going to kind of run
47:30
Speaker 3: it down to have more leverage in the situation. And
47:33
Speaker 3: I'm sure he already did. But I'm glad that he's staying.
47:37
Speaker 3: AC Milan played Bournemouth in Europe and it was Tyler
47:40
Speaker 3: Adams who draws a red card in a single win
47:44
Speaker 3: versus AC Milan. And then he goes 90 in a
47:47
Speaker 3: win over Manchester United. What a week for Tyler Adams
47:49
Speaker 3: and Bournemouth. Yeah.
47:51
Speaker 1: And he, you know, he forced his face into, into
47:55
Speaker 1: getting the goalkeeper a red card, you know, but, but
47:58
Speaker 1: that's Tyler Adams. He will do whatever it takes to win.
48:01
Speaker 1: You know, if there's, if there's only, there's probably likely
48:03
Speaker 1: only another player that I can see on our national
48:06
Speaker 1: team roster that would likely do that to get us
48:08
Speaker 1: a red card, and that would be Berhalter. Those would
48:11
Speaker 1: be the two guys that I think will do anything,
48:13
Speaker 1: whatever it takes to win the game.
48:16
Speaker 2: By the way, he's.
48:19
Speaker 1: Not on the ball as much for Bournemouth, but he played.
48:23
Speaker 2: Well once again, and that team is playing well right now.
48:29
Speaker 3: It's been really impressive that after Areola left for Liverpool,
48:34
Speaker 3: that they haven't really skipped a beat. What an awesome
48:37
Speaker 3: story that that team is. And Todd Adams, I think
48:39
Speaker 3: he's a really good place. There's some links with Newcastle
48:41
Speaker 3: or some other clubs. I'm happy that he stayed put.
48:44
Speaker 3: That's a very good team. They're playing in Europe and
48:46
Speaker 3: he's a key player and long may it continue. A
48:49
Speaker 3: couple more goals came this weekend. Weston McKinney, his first
48:52
Speaker 3: of the season in Juventus' win over Lecce, as well
48:55
Speaker 3: as out Freeman scoring on Saturday. And Mauricio Pochettino said
49:00
Speaker 3: Freeman could be one of the best right backs in
49:02
Speaker 3: the world at his peak. And man, he seems to
49:05
Speaker 3: be developing quite well.
49:07
Speaker 2: Oh, without a doubt.
49:08
Speaker 1: And I saw the game and he was everywhere. At
49:13
Speaker 1: one point, he was on the left side of the field.
49:16
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, I mean, Freeman is just, you know,
49:19
Speaker 1: I think he doesn't know his own limits at this point.
49:22
Speaker 1: You know, he's still learning. He's still a young player.
49:26
Speaker 1: He's playing in a culture that he's not familiar with.
49:29
Speaker 2: Those are all things that take time to adapt to.
49:33
Speaker 1: And he's doing really well and I think I think
49:36
Speaker 1: he might be just halfway up the ladder here that
49:40
Speaker 1: he can climb.
49:41
Speaker 2: So I have to agree with that. Freeman is in
49:45
Speaker 2: a good situation right now.
49:48
Speaker 3: He's been a first-choice starter for Villarreal this year. He's
49:51
Speaker 3: mostly come off the bench in the Champions League, but
49:53
Speaker 3: he's coming on every game and he's starting in the league.
49:56
Speaker 3: And this is a Champions League-level club, a very good
49:58
Speaker 3: club in La Liga. the up to 7 million that
50:01
Speaker 3: they paid for paid Orlando. First of all, they got
50:03
Speaker 3: it at a little bit of a cut rate because
50:05
Speaker 3: his contract was about to expire and they were content
50:07
Speaker 3: to wait for him to sign up for free if
50:09
Speaker 3: they wanted to. But I think he's going to be
50:11
Speaker 3: sold for a whole lot more money elsewhere. We had
50:13
Speaker 3: Tim Weah scoring for Marseille. It was, it was a
50:16
Speaker 3: really good goals, individual effort. It was, it was a
50:19
Speaker 3: combination of technique and grit to get through and weave
50:23
Speaker 3: through and score a goal. But again, I must say
50:25
Speaker 3: captain and then elsewhere in France, Gio Reyna. This has
50:28
Speaker 3: been the best that we've seen him since, you know,
50:30
Speaker 3: before the 22 World Cup.
50:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, without a doubt. Last week he scored against PSG, right?
50:37
Speaker 1: This weekend he played 80 minutes, but he's still getting
50:40
Speaker 1: a lot of minutes. And I think that's the important
50:42
Speaker 1: part because it's been a lot of years of him
50:44
Speaker 1: not playing. And I think now the consistency of having
50:47
Speaker 1: played you know, all four games for the national team.
50:49
Speaker 1: He had played a couple of games coming into that.
50:52
Speaker 1: And now the game's after, and he's getting into that
50:55
Speaker 1: rhythm now where you don't need to, you almost don't
50:57
Speaker 1: need to train anymore.
50:58
Speaker 2: Now you're just playing games. And that's a great place
51:01
Speaker 2: to be.
51:01
Speaker 1: You know, when you're a player and you get into
51:03
Speaker 1: that rhythm of just playing games, there's no better place
51:07
Speaker 1: to be because you just feel like now your fitness,
51:10
Speaker 1: it's not something you're worried about.
51:12
Speaker 2: You're only concerned with playing the games.
51:14
Speaker 1: And, and I think likely, uh, he looks at himself
51:17
Speaker 1: every day and realizes that he hasn't been in this
51:20
Speaker 1: place for at least five or six years.
51:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's been really good for Gio Reyna. Hopefully that
51:25
Speaker 3: will continue. Lastly, the Americans at Borough, Middlesbrough, America. Aidan Morris,
51:31
Speaker 3: Sebastian Brawls are playing well. Max Arfson, A little bit
51:33
Speaker 3: less so, but Aiden Morris scores this weekend. He's kind
51:37
Speaker 3: of gotten overlooked as, you know, Berhalter and Orson joined
51:39
Speaker 3: the club. Rokas Buxas as well. Some other non-American but
51:43
Speaker 3: MLS-based players that came to Middlesbrough. Aiden Morris has kind
51:45
Speaker 3: of gotten lost in the shuffle because he came there first.
51:47
Speaker 3: And he's just been really, really good for this team.
51:50
Speaker 3: And he's somebody who's trying to help push the team
51:53
Speaker 3: to the Premier League. And I think he's somebody that
51:55
Speaker 3: if they get promoted, they'll get minutes in the Prem.
51:57
Speaker 3: And I don't know, man. Aiden Morris has been very,
51:59
Speaker 3: very good.
52:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean, all we can say about the team,
52:02
Speaker 1: they're in first place, you know, in a league that
52:05
Speaker 1: we thought likely would, you know, would be taken by
52:10
Speaker 1: West Ham. You know, we thought that maybe West Ham
52:12
Speaker 1: would run away with this. And here we are, you know,
52:15
Speaker 1: we're however many games are in, 10 or 12 games in. Yeah,
52:19
Speaker 1: 12 games in and Middlesbrough's in first place. So, I mean,
52:23
Speaker 1: they couldn't be doing it better.
52:26
Speaker 3: Now, and they turn to several Americans for their push
52:31
Speaker 3: to promotion so that'll be super fun to watch as
52:33
Speaker 3: the season goes on but tab it's been great to
52:36
Speaker 3: be back iheart thank you very much for for continuing
52:40
Speaker 3: support of this show we are going to be back
52:42
Speaker 3: next week and it'll be regularly scheduled programming as we
52:44
Speaker 3: get towards this november window in which the u.s plays
52:47
Speaker 3: haiti in the concaf nations league thank you for listening
52:50
Speaker 3: to inside american soccer please rate and subscribe wherever you
52:52
Speaker 3: get your podcasts we'll see you next week