Ep. 3 - MLS Deep Dive & USMNT World Cup Roster Predictions

Brandon and Shaun get you up to date on soccer in the U.S.

Walk through the ins and outs of the MLS including what the league schedule looks like, how the trophies in the league are structured, and who some of the best teams and players are this season.

Then, the duo gives their predictions for what Mauricio Pochettino will do with the upcoming 26 man World Cup Roster announcement. Brandon and Shaun also give you who they would be taking to the WC if they were in charge of their own selections. 

They wrap up the show by talking about Neymar Jr.'s reaction to being selected by Brazil and how his final World Cup will take place in the U.S.

Email: friendsonfootball@gmail.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hello, friends, and welcome into episode three of the Friends on Football Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Sean Boyle, and joining me as my right-hand man. It is Mr. Brandon Johnson. Brandon, how are you? Sean, I'm I'm great. Enjoying it. How are you doing, Matt? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Yesterday we brought you a very Eurocentric episode. Today we have in store for you, we're keeping it domestic. We are going to talk a lot about the MLS, just sort of the ins and outs of the league, how it works. Brandon's an expert on the league, so have to use him for that. We'll give you some updates on how the current season's going. We'll dive into all things MLS. And then we also have an exciting segment to round out the show. It's a deep dive into the U.S. men's national team roster projection. The roster is going to be released on Tuesday, May 26th for the World Cup. We're going to give you our best guess at what we think Mauricio Pachettino will do. And we will also maybe give you what we would do instead in a couple of different instances. So a lot to get to. I'm going to play host today. Brandon did a fabulous job hosting last episode. I will be posing the questions to him now. A little bit of a turntable situation like Michael Scott. We're going to start, as we say, we're going to break down the MLS for this should serve as an intro to you if you don't know a single thing about the league. So, Brandon, why don't we just start with what is the structure of Major League Soccer and how does it differ from some of these European leagues that we've been talking about the first couple episodes?

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Yeah, yeah, Sean. So excited to get into this with you. So I guess first to even start before that, I previously worked in MLS. I worked for my hometown team, Philadelphia Union, for about two years. Then later was a season ticket holder actually for the Philadelphia Union for about three years. And I was doing a count earlier today. I think I've been to about 11 of the 30 MLS stadiums. So I'm trying. Slowly but surely. But yeah, the structure of the league. So the MLS has 30 teams currently. Um, I do think it will expand to 32 in the coming years. Las Vegas is itching to get a team. Um course. Yeah, always. Uh Sacramento, Detroit, Indianapolis have been some other cities that have been mentioned. But uh I do think that'll that'll eventually get to 32. Uh currently there are 27 in the United States, three in Canada. The Canadian teams are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. The MLS is split between East and West Conference, uh, really just for standings. Uh at the end of the season, there's still only one champion. Um so you could win your conference, but that doesn't really mean much. Um it's the top domestic league in the United States. It is 30 years old. Um, it was founded in 1993, but didn't actually start playing until 96. Uh as far as the scheduling goes, so there are 34 games for each team. The season right now runs from about middle February to October, with the playoffs after that. Usually the MLS final is early December. 18 teams make the playoffs, uh, and it's a bracket-style tournament. Sean, we can we can break that down a little bit, but 18 out of 30 teams making the playoffs is a little uh little Mickey Mouse for me.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

It's far far too many. It devalues the regular season quite a bit. You could be a pretty average team and sneak your way in.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Exactly. So the uh current structure is actually changing a bit. At the end of 2027, they're moving to the European calendar. So they'll play a schedule of about August to May with a with a winter break uh in the middle. They have not announced how that will impact the playoffs and the postseason, but they want to move to the European schedule for transfer reasons. It will impact weather, but that's kind of what MLS MLS wants to align with the rest of the world.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

I was gonna ask about that. That seems like to me, I would would like your thoughts, but it seems to me like a good decision to just get on the same footballing calendar as everybody else because it felt like MLS was kind of playing with one arm tied around their back in some of these transfer situations where they were just operating on a completely different schedule, and at times it hindered maybe the growth of the league, but just also it left teams in limbo at weird points in the season, which I think now that problem should be taken care of.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Yep, exactly. And I think that was one of the main reasons. Um, of course, there's gonna be drawbacks to that. So, you know, teams are gonna have to go to Chicago in late November. Uh so it's gonna be cold. There's probably gonna be snow. Um, so that'll put that'll prove some challenges for teams, but uh MLS is ready to handle that, and uh it's been in it's been in talks for a while, um, but they finally solidified it to begin at the end of the 2027 season.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Okay, that's I like that. So while we're on the schedule topic, how is this year's schedule impacted by the World Cup?

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yes, so this year the MLS will take a seven-week break. Actually, beginning this weekend, this weekend will be the last the last games until the middle of July. I think the first games back are July 17th, which is two or three days before the World Cup final. Um so all teams will be off.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Okay, that's interesting, and obviously that makes this year a little bit different than most MLS seasons because they're losing some prime real estate in the middle of their calendar with the World Cup being used in a lot of these cities that these teams are from.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Yep, exactly. It's an interesting uh situation to be in, but I think it's the right thing to stop this season. Uh, we'll get into it later, but there are going to be a fair amount of players uh from MLS teams playing in the World Cup. So you don't want to disadvantage those teams of missing out on their key guys for six, seven games.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Yeah, that would make sense. It would also just be completely crazy and shambolic, honestly, if we had MLS games going on in the same cities that World Cup games were happening at the same time. That would be Mickey Mouse's a league in general. So you basically just need to shut it down for those seven weeks.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

I think that's a good idea. I will say one note MLS in the past has been notorious for playing during international windows. So, you know, you have an international break and guys get called up and they'll still have four or five games. So teams will just play without you know eight, nine of their best players.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

That's insane. That's insane. We we need a common sense committee for a lot of sports in the United States. MLS has long needed one. So I'm glad to at least see they're getting on the same calendar as everybody else. Hopefully that eliminates the international break problem as well. But why don't you break down what trophies are teams eligible to play for? Because we talked in Europe about how there is obviously the league that you play in, for example, the Premier League, then there's the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, which are two domestic cups, and then there is European leagues, such as the Champions League or the Europa League. What does that look like in the MLS?

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yeah, yeah. So MLS Cup is your typical American championship. It would be the equivalent of the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, uh the NBA Finals. So these is the team that goes through the playoff bracket that we mentioned earlier and comes out on top of the end of the season. Uh so that's the MLS Cup. That's probably thought to thought as the best trophy you can get. Another trophy in the MLS they have, it's called the Supporters Shield. So this is similar to what essentially the Premier League is. Uh the Premier League 38 game season, season ends, the team on top, they win. Um we're not going to mention who won this year, but in MLS, I don't think they had a season though.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

I don't even think they had a Premier League season this year.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

I think they actually canceled it. You're right. That was a lockout.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Now the other one, cantavirus or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

They stopped it. But yeah, the supporter shield in MLS is the team with the highest number of points at the end of the season. This is a little bit of a Mickey Mouse trophy. Americans don't really see too much value in this. It's it's a great accomplishment for the club, but it's not as highly regarded as the MLS Cup.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Yeah, I have a bone to pick with Americans on that. I think this should be. You're correct in saying that it's not cared about because it's really not. The MLS, it doesn't seem like they make a big deal about it, or as big of a deal as the MLS Cup, but it is a more accurate representation of who the best team is throughout the season, in my opinion, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I mean you think about it. You're playing 34 games, and this is the team that won the most games out of 34.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

I'm a fan of the supporter shield. I'm gonna try to grow that brand as we grow this program. We're gonna be falling that race.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

We can, yeah, we can we can definitely in the supporters shield race. The current supporter shield owners are actually the Philadelphia Union, who we'll touch on later, but are currently in last place in the whole league. So which I believe there's an award for that too. It's not the wooden spoon. The wooden spoon, correct. That's a deep MLS cut, but uh yeah, the the wooden spoon. But funny enough, Sean, the winner of the supporter shield very rarely wins MLS Cup. That's it. I don't know if it's pressure, I don't know if it's complacency, but very rarely does the same team win both. And uh, if I was a better podcaster, I would tell you the last time it happened, but I don't think it's happened in the last in the last at least five years.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

That's interesting. Maybe it's similar to the NBA. Where you know how in the Eastern Conference we always have these try hard one seeds, kind of like the Detroit Pistons this year. It's like they yeah, they were good in the regular season, but they're not gonna win a title. Maybe we have some we have some hardos that just really try hard when other teams know that they're in the playoffs and that's what matters in the MLS. So that's something to monitor.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah. Um, but back up back to the trophies. Um, I have a quick little trivia question for you. Do you know which team has the most MLS Cup trophies? Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

I don't. This is a great trivia question. God. I know recently my answer would be LAFC, but they're a new team. They are an expansion team pretty recently, so it's definitely not them. I oh god. Oh, is the team still active?

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Is my oh yes, I apologize.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Yes, the team is still active. Because there's some elite jerseys back in the day for some teams that are no longer in business. So I'll say NYCFC.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Uh nope, nope. So NYCFC actually is a newer team. I believe they only have one. Um okay the you actually were close when you said L EFC, you should have went across the street. It's the LA Galaxy.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

That crossed my mind too, because I know they they won with Bex back in the day, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yep, they have six uh six MLS Cups, 2002, 05, 11, 12, 14, and 2024. Um Okay. So yeah. I did not know that. Just a fun little fun little fact. Um, but then getting back to the the other trophies in the MLS, US Soccer hosts what's called the US Open Cup. Uh similar to the FA Cup in England, like you mentioned earlier. Uh amateur team amateur teams all the way up to pros play in this cup, uh, single elimination bracket. An MLS team almost always wins, but it's always cool to see the amateur teams come through. A few years ago, there was a team that were sponsored by a liquor store from I believe they were from Maryland or Virginia, and they made it pretty far, maybe to like around a 32, which is great because they were just like ex-guys that played in college who just were hanging out and were like, oh, let's start a team. And the liquor store, I guess they they went to sponsored them, and they did well. So it's it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Um, unfortunately, at the end of the day, the MLS teams almost always win just based on resources and skill. But uh there is a lot of uh a lot of history in this tournament. It's actually the oldest national soccer competition in the United States. Um began in 1914, and the teams uh that actually have won the open cup the most are uh Bethlehem Steel, a local team from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They no longer are in existence, as well as a team called Maccabees Los Angeles, also no longer in existence, but they've both won the competition five times, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Wow. Yeah, that is cool. That's a great fun fact.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

And then there's two other two other cups that MLS teams are involved in. One is called the Leagues Cup. Um, this is a newer competition. It takes basically teams from Liga MX, which is the Mexican League, and the MLS, and they play in a tournament in the summer. I will say it's I don't want to call it Mickey Mouse, but it's a little on the you know jokier side. You know, you'll see your third string goalie get some minutes. The the 15-year-old kid that you guys signed to you know sell some tickets, he'll get some minutes. Um it's a little, it's not it's not too serious. Right now, about half of the teams in the MLS play in that, and then the other half of the teams play in the US Open Cup that we just mentioned.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

I want to plant my flag as a guy. And you could tell me I'm crazy or wrong, but I want to be a supporter shield guy and I want to be a League's Cup guy. I really want to love the League's Cup. I watched it the first year it came out because I was intrigued by how Liga MX would stack up with the MLS. And I think instead of expanding into all these new US markets, I think the MLS and Liga MX should do more together. I think that's a really cool idea. It kind of plays into that USA-Mexico rivalry. I think the quality of player in Liga MX is high, and there's certainly some clubs that can win MLS on any given year in that league. So I'm all in. I like the I like the Mexican game too. There's a little bit of flair, there's a little bit of craziness to it. So I'm all in on combining them as much as we can. I do take your point. I I also saw some Leagues Cup action last year, and it seems like the luster wore off a bit from that first time they did it, where yeah, we had some backups, we had some backups in the game, so I didn't love that. We need to work out the kinks, maybe, and we we appear to have a pretty hectic schedule, so there might be some congestion in the fixture list. But yeah, in theory, I like what the League's Cup stands for.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yeah, yeah, and and the other, I guess, kink they need to work out is the time period they have the tournament is actually right before so so Mexico plays two a spring season and a fall season. And they basically play this in the summer. So the Mexican teams are not really informed. Um it's almost preseason. It's like they're pre-season, yeah, yeah. So so again, a little Mickey Mouse, but we're working on it. And then yeah, so this year is actually the first year, I believe, where games will be played in Mexico and the US. Games were just being played in the US before. Liga MX said, hey, let's let us host some. Um so it'll be cool to see you know some younger guys get some minutes on and usually the team that wins Leagues Cup doesn't always necessarily win MLS Cup or or is a favorite to win MLS Cup. So it's cool to get you know your your young guys some action. And then the last trophy in uh MLS teams are eligible for is the CONCACAF Champions Cup. So essentially the Champions League in Europe, same concept, uh, but for North and Central America. They're this this cup is generally dominated actually by Mexican teams. Yeah, Cruz Azul and Club America have each won this seven times, uh, which is the most cruzel. I wish you asked this for my trivia question, because I had Club America ready to roll. Yeah, Club America is definitely one of the bigger teams in Mexico and always has eyes on that. Currently, the the champion is Cruz Azul, and the final is actually next week, which is between Toluca and T-Grace, both also Mexican teams. Sick. That they beat MLS teams in the semifinals, LAFC and Nashville, respectively. So it'll be another, it'll be a good one to watch. I don't think we'll have boots on the ground for this one, but I'll definitely have eyes on it. Um and definitely check it out.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Angel Correa plays for T Grace now, and he was one of my favorite players in Europe for a little bit. Little Argentinian striker, central forward. I'm a fan of him, and he he's a he's a T-Grace player now. So I'm I'm pulling for those Tigers in that one. I love the shot. I love the shot.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Yeah, those are the those are the big trophies in um in MLS. You know, I I think another thing, Sean, MLS are still being a younger league. We're still kind of getting our name out there. People don't really know about it. Of course, you know, they know Miami. I'm wearing the Miami jersey right now. That's RC. And those guys, but I actually do have another another trivia question for you if you want to play along with it.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Let's do it. Rip it. I'm gonna start coming with some European ones for you, just so you know. I I would because you're catching me off guard here, so I'll make sure you know next week I'm coming proper with some questions of your way.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

No, you can embarrass me. I think you you might get this one.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

Makes it worse.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Do you know who is the all-time MLS leading goalscorer? And I'll give you a little hint. He is American and he has played in the World Cup for the United States of America.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

But it has to be an American. Did they play in Europe at all? This American.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

I don't believe so. See if if he did hand up, like it was brief, didn't do much.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

He made his money, his bread and butter is in that.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Can I get a team he played for in the MLS?

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yeah, so he scored, I think, I'll tell you the number, it was 170 171 goals. I think he scored all but five of them for the San Jose Earthquakes. Jesus. You'll know the name, but it might surprise you.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

It's gonna surprise me. I was gonna say Josie Altador, but but he played for Toronto, was where he made his bread and butter in the MLS, I want to say. It's so it's not Landon, because you said I'll know the name, but I yeah. Not Landon. I give up. I seed my time.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

That no, that's okay. I was actually surprised because I've heard the fact before, and I've of course I had to like fact-check it. It's actually Chris Wondolowski.

SPEAKER_00 17:56

Wow, Wando.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

I would never in a million years have guessed him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

So I do know him. Yes, I would just never have guessed he was the leading scorer in MLS.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

That's crazy. In 12 seasons with the earthquakes, I think he scored 167 of the 171, and then he scored like four goals. He played for Houston for a few years before that.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

Um my guess originally was Kai Kamara, but you said American. But Kai Kamara has been a striker bopping around the MLS for decades now at this point, it feels like. So that was gonna be my guess, but he obviously doesn't have enough.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

That's a no, that's a good shot. I we'd have to fact check, but he he may be the player to play on the most MLS teams ever, most different teams ever. Okay. There we go. That's a friend-one football fact.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

That's not necessarily proof. Yeah, we're loose with the facts, that's fine. I love it though. I keep keep up those trivia segments. That's good, that's how we grow the game. I I like learning something new. So learn two things this episode. That's good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yeah, I got you. When I was doing some research, I was like, oh, these will be good, good little little ones to throw at Sean, see see if he can handle them. Yeah. Um, but yeah. Um, a couple other things just about the MLS, and you'll like this as a as a business guy. You know, teams are becoming worth a lot more money, larger ownership groups are being involved. You know, we'll see a lot of NFL or MBA players getting minority stakes in teams. And then in addition to that, the women's the women's game's also grown from this. So some not all, but some of the MLS teams own women's teams as well that play in the NWSL. So there's some good synergy synergy between those groups, which is great because all we want to see is the league grow. One interesting point, though, about the MLS, uh, their commissioner, his name's Don Garver. He goes by Soccer Don on social media, uh, which is a fantastic social media handle. He's been the commissioner since 1999. So what's that, 27 years as an MLS commissioner, but he is uh rumored to be retiring in the coming year or two. So we might see some changes coming up, but overall I think the league's in good health. I think the game is continuing to grow. Obviously, we've touched on the World Cup this summer. It's only going to help help our domestic product as well.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah, and I want to become more of a fan of the MLS. I'm obviously I'm crazy about the sport in general. I've just been drawn to the European game for the simple fact that I felt the passion more there when I was getting into and learning about the different leagues. And I think a large part of that is the promotion relegation. So I wanted to ask you, is that something that you could ever see coming to MLS? Or I know we just talk about business and that's what it boils down to. These owners don't want to take that risk into play, especially when they don't have to. So they already have this set up in place where they're they've paid these enormous fees to own a club or expansion rights to get a new team in the league. I doubt they want to now enter or now throw promotion relegation into the mix, but I think that would really, really help the game from a worldwide standpoint if that were to come.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

I agree with you. I don't see it happening, at least not anytime soon. Multiple reasons for that, like you mentioned, but I think it really comes down to, like you said, that ownership fee. These owners are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to be in the MLS, and if you know their team doesn't perform and they have to go to theoretically, it would be the USL, uh, is kind of the second division in MLS. Not officially, because that there is a promotional relegation. But yeah, I mean I would love to see it. I don't predict it happening. I think the MLS is very American in that way, where hey, we'll reward you with the top draft pick. But for those that follow MLS, the MLS draft is not really a thing because most players come through the team's academy system. So they never have to go to a draft. Granted, college soccer is a great product. There are absolutely pros doing great things that came out of college soccer, no doubt about that. But just to quote unquote tank to get the number one draft pick, your team's not going to be Significantly better just from that draft pick the next season.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

That's a good point, I think, as well. I'm glad you made that. So I think you did a great job outlining what the league looks like, the structure of it, gave some fun facts. I think everybody's in so far. Why don't you start talking about what this current season looks like? So maybe we talk about some of who the best teams are in the East and who some of the best teams are in the West. And also I want to I want to preface this entire segment with this. I'm a free agent in terms of my MLS fandom. I was a Philadelphia Union guy, Brandon, but I was a casual. I was a casual, I have to admit. And I have to say I can't root for a team that doesn't care about winning. They and maybe you would know more than me, but they don't seem to be a team that's throwing all their chips in the win win now basket. And it seems like they've never done that. So I don't want to be associated with that. I would like to root for a winner. And I'm not too proud to bandwagon. So maybe if you, as you're going through this, could point out why fans might pick a team to root for as something to keep an eye on, that would be appreciated as well.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Absolutely. Absolutely. I will say to start getting to watch the game. So so in the US, uh actually around the world, all the games are broadcast on Apple TV. Previously, you needed an Apple TV with a special MLS subscription, which costs an extra or whatever per year. Now you can just have an Apple TV subscription. So if you watch your little Tad Lasso, now you watch your other shows on Apple TV, now you can just pop over and and watch the soccer. It's a good for accessibility. It's good to have, you know, be able to get eyes on the game pretty easily.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

It's a nice stream. I will give them credit for that.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Yeah, they've they put a lot of time and effort into it. If you watch, I don't know if viewers watch Major League Baseball, but they do the Friday night baseball broadcast, which I feel like is pretty high quality. Um MLS broadcasts are pretty similar, so that's how you watch the games. But to break down the teams, early in the season, uh it looks like so far Nashville in the east, Miami, New England, and Chicago have have all looked pretty strong. If you want a team, in my opinion, that just has dogs and will win tackles, they'll play pretty soccer, but they still get the job done, it's Nashville. You know, they have a few players. Sam Surge. Honey Mukhtar.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

I can name Honey Mukhtar.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Honey Mukhtar. There you go. Honey Mukhtar. One of the best, you know, attacking midfielders in the league. He is class. They've got some good players. So Nashville's a good team to root for. Miami, I'm wearing the messy jersey just out of respect to the legend. But they are the LA Dodgers. They're the LA Lakers. They're the New York Knicks. It's it's the Hollywood team. It's the stars.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Yeah. Not my team. Brandon. Yeah, but I I think this is might this might be just the doctor ordered for me. I I'm a tortured fan. I'm a tortured fan. I need a winner in my life. I'm rooting for a team who's about to be relegated. I don't win often, and my teams in other sports don't win ever either. So I wouldn't hate hitching my wagon to the GOAT Leo. Got Bex in the boardroom calling the shots. Louis Suarez still biting. I I don't I don't hate what I'm seeing from Miami. And I would also, I'm gonna keep Nashville in mind, but also just know my parameters for a team. We have to play attacking front foot football. Okay. And I like a bit of flash. I like a bit of flash. So the Miami market appeals to me. The LA Galaxy, those old jerseys appeal to me. I'm keeping my eye on them as well. So proceed, but the point noted that it would definitely be rooting for the LA Dodgers.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Yeah. Um New England Revolution, they're an interesting team. I feel like they play really just good team soccer. Their goalie is Matt Turner, who we'll get into later, but but could potentially start for the U.S. at the World Cup. They have a few players, Carlos Heel. Uh he's kind of their flashy attacking midfielder, one of their better players. They they've been up and down. I think they have a good a good team. I don't know if it's good enough to win the league, but they're they're fun. And then the final team in the East, Chicago, that I mentioned, coached by our guy, GG, Greg Berholter.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

No, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Yeah. Uh they they actually played pretty good style. Um, I would say former Philadelphia Union, a defender Jack Elliott is their captain, Chris Brady is their goalkeeper, is in the mix to potentially be the third goalie at the World Cup. Um, but they have they have pretty good players all over the field. Maybe not the best looking soccer, but you know, they get results, and hey, results are what we we look for.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Yeah, I'm a f I'm a fan of Chicago as a sporting city. I have an affinity for the Bears and the Cubs. I like it's a nice sports town. I'm not so sure though, that the fire or screaming that kind of football that I want to hitch my wagon to for the MLS. So I think it's gonna be a pass for me.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Fair enough. Switching to the West, I may have your team. Here we go. You'll have to stay up late, but Vancouver White Caps. And now let me let me just throw you some Vancouver White Caps. Tell me. They play, in my opinion, some of the most attractive soccer in the MLS. Thomas Mueller is one of their best players. Uh, Sebastian Berholter, Greg's son, is on their team. So that might that might knock you out. That might knock you out. I'm not out yet, but I'm close. They have this other guy, Brian White, he's one of their four. It's just a poacher, scores goals like nobody's business. I swear, whenever they play, it is attack, attack, attack. It's I love that. It's great to watch. And they're they're solid defensively and they and they do pretty well. They do play on a turf field, which takes away a point in my book, but you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

I don't know. The only concern I have, I love the attacking part. I don't know if I ever want to go see a game if I'm gonna make my way to Vancouver is an issue. Fair enough. Not the easiest.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Not the easiest place to get to. So we might we might be you might be a Nashville guy.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

We're we're keeping our options up. We're we're listening. Hey, I'm willing also to invest in an up-and-coming team if you have any of those. So I'm I don't need to necessarily win right now, but I need to win soon.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

Okay. I might interest you in Charlotte in the East, close to get to. Okay. They got some pieces. They they have a strong team. Yeah. Maybe a Charlotte guy.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

But in the West, other teams, San Jose's doing pretty well, Salt Lake and Seattle. San Jose actually has our good ex-friend Timu Varner. He surprisingly knows how to score a goal for San Jose. Couldn't do it last year with us. Um I tried to do it. Unbelievable. They they played Philly earlier this year. I had to I had to get boots on the ground. Had to chirp him a bit. Because I was like, this can't be real. This can't be happening. Um Werner on the dance floor. Yeah. The Spurs are in the mood, baby. What a what a piece of trash he is.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

He did not score against Philly, but I think he had he may have had an assist. No, I did see I did see some clips. He's banging in some goals and assists this year.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yeah, and they are actually coached by uh Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I like Bruce a lot more than I like 3G, so so that's an interesting one.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Uh Salt Lake, Diego Luna, probably. That's my boy. He is you want to talk about a dog? Doggy. You want to talk about a dog? Yeah. Dog. That's your guy.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

That's my guy. I'm a Luna. I'm a Diego Sturs guy.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Follow him on Instagram the whole night. I love him. He I don't know if you you probably know this, but but for the viewers that don't, uh, when he first came to Real Salt Lake, he was working at Dutch Bros, the coffee shop out in out in uh Utah to learn English.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Oh, I love him. I watched him play in the United World Cup. I was just kind of like scouting some guys I thought maybe would come along for the US, and he took a right-sided corner kick with his left foot and the left-sided corner kick with his right foot, and I said, That's the sickest thing I've ever seen. Legend.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Yeah, so they they they're a pretty exciting team. They have some pieces. They're they're they tend to be on the front foot. Um, yeah, would would recommend them. I've never been to Salt Lake, so can't speak much about that, but I do know their stadium has a beautiful scenic like mountain in the back. So it might be worth might be worth checking them out. And then the last team, I would say is Seattle, Seattle Sounders. Jordan Morris, he's been in MLS forever. Your your hated Christian Raldan and his brother Alex. Argo Christian and his brother Alex are uh in Seattle. They're they're good, they're always in the playoffs, their coach has been there forever. They kind of are that team that's always you know, always in the dance, but never get asked to dance. That's kind of team.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Exactly, exactly. So that they're an interesting one to follow.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

I tell you what, I like the sound of Real Salt Lake. That might be the leader in the clubhouse. Yeah.

unknown 30:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

And I'm with you, never been to Salt Lake, but it looks beautiful. So Diego might might be able to get the job done for me.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Okay, we can we can make that happen. And I uh, you know, I actually got a couple I got I know a guy out there who can definitely help you out with some tickets if you want to make it out that way. So there we go.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

We can and there's another guy who plays for them who we'll talk about a little bit later in the World Cup preview, maybe. So I think a young a young up-and-comer. So some promise from Real Salt Lake. Yeah, no, they're they're they're a good team. I like that. So why don't you talk more about now player specific? We went through some of the teams in the east and west, who are just in general the best players in the MLS. I think we already we can kind of skip past the guy's jersey you're wearing. Messi, obviously, is the best player in MLS, but aside from him.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Yeah, so we have our ex our ex-Tottenham guy, Sun Heeman. Sonny hasn't had a great season this year, to be fair, but I mean he's still class, you know. I think he's 33, 34 years old now. But in MLS, he'll he'll still get his goals, he'll get his assists. Plays on a really good attacking LAFC team. Um, they've struggled, they struggled a bit so far, he struggled a bit so far this season, but they're always always in the mix. Don't know if you knew this, but James Rodriguez, the Colombian midfielder, plays in MLS right now. But fun fact, he is rumored to be retiring right after the World Cup. So yeah, he came to Minnesota.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

He just basically Yeah, he just abused him for some training, I it feel it feels like, right? Yeah, he wanted to be on a team heading into the World Cup, yeah, match fit, one last two raw, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Which is absolutely wild. I would love to be in the boardroom listening to those conversations because you know, you you invest a lot into him, and he's a name and he'll he'll sell you tickets and whatnot. But I think he's played like three or four games. He actually had an injury as well. But he I saw him play, I think, two weekends ago, and he was I mean, he was different class, like it was I was like, Yeah, he's he's ready for the World Cup.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

He's he's the ultimate enigma too, because he is always injured or like missing or like something's always going on with him, but then when he's out there, it's like holy shit, you can't even get close to him. He's unbelievable. And I will say, Minnesota, they they are one of the only MLS stadiums I've been to. When I lived there, I went to a couple matches, so I like the wonder wall they have there in St. Paul. It's a it's a cool vibe. They just they don't really try to even develop Americans from their academy and bring anybody through. So it really hurts the fan connection in that way. I just I couldn't get behind their strategic vision as a club, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

That's yeah, that's fair. I've definitely heard that criticism in the past. You know, it's crazy like the academy system now. Like kids will grow up in Minnesota, maybe play for Minnesota's academy for a year or two. If they don't like it, they'll just transfer to another team's academy, and it's just okay. And the teams can like move them in and house them and all that, and then they're all of a sudden uh New York Red Bull homegrown. And you're like, what just happened? So that's crazy. Yeah, we gotta sort that out. But other other stars in MLS, Rodrigo DePaul, he actually plays with Messi in Miami, Louis Suarez in Miami, Thomas Mueller, we mentioned out in Vancouver. Josh Sargent just recently made a move to MLS, and maybe it's not talked about a ton, but he plays for Toronto. I think, you know, we'll talk about him in the World Cup discussion. Could maybe get a spot on the team, maybe not. But there are a lot of players, I think, in this league that will be in that next generation of MLS, I'm sorry, uh, US men's national team setups and and the other national team setups. Uh the league still is as a little bit of hey, come play when you're young, we'll develop you and send you to Europe, or hey, your career in Europe's kind of over, come finish your career in MLS. Um, there's still a little bit of that, and it's improving, but there's still that stigma with the league.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

I think that's the most important thing as we look for the long-term future of US soccer and the MLS, I think they go hand in hand. And I think it's the point you just made where we need to figure out a way for these clubs to get to a point where guys don't feel like they need to go to Europe until they've proven themselves in the MLS. I think that's the key thing because the best prospects the United States has had, the Christian Pulitzics, the Giovanni Reynes, those guys have gone to Europe as soon as they are able to. And yes, they've come through MLS Academies, but they're not demanding that transfer fee that would really make an impact on the club because they're leaving when they're 15 years old. So being able to get them to get their first cup of coffee as a professional and get them in the first team and playing professionally and then getting an actual legitimate transfer fee, I think that's the next step for the MLS because then the money starts to flow a lot better. You can retain some sell-on fees for the future. There's a lot of different ways you could go about it, but I think it helps not only just establishing the league and getting those guys playing in front of their hometown fans at a young age, so that those hometown fans have a connection to them when they go over to Europe, as opposed to Pulisik leaving when he's 15. Even people in his area don't know him that well because he hasn't played for the Philadelphia Union. You know what I mean? So things like that I think are what we need to work on, but I think they are making strides, and I think there's a couple examples of that in guys that are in and around the World Cup picture.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I I think the league is doing a better job of that, like you mentioned. And it will be interesting to see if like I think they call it like right now is like MLS 3.0, you know, if that league if the league can take that next job. Because the money is there, their owners are willing to spend, most teams owners are willing to spend to compete. And yeah, if you can get this talent in the door when they're young, but give them give them an opportunity. Phil I mean, I will say Philadelphia, I think does a good job of that.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

They do great job, it seems like they they probably I bet you they have the most guys from their academy that are going to be on the US MNT this year.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Yeah, oh yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

You know what I mean? We'll get into it later. Probably five, five guys right around there, and at least at least five in the picture. So they do a phenomenal job of developing and playing young talent. It's just that next step from them. I'm sure you know, as like as a season ticket holder, as a big fan, it's that next step of figuring out ways to win titles with that talent before you offload them is also key. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

Or, you know, hey, we just made X million dollars selling this player. Let's spend it now instead of just money. That's a that's a key component. But but it's coming along, and and I will say they have a great facility down there, you know, the all of their academy setup, all of it's now in Chester. So everybody's kind of you know in the same building, essentially. Um so it's it's nice, it's coming along, but uh, but I agree, it's frustrating sometimes as a fan because you see those transfer fees go out for the Mark Mackenzie's the Austin Trustees of the world, and then we don't really spend it. Yeah, yeah. But other just to touch on a few other players going to the World Cup, most likely. We mentioned Hamas Rodriguez, Peter Muse, Peter Musa, he's a Croatian, I guess, attacking midfielder, striker, probably more of a striker. He plays for FC Dallas, uh, but he'll be linking up with Lukamadrich at the World Cup. There's a one player in the Philadelphia Union, Danley John Jock. He's a more of like a six, like a holding midfielder. He can play a little bit as an as a attacking midfielder, but I think primarily his bread and butter is as a six. He plays for Haiti. Cool thing is Haiti actually plays a game in Philadelphia, so he'll get to play a game in his home city. That's cool. Um not the same stadium, obviously, because the union have their own stadium and not the World Cup's being played in the Eagles Stadium. Um, but you know, just a few miles away, so it's gonna be kind of cool for him to have that. And then another player I'll mention um because of their uh schedule against the U.S. is Miguel Almaron, uh plays for Atlanta United, midfielder. Uh he plays for Paraguay. So we'll see a lot of faces, I mean, as the rosters get released in the coming weeks, but there'll be a decent amount of players from our league, our domestic league playing in the World Cup.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

I love that. Great job, that whole segment, Brandon. You really knocked out of the park with your MLS knowledge, so that is much appreciated. On Miguel Almiron, he is a cool case because I believe he was with Atlanta United for a few years and really burst onto the scene and then got a big move to the Premier League in Newcastle. And then he winding down, he's into his 30s, returned to MLS, so that's a cool story as well. And yeah, awesome that he gets to compete in the World Cup on U.S. soil. So that's that's cool. I think we've we've talked about it all episode, we've beat around the bush of the World Cup. I think it's time to dive in. As I mentioned at the top of the show, the roster will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th. This'll be the last time we talk to you before then. We will likely have another episode recapping some of the European action at some point after Sunday. But in terms of the roster preview, we wanted to get it to you with some time to take in. I think how we're going to do this is we are going to start with the back. We'll start with the keepers, move to defenders, midfield attack, and we'll I'll start with a guy who I think is a lock. And you could just say yes if they're a lock, and if you're a little hesitant, or no if they're not, and then we'll kind of iron out the position groups that we think Mauricio Pachettino will be bringing in his 26-man roster. So we'll start with that, and then in each position group, you and I can kind of go back and forth and say a slight change that we would make if we were managing our own 26-man roster. Does that sound good? Sounds great. Perfect. All right, so at goalkeeper, I think this is the easiest position to determine what Hotch will do. I think it's pretty straightforward. The three that he will be bringing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're gonna start with Matt Freeze.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

Correct. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Matt Turner. Yes. And I have Chris Brady. Okay. I would say eh for Chris Brady. Okay. Who do you think could be that third keeper?

SPEAKER_01 40:45

I while I do probably think it will be Chris Brady just because of his age and him preparing for the next World Cup. Patrick Schulte, who is the goalkeeper for Columbus Crew in MLS, and Roman Celentano, who is the goalkeeper for uh FC Cincinnati in MLS. I think those guys have that outside chance. But, you know, as we mentioned on the first episode of this podcast, I think you want to bring the super young guy who's going to be the goalie at the next cycle. So Chris Brady is probably the favorite out of those three. But I wouldn't be surprised if one of the other two did get called in.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

I agree with you in what you said. I think the most likely is Chris Brady, but that third spot is completely up to what Poch values in that spot. Does he value a locker room presence, more experience, a guy that's going to be good around the lads, or does he value getting the next guy up, maybe some more experience? And I think it's a big deal to prioritize that because we've got a few good young keepers, or at least keepers that had a lot of promise over the last couple of years. Diego Cochen is in the Barcelona Academy. We have a few guys, and I would prefer to take one of them. Chris Brady, fine, that's fine as well. He's even at a different level because he's a starter in MLS and one of the better keepers in MLS. So I think he's the best of both worlds where I'd feel comfortable with him if called upon, but also he's young, 22, and he should be the guy next cycle. So are we comfortable assuming he'll be the third?

SPEAKER_02 42:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Yeah, I think that's the a good shot. Now, would you do the same? Because I have to tell you, I would change one thing.

SPEAKER_01 42:23

And the order we mentioned, so you'd have Freeze as your number one. Freeze is the number one. We're thinking Turner's the number two.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Yes, that's how that's how I think based on Posh's signs, he feels that way. Turner got one start in the last window, but aside from that, it's been dominated pretty much by Freeze throughout Posh's tenure.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

Yeah, I to be honest, I I don't think I would change that. I think that's how I would keep it. What would you change?

SPEAKER_00 42:48

I am a notorious Matt Turner hater. I he can't stand him. So I would leave him at home and I would take two keepers. I would take I would take Matt Freeze and I would take Chris Brady. Two keepers. And don't call me crazy. Tim Howard himself said on his podcast a week or two ago he would do the same thing. He said the only reason you bring a third is for training because you don't want your number one playing in scrimmages. I'm all for loading up some bozo assistant coach to take shots during practice. Let's free up a spot for a real proper player. There's no need to waste any sort of travel accommodations on Matt Turner, in my opinion. Hey, I'm not gonna judge you for your squad. That's just save space over there on your team. I'm telling you how I would form my 26th.

SPEAKER_01 43:36

Okay, but riddle me this. So first game we play, Freeze gets sent off. So Brady has to come in and play. Fine. Next game, Brady's a starter. We don't have a backup goalie.

SPEAKER_00 43:51

That's fine. How often does that happen? I mean he could get hurt. He could get hurt. It doesn't have to be red card. And it you're right. You're right. And in that case, we're likely fucked. If two keepers get hurt the way it is, we're probably fucked. So I'm I'm just saying, let's let's maximize our upside, is what I want to do. Instead of instead of, oh, what if this, what if that? I want to win a World Cup. And I think the best way to do that, maximize upside. Sure, it's a little bit risky. You're a hundred percent right. We could see red in the first game and really be, we could say, hey, hey, Jedi, bring some gloves just in case. You know what I mean? But but I think I think what I want to do is take two keepers, and I'm glad to have Tim Howard on my side. The Minister of Defense, mind you.

SPEAKER_01 44:43

I mean, look, I respect Tim Howard. One of the best to ever do it. But who so what are you doing with this 26th player, this elusive 26th player that you have?

SPEAKER_00 44:53

Perfect. That's let's move into defense. We'll move our way up the pitch and eventually we'll get. I don't know where the 26th guy falls. It actually might be in midfield, but it just knows we have an extra body there in case we need them. Fair enough. Defenders that we think Potch will be taking. I'll once again start in order of most likely Locke, and we'll do the same thing we just did. So Chris Richards. Tim Reim. Yes. Anthony Jedi Robinson. Yes. Alex Freeman.

SPEAKER_02 45:23

Yes. Serginho Dest. Yes. Max Arston. Yeah. Austin Trusty. Yes. And Mark Mackenzie. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Okay, so those are eight defenders. That's who I think Potch will take. Okay. Now there's a real interesting question here because there's a big name that will be left out of what I think Potch will do that I would 100% have, and that is Noah Kai Banks. It is not the same as the goalkeeping scenario, but this is a guy, it's a 19-year-old, he's a dual national between the German national team and the United States. And the rumor mill has it, there's been a rumor in the last week that he is going to commit to the U.S. and will receive a World Cup invite. Now, I don't know how true that is, it's not been sourced deeply, but there is buzz generating that while he was not willing to commit to the U.S. in March, he might be now if he were to receive a World Cup invite. I think he's the type of talent that I would bring along to a World Cup and I would sacrifice a third keeper, a guy, an extra body in midfield to do so. So I don't know if Potch will. We didn't have him in our list for Potch. So I guess my question to you is what do you think about that? Or are you comfortable with those eight defenders that I originally listed?

SPEAKER_01 46:53

I hate that. I'm not gonna lie to you. I I think he's a great player, don't get me wrong. But if you can't sit there and tell me two months ago that you're committing to my country, I don't know if I want you. I should not have to recruit you to play for your country. You know, you want to go play for Germany? Hey, all the best. But don't come back when you don't when you get cut from Germany to try to play for our team. I I know it happens, I know it's a thing, but I I can't get behind that. Like, I need guys that want to be there. Like, look, we're never gonna be the most talented team, but I need 26 dogs. And if I got a puppy in the mill, I'm not about it. Well, we got we got a lot of puppies.

SPEAKER_00 47:33

You you have one in goal with Matt Turner, by the way. He's a Labrador retriever. Uh I uh I don't disagree with your point. I'll say that. I would ideally, of course, I would have liked Noah Kai to be all in on the United States and representing this country. But it I I can also appreciate that some of these situations are complex for dual nationals. He was born in Honolulu to a German mom with an American dad, and he spent a lot of his time and his childhood in Germany, so I I can understand how that decision's difficult, and he's only 19, so I'm not gonna completely ruin him for that, but I just want it on the record B. John's is leaving him in the dust saying, hey, if you're not with us, you're against us. And I'm taking him. I'm taking him on my 26.

SPEAKER_01 48:20

Fair enough. I think another another name we can throw, we can dance around with is Miles Robinson.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

Certainly should be discussed. So I agree with you on that. If he goes instead of Noakai Banks, you might find me rooting for Germany. I'll say that. Waiter, I'm good on Miles Robinson. I've seen enough. Fair enough. You know, seems like a lovely guy. Just is he is he moving a needle for us? No, he's not. And is he around next cycle? No, he's not. So what are what are we doing at that point? You know what I mean? Okay. So if Noakai Banks goes, he plays. I'm not even sure he would play. I don't think either of those guys would play much, if at all. It would be kind of in case of emergency. I think they're like the backup utility center back. I would have Trusty and McKenzie as the backup duo to Reem and Richards, would be how I see that center back pool breaking down. Fair enough. So I think that fifth guy on the list would be just a break glass in case of emergency anyway. And in that case, give me the 19-year-old with a bunch of upside. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

Okay. Look, if he if he came out and committed, so if he came out and committed to us in March, I'd be all in. He would be my ninth, my ninth defender for sure. But this little like wishy-washy, and I get it, you guys said there's complications. It's not as easy as in cut and dry, but that's my hesitation.

SPEAKER_00 49:44

Okay, so Potch, so far, we expect to take three goalkeepers, eight defenders, and we're on to midfield. We have 15 spots left between midfield and attack. Here's the drill again. Start at the top. Tyler Adams. Of course. Weston McKenny. Of course.

SPEAKER_02 50:03

Malik Tillman. Uh yes. Tanner Tessman. Yeah. Diego Luna.

SPEAKER_00 50:14

Okay, you're iffy on him. You you're iffy on what Potch thinks of him, I guess, is the yes. I know you like him. Yes. I will I'm gonna put here's how about this? Our first ever friends on football guarantee. I'm gonna throw a guarantee that Diego Luna is on the plane. Actually, we're not taking a plane. I guess the plane to LA. But we're this first time we get to say we're we're hosting. So that's sick. But I think Luna is gonna be safe.

SPEAKER_02 50:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 50:40

And I guess just for the exercise, I would like to assume he's safe because I think we have a lot of names in this bucket to still talk about. Yes. So that is six that we are considering safe. Next on my list, and this is where it's completely up to Potch, I have Aiden Morris. I think he fits the Cardoso role pretty well as a replacement, so I think I feel decently comfortable at him about him getting invited. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 51:08

Yes, he was he was in my like late to maybe list. I like him a lot personally, but I do think he fits the role he could play in that Johnny Cardoso spot. I think he he makes the call, the call up.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

Okay, so we both feel pretty good about him. Then I have Sebastian Bearhalter. Again, this is what I think Potts is going to do. And Potts loves this guy.

SPEAKER_01 51:35

He does, he does. He absolutely does. I and I think he he gives you quality. He can hit a set piece, but I don't know if he's hitting set pieces with depending on who else is out there.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Yeah, I don't want him on the team even. He's a little spoiler alert. He might not even make my squad, but Potch is gonna take him.

SPEAKER_01 51:54

I do think, yeah. I think Potch takes him. He was a maybe on my list. I do agree with that.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

So now I have Potch taking nine midfielders, and we have named seven. And I think the last two names, and you can chime in here, I think it's Giovanni Reyna, and I think it's Christian Roldon.

SPEAKER_01 52:11

Sean, Sean, Sean. My notes, it looks like that like meme where all the arrows are going everywhere and you don't know what's going on. They were my big question marks. I had those and I had those two in the biggest question marks. If we were Mario Pacetino and how he thinks, I do think we're done. Definitely. Raina, maybe a little bit hesitant, but but yeah, if if we were Pachettino, I think those are the two names on the plane. I agree with you there.

SPEAKER_00 52:40

Okay. I think I think we're in lockstep, and we can come back to that. We'll revisit that conversation when we get to the bottom of the attacker pool. Yes. And we'll kind of weigh up Raina and Rold on versus the bottom of the attackers. But I'm with you, and the reason I think Pach is definitely going to bring Rold on is he's talked about just what he means to the entire outfit. It was, again, I call them luggage. I maybe that's a bit harsh, but it seems like we're bringing them just to bring them. But whatever. And then Reyna, he recently said that he is not going to punish him for his club form because he's been good for the US MNT. And the fact that he went out of his way to say that leads me to believe that he's not going to leave him at home. And also, Geo, I mean, he he kind of stinks now somehow at football. He barely has played well at all this year or played at all this year in the Bundesliga. It's disappointing because he had so much talent. Arguably the most talented American teenager ever. It's like Freddie Adu, Pulisic, and him are like the guys in terms of technical ability. And he's still young, but his career is stalling in a big way. God, something wouldn't it be so cool if he just had an amazing World Cup. And I think the fact that he has that in his Rolodex means you take him because other guys on this list don't.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

That's fair. Yeah, you have that you know, proof of concept, they say. Like you've seen it, you know what's there. Can you unlock it? And Sean, like, let's let's call a spade a spade. Like a 26-man roster, like you have space, and I know you call it luggage, but in reality, 26-man roster, 19 guys are actually probably gonna see the field. Two keepers.

SPEAKER_00 54:25

No, you're 100% right. The 26, the change from 23 to 26 is huge. Yeah. So the rule is now a minimum of 23, a maximum of 26. Every team's gonna name 26 names just because that makes sense to do so. In the midfield, the guys I had just below the mark that are gonna unfortunately miss, in my opinion, are Yunice Musa, Jack McLean, and John Luca Bucio. Literally, same I had exactly the same. Same thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:50

Jack, I and of course, isn't it? Jack who with the set piece in his foot. Ho cookie, like that's my guy, Philly guy. Well, he's from New York, but Philly union guy. Like, he is class, but he is so slow, Sean. Like, he has no pace whatsoever. But he can hit a set piece, he can hit a ball, he can ping a pass. You have to almost change the style of play to fit him on the field. And I don't know if he's that good where we need to change how we all play because of him.

SPEAKER_00 55:19

That's a perfectly well said point. There are certain guys that are at a level with their technical ability that you do that for. Jack McGlynn unfortunately is not that level.

unknown 55:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:27

Really good. Like him as a player, but between and he's also not been fit this year. He's battled injuries. He's not the most dependable in terms of just holding up in the most physical tournament, too. So okay, so we got the midfield figured out. My midfield, just for posterity's sake, is actually the exact same as what I mentioned from Potch, except I do not have Sebastian Bearhalter going. I have one, I have one of Roldon or Bearhalter in my notes, and it's up to Potch. I'll give him the decision. Whoever's a better vibes guy, that's who you take. Whoever you want in your locker room, pick one of those two. But basically, in my team, there's one spot for the two of you. I don't know which one the team prefers. I'll let them make that decision, but that's where I stand on that.

SPEAKER_02 56:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 56:12

Let's move let's move forward to the attack. We have six spots left. Christian Pulisic. Absolutely. Timothy Weya.

SPEAKER_02 56:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

Ricardo Pepe.

SPEAKER_02 56:24

Yeah. Uh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

unknown 56:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:27

Florin Balogun.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

Yeah. I would have put I would have named him before Pepe, so you made me nervous.

SPEAKER_00 56:32

I actually had him before Pepe, but skipped his name when reading, so that's just that's a user error. All good. Yeah. Okay. So Balogun Pepi. Haji Wright. Haji. And Brendan Aronson. Yep. Interesting. Interesting. Interesting. So Brendan Aronson's the last attacker in. I guess the question for Poch would be you have to pick between Aronson, Reyna, Roldon, Musa, McGlynn, Josh Sargent, Zendejas, Xavier Gozo, Julian Hall. That's the list of guys you have to pick between.

SPEAKER_02 57:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:05

And you basically have three spots for those players that I just named. I feel pretty comfortable that we got it right in terms of what Potch will do. I think in the midfield he will go with Reina and Rold on, and I think he will bring Brendan Aaron and attack. My question to you is, is that what you would do?

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Not quite. What would you change? I mean, look, we're we're like we're playing like football manager here. Like this is not even real, and I'm like stressed. I I I probably have to cut Geo. I'm sorry. Like and I know Club form. I love the take. I love the take. It's it's hot. It's hot. It's a little hot take. But it's hot. And I know Club form does not predicate national team form, but he struggled so much. I also just love Alexander Zendejas. Um, I love everything about him. I think that would be the switch I would make. So you have Zendejas in for Reina as the sacrifice. Yes. Sgt. He's never I I've never been a huge Sgt.

SPEAKER_00 58:05

No, but the last goal he scored for the US was 2019.

SPEAKER_01 58:09

And they got so you're like you might have you might have missed your your chance. That's seven years ago.

SPEAKER_00 58:15

It was BC, it was before COVID.

SPEAKER_01 58:18

BC.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

We can't be bringing him. No. Fair enough. A D.

SPEAKER_01 58:25

I I I'm out. I'm out. Sorry, Josh. That's fair. The Julian Hall shout is interesting.

SPEAKER_00 58:33

It's it's juicy. Okay. So in my team, because I only took two keepers and I cut one of the deadweight midfielders, I have an extra spot in attack. So I would be bringing the same guys we mentioned Poch will be bringing. I have Pulisic, Wea, Pepe, Balogan, Wright, Aronson, and I have Xavier Gozo as my last man in. And I'm pretty comfortable with that. If you want to say Julian Hall instead of Gozo, fine by me. I like Gozo's ability to maybe play a little in those wider areas more, and I think that's something that the team is really lacking outside of Poolistic. So, yes, you could play Haji outside, but he likes to play off the left. That's Christian's favorite spot. Weia, he'll start out on the right, but he's right footed as well, and he likes to come in and he could get a shot off at all angles, but we have a lot of right footers there. I think Gozo's just tricky enough and has a bit about him, but I love the idea of bringing one of those two young guys in to the fold for just a spark. We saw it in previous World Cups, guys like Julian Green, that teenager that just gets a chance and takes it. And I love the idea that, and again, like, oh no, we can't bring Sebastian Bearholter. Damn it. What am I gonna do? It's like, of course, we'll be fine without Sebastian Bearholter or Christian Roldant. It'll be fine. Fine.

SPEAKER_01 59:54

Yeah, it's it's it's it's a very interesting shout because there's pros and cons to both sides of it. I am intrigued by the bringing of the young player just to get it get his feet wet. And like you said, it's the 80th minute. Maybe we're maybe we're beating somebody 4-0 and it's like, hey, go play 10 minutes, or hey, we yeah, need to just throw all numbers high and go score a goal and make something happen. Yeah, there's a little bit of that too. So I still think I I would take Zendehaas, Roll Don, and Berholter rather than Hall or Gozo. But like you said, like if Poch does that, I don't think I'm losing sleep.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:34

The way I look at it with the Roll Dawn and Bearhalter, I know I've been beating them to death. Yes, I'm not a fan of them. I don't think they're at the level required to make a deep run in the World Cup. And I think that's the point where I net out it's like, sure, we can bring those guys, and they're safe options to be around the team, and they're nice, fine, tidy little players in some instances, but it's like we have our core and we need our core to play well and stay healthy to begin with in order to make a run. Why not swing for the fences a bit with some of those ancillary pieces to fill out the roster? And also you're doing it by combining that with getting guys' experience that you think could be a big part of your plans moving forward. And I'm always looking forward to the I love a young, flashy player, so obviously that's skewing my judgment as well. Too. I obviously don't think the US is only going to take two keepers, so I'm living it a little bit in fantasy land, but that's kind of how I see this thing is like, hey, go for the upside, go, go try to make a deep ass run in this tournament. And I think the best way to do that would be to get the most talent we could in the roster.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:36

That's no, it's an interesting way to think about it. I think for me, it's like, you know, with with Sebastian or Christian, like you know exactly what you're gonna get. And like you said, that upside is not maybe not as high as you would get with Julian Hall or Gozo, but Julian Hall and Gozo may come to the World Cup, have no idea what's going on, and look horrible. You know what I mean? So it's like it's like for sure. You know, at the casino or do you want to, you know, sit at home? And with Pachatino, I could see him, I could see him throwing a couple chips in, you know, raising the stakes a little bit. I I could see that happening. So it's a good shout. Yeah, I think it'll be really interesting to see on Tuesday. It it's not like in years past, I think we're like you might have five or six guys where we're like, Sean, like, who what are we doing here? Like, I feel like you know, the list we made, we probably have I would say 24 out of 26. And it's those last two to three spots where we're like, maybe, but in year it's it's a lot more cut and dry, in my opinion, than in years past. And that could be also because of injuries and things like that, but but yeah, it's it's um it's it's one of the easier decisions, I feel like, overall.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:58

Completely agree with you. I think we pretty much nailed it. I'd be stunned if we didn't have 24 or 26 correct, like you said. And I do think the injuries to Patrick Ojumong and Johnny Cardoso made that easier, certainly, because if Ojumong's in the mix, that changes up the forward rotation a little bit, and Haji Wright might be a guy who becomes on the bubble then. So I think relatively speaking, it's a pretty straightforward decision. It's so interesting to me that these are the decisions we're sweating over. Meanwhile, Brazil is choosing to leave at home. Jau Pedro, who scored 20 goals in the Premier League this year for Chelsea, like a world-class talented striker. They're choosing to leave him at home. We're deciding if we can bring like a 19-year-old who's played 15 matches in MLS. So uh I think we should wrap up the show with just talking about the the viral video now at this point. It is the Brazil decision to bring Neymar Jr. to the World Cup instead of guys like Jao Pedro that I mentioned, instead of Andre Santos, instead of our guy Richarlison, who say what you want about Richie, but that man bagged two of the best goals in the 2022 World Cup. Absolutely world class from the Pigeons. So I won't take Richarlison slam.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:08

Yeah, it's it's interesting, Sean. Um there's probably a bit of that legacy in it where it's like we kind of owe it to Neymar to have him in the team. Again, like we've we've mentioned it's 26 guys, you know, leaving off some other quality players is uh is obviously tough, but you know, it's the luxury of Brazil where you can leave a player off like Jau Pedro. And you know, he'll get he'll get some he'll get some slack for it, but like it's still Brazil, like this will probably be a favorite, they'll win their group. Like it's it's crazy that a country like that has those kinds of decisions to make.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:45

Oh, it for sure. It's just it's such a juxtaposition of what we're working with. It's like you pull into a campsite and you see a guy with an RV that has a shower and indoor heating and plumbing, and you're just pitching a tent and trying to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together, trying to get a spark. That's what it feels like. It's like, oh boy, look what just moved in next door. And it's way different than what we got. But we'll make the most of it. I will say the video of Neymar being announced was awesome. He means so much to that country. And I think, like you said, even if it's just to come on 30 minutes at the end of a match and make a difference, he certainly still has that ability. I'm hoping for a little share arc out of him if I could turn back time, if I could find a way to just a little, you know, I'd love to see Neymar ball out on US soil in likely his last World Cup. He he's a generational type talent and one of the most fun players to watch ever. You're not gonna hear me complain at all about getting to see him in the US.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:43

Exactly. And and he'll and you know he'll you know he'll have the flair, he'll have the style. You know, he'll probably alienate a couple of his teammates, but he'll then make the perfect pass or the perfect play, and all's forgotten. So yeah, it's it it's crazy. I also saw a video, I should have sent this to you. Uh it was actually students in Brazil watching the uh the draw, uh the name reveal and kids are like playing Xbox, they're like kind of watching, not really. And as soon as Neymar's name let up, the kids jumped up, they're screaming and yelling. Like you said, you can see what it means to that country. So it's it's special. It's cool. It'll be cool to see him.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:20

Yeah, just an a complete icon. I saw a similar video. It was you could just hear the crowd reacting to each name coming up on a screen in their picture, and when Neymar's came, it was just a different level of noise. So yeah. Cool stuff from Brazil. I'm so excited to see what Pachacino does with this roster. I can't wait to break it down with you once we have it. Uh listeners, thank you all for tuning in. Brandon, thank you for joining me. We have some Premier League action to survive this weekend, and then a World Cup announcement on Tuesday, and we'll be back with you at some time early next week. Yep. Thank you, Sean.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:52

Um guys, subscribe, follow the podcast. Friends on football. You know, we're we're we're doing our best. We're trying to get everything out there, and you know, we're excited for a big summer of soccer coming up.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:04

That's right. Please like and subscribe. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, friends on football. We'll bump all that all that stuff in the show description. So thank you all for tuning in, and until next time, take care.