Ep. 25 - Building for the Future (Pochettino is Back, USMNT Prospects to Watch, MLS Scheduling Issues, Old Faces in New Places)

Brandon and Shaun get together to talk about all things related to football in the United States.

• Pochettino looks likely to sign a 4-year contract to lead the USMNT into the 2030 World Cup. What will that look like? What does Poch need to work on? What are areas of optimism and concern for this next cycle?
• Sebastian Berhalter joins Middlesbrough and his old friend Aidan Morris.
• Who are the best prospects in the USMNT set-up? We talk through: Cavan Sullivan, Julian Hall, Neil Pierre, Adri Mehmeti, Mathis Albert and more!
• Why is the MLS schedule so terribly planned?
• New players take center stage in the MLS with the arrivals of Casemiro, Lewandowski and Griezmann. 
• Which MLS team should Shaun pledge allegiance to?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:22

Hello, friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Friends on Football Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Sean Boyle. I am joined, as always, by my right-hand man, Mr. Brandon Johnson. Brandon, how are you?

SPEAKER_04 0:35

Sean, I'm doing well. It's another day. We get to talk about the beautiful game. So no complaints on my end. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:42

I'm doing well. This is the first time I'm hosting the show in a while, which might give the listeners a bit of an indication of who will be doing more of the talking in this one. I am a little bit rusty, so bear with me if I if I'm struggling for some transitions. As you could probably tell from the episode title, this one is going to be a domestically focused episode. We're going to keep it in the United States here. We've got some news-ish. It's not confirmed yet, but we have to start the show with the biggest storyline surrounding soccer in the United States, and that is Mauricio Pachettino is likely to sign a new four-year contract to lead the United States men's national team through this next cycle leading into that 2030 World Cup. It's being reported that the deal is not done, but it is close. Tom Bogert, David Orenstein, some of the best in the business, seem to believe that the deal will be finalized this week. Brandon, let's just start with that. What is your reaction to that news?

SPEAKER_04 1:39

Sean, it's probably the best result we could ask for. I think af after leaving the 2026 World Cup, there were rumors that Potch was leaving, these European clubs wanted him. But to be able to re-sign him for four more years, I think is a great, great opportunity for US soccer. I know he's not satisfied with how the World Cup turned out, but I do think he's done a lot in the year and a half, two years he's been in charge so far. So having him for a full cycle where he can bring his players in and really start to play his style of football is only gonna help the US. I don't know if there was a better option. Pep Guardiola, of course, would be one that we could throw out there, but realistically, I don't know if the US could have gotten him, maybe, but to to be able to have some continuity in the team and in the managerial role is is vital, I think. So it's it's a it's a win for US soccer.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Yeah, it's sometimes weird when you repeat a cycle with a coach who didn't necessarily live up to expectations, but I don't think that's the case with Pachatino. I think we lived up to expectations. We might not have exceeded them, but I thought we were pretty good throughout this World Cup, even if the ending was a disaster. I agree with the point that having a four-year run-up and a true chance to build his culture, get the guys playing how he wants to, pick his guys from scratch. We might think we know who some of these key cogs are going to be in four years, but the reality of the situation is this game moves so quickly that we don't know anything at all. And but we could talk about this for 50 minutes, but there's also a chance that Pachatino, even if he does sign this contract, there's still a chance that he's not the manager at the next World Cup. That's just the reality of the situation. So a lot can change very quickly. So we're just going to react to kind of the for the time being and plan out the next couple years, but I think it's a really good chance to kind of rejuvenate and refresh the squad. He, like you said, he took over in the middle of a cycle last time. It wasn't a four-year run-up as he probably would have preferred. Now he gets that opportunity if he wants it. I do agree it's the right man for the job. It's the best we could do, simply. You're not going to hire a bigger name or more accomplished manager for the role in all likelihood. So I think given the situation the United States had, I think they should be thrilled that they're able to get Pachettino locked out for four more years.

SPEAKER_04 4:06

Absolutely, Sean. And I think U.S. soccer sometimes they'll they'll run into situations where they'll be interested in a manager just because of his name. And sometimes that name is great, but they don't always have the substance to back it up. I think Poch is a good blend of both. He has the name, and and players are definitely going to respect him in the dressing room. He's coaches some of the biggest clubs in the world. But I think he also can get a locker room, a changing room to truly believe and move forward. And again, we didn't see that at the highest level at the World Cup. But like you said, I don't think the US underperformed. I think they performed probably right where they should have been. But now having a whole four-year cycle potentially, you'd expect to see honestly that finish or even better in 2030 for the world for the Americans at the next World Cup.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Yeah, we saw bits and pieces of Potch trying to instill his culture and trying to find his group of guys. There were situations where early in his tenure he would leave certain guys out of camp that we thought were roster locks. And it was all in an attempt to try to figure out exactly who he could trust in the pool, though who those guys were and identify them, also who he thought he could develop. And I will say, I don't know if it ever got to a point where he felt entirely comfortable with his group of guys. I think he would have liked some more time to kind of pick and probe. The other situation, the matter of the fact for the United States, is our pool isn't that deep of players. So at the time he was picking this 26-man roster for this World Cup, it wasn't like there was a ton of guys left out that we were in full outcry over because the reality of the situation is we're just not as deep as some of these other nations. Hopefully, by the time the next World Cup comes around, that situation has changed a bit. And I think a key for Pacetino as we move forward, one of the things he does need to show that he is capable of doing, which I have to tip my cap to Greg Bearhalter, he was capable of doing this. That's recruiting dual nationals. I think there's a lot riding on some dual nationals committing to the United States in the future. And the one thing I'll be watching Pachettino very closely for the next couple of years will be how successful he is in recruiting some of those guys that might be trying to decide which country they're going to represent. I can think of a few off the top of my head, but overall I just think that needs to be a point of emphasis for this entire staff.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

That's a good point, bringing up Greg Berhalter, because he was pretty successful in that. And you've seen managers in the past for the US take different stances, Sean. Some, hey, we only want guys that are American and that want to play for the US, and we shouldn't have to recruit them. And there's the other thought, and and I think Greg kind of fell into the second thought where it was, hey, you have American and this other country's background. We'd love to have you on the US team, but we understand you do have choices, but hey, we're gonna try to push and recruit you. So there's two camps to it. I for me, it's hey, let's make the pool as deep as we can, let's throw as many fishing rods out and see how much fish we can catch. And look, we're gonna lose guys. There's gonna be guys that are hey, getting called up to their senior national team at 16, 17 years old, that maybe at at the U in the US system, he wouldn't make it that far that early. So those guys may take the other route and join their other country. And and you get that, and you're gonna lose some guys that way. But I do think the culture is there, it's soccer is definitely growing here in the US. You don't have to play in the MLS, which I think is another key point because we've seen that in the past where managers have said, hey, we really want to see you playing in the MLS. Other managers are more open. So, and I think Pagatino is definitely more open to it. So you may not even have to step foot on US soil until these training camps and and and friendlies. So it's not like you have to re-relocate necessarily, but yeah, it'll be cool to see how he plays this out, Sean. And and I agree, some of these dual nationals, some of which we may even talk about in this episode a bit, um, will will be key to helping us be successful in four years.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Yeah, you alluded to it there. In just a minute or two, we're going to get into some of the best prospects that we're looking and keeping our eyes on, not only for this season, but with the thought in mind that they might be focal points for this next cycle in the World Cup. So we'll talk about some of them. But just to tie a bow on the Pachetino news, I agree that we just need to make sure that we're not lumping Pachin because he is not American and because he's managed in Europe the highest level. He has kind of so far not been as open-minded as I would have expected, I guess, in terms of bringing in different players and straying away from MLS or maybe recruiting those dual nationals that have been on the table as much as I would have liked, at least. The one example that comes to mind is Noakai Banks. He was one where I would have liked to have at least had him pledge to the United States at this point, where he's still kind of keeping us in limbo. There's just certain things, and maybe it's because of the fact that Podge was worried about the World Cup, and that was top of mind, and Banks didn't feature into those plans. But now that he's committing to this new cycle, I think there's a lot of things that we really need to start from scratch on. And Podge, you have the keys to the castle. It needs to be all your way. Like, don't bend the knee to anybody or take things like we're trusting you with this job for a reason. You need to make sure that everything is how you want it to be. And if it fails, ultimately it will be your fault, but you will be giving yourself the best chance to succeed otherwise.

SPEAKER_04 9:28

And I think just again to tie a little another bow on this, Sean, I think it shows the commitment to US soccer by US soccer in Posh. I know signing him for this cycle, they had to get money from private equity and these outside sources. And I'm sure to re-up uh for four more years, they're probably tapping into those same resources again. Uh, and traditionally, Americans US soccer has hasn't splashed on on coaches. So to see the commitment and the new training centers built in Atlanta, and there's new headquarters there, and there's a lot of energy around the team. So I I would love to see that continue. And like you said, Poch, you have the keys. It's it's your time to shine. So really looking forward to these next. I know we say four years of World Cup, but I'm looking forward to the next camp and then then the next tournament, and and and as we build and and grow uh over these next four years.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

Yeah, there's always a certain excitement too to the first camp after a World Cup because it is that fresh new start for a lot of people, or at least it's how it looks on the outside. So there's a lot of eyeballs on who makes that roster, so we'll keep an eye out for that. Unfortunately, I don't know how FIFA have come up with this schedule, but we have a long international break already in like October, I think, at the end of September and October. Now, I think they combined a couple of breaks because we used to take one in September, one in October. Now it's just an extended break in October. But we just had an entire summer spent at the international level. We could do with a couple months of league season before we start sending these boys all over the world again. I rest my case on that front. Brandon, we have to talk about some transfer news related to this player pool. What a week for the boy Sebastian Berhalter. First of all, the Pachetino news is probably the best news ever for him. He's Pach's guy. I don't know how that relationship formed, but Sebastian Berhalter is probably jumping for joy at the prospect of Pachettino managing the team again in the next World Cup. But he has also completed a move from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Middlesbrough in the championship over in England. This is a jump that we've seen a lot of MLS guys take from MLS to the championship. I'll give you my quick reaction to it before I let you tell me what you think. I don't think it's necessarily the most impressive thing. I think it's good for Sebastian. I'm happy he got the move. In a vacuum, I would rather see him play at Middlesbrough than I would in Vancouver. With that being said, we've seen a lot of guys from the MLS that are good players go to the championship and be good players. And I'm not sure it's a ceiling razor on their stock in many ways. I'm not sure that it's the best league to showcase your skill if you do have it. It's kind of rough, it's kind of turgid. I'm just not so sure that this move is the best possible outcome for Sebastian. What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 12:20

I think that's a fair shout, Sean. I do think playing in the championship, though, and the possibility of being able to play Premier League football a year, two years, three years later is maybe what's driving it a little bit more. Uh, you see a Haji right at Coventry City. Now he's playing in the Premier League. And will Haji have a great season in the Premier League? Who knows? But he's gonna have eyes on him and he's gonna get attention now. And for Sebastian Berholter, I think it was a situation where he wanted to go to Europe. This club offered a decent fee. He would have been free at the end of this MLS season, anyways. So I think Vancouver said, hey, let's cash in, we'll make a couple dollars, because he would leave in six months for free, anyways. Is it the best fit? Maybe, maybe not. I think I think you have a fair argument there. He does team up with his former teammate Aidan Morris, who he won the the uh MLS Cup with at the Columbus crew, and and and will probably play next to him in the midfield. So there's probably a little bit of a connection there. They both came through the Columbus Academy, they're they're literally, I think, best friends. So so it's great that he'll he'll get to reunite with him. And I think it's a new challenge. I think sometimes we maybe poo-poo on these transfers a bit, but I also take the the soccer part out a little bit and just think of like the human element. He's now moving to a new continent. Granted, they do speak English, it's probably very similar to the MLS, it's not it's not the wildest move, but he's a young guy and he wants to see the world and and have these experiences because unfortunately, we've seen so I've seen so many guys become MLS lifers who I think had the skill to maybe go to Europe. And the the good thing about Sebastian is he's young enough he can go to Middlesbrough. This doesn't work out, potentially could turn around and come back to the MLS, and I think he'll be welcomed with open arms. So maybe not the best quote-unquote transfer, but but I think it's a solid one, and I think he he deserved it after his World Cup performance, but also he's been in great form at the White Caps as well.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Yeah, he's been much maligned by me throughout his career, but I I even said it during the World Cup. I I commended him for his improvement over the last couple of years in particular. He's gotten a lot better. He was always a guy who I kind of hated watching. He just did a lot of things that frustrated me, and I couldn't really tell you what his elite traits were. And now I've seen some of these things develop where he really could strike a set piece, and he really does well from a mentality perspective. Maybe it's because he's a coach's son, but he comes in with the right energy at all times, and that's hard to do when you're not the first name on the team sheet. So I do respect Sebastian Barhalter and I'm rooting for him. I agree that it's a good move, and if I were his agent, I would advise him to take the move, all things equal. It's better to play at Middlesbrough than it is to play at Vancouver, in my opinion. It's just I would have liked to have seen him maybe go to a more ball-dominant club in the Eridivisi or in the Belgian League or something else, because I just feel like the championship is where some MLS guys think it's oh, you're one step away from the Premier League, but then the reality of the situation is if Middlesbrough do get promoted, I could tell you for free, their midfield pivot will not be Sebastian Bearhalt or Amy Boris. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 15:34

That's fair.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then it's yes, they're promoted, and you have the chance of playing in the Premier League, but then you're no longer one of those key players, or you're maybe not maybe not in their plans at all. So it's kind of a double-edged sword. It's a good move in a vacuum. I'm happy for him. And I do agree with you from a human element, too. It's good to challenge yourself and try something new. He's been in America playing soccer his whole life. I think this is a welcome challenge. Teaming up with one of his best friends also seems cool. Middlesbrough have done a good job on social media. They had an interview with the two boys that they put out, and you could tell that their chemistry is already in a good spot. So, overall, a pretty good move. I think that's the biggest transfer so far from a US MNT perspective. Is there anything else that's caught your eye?

SPEAKER_04 16:17

That's definitely the biggest I've seen so far. I was gonna add uh because we are part of the Tortured Fans Department Podcast Network, there's a viral video that Sebastian and Aiden Morris made, TikTok that they made back in I think 2019-2020 with the love story, and like one proposes to the other uh in the video where the camera gets pushed. Yeah, you gotta look it up. But it's a nice little connection between them and us. I'm also repping my 2018-2019 Middlesbrough Way jersey.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

I was gonna say, Brandon, you're repping the kit on video here, and after hearing the love story news, I might be an investor as well. I might get one with Fairhalter on the back, even after hearing that. Maybe Morris. Maybe Morris, because I do prefer him. But yeah, no, that's that's awesome. That's good stuff. See, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 17:07

Yeah, I'll I'll send you the video. But no, I think that's definitely the biggest transfer. There are, of course, rumors, other guys, Florin Balagan, Kristen Polisic, that we'll see what happens in the coming weeks, but nothing as of as of now, nothing sorted out. So we'll we'll keep our eye on that. But I think Sebastian confirmed to Middlesbrough has definitely been the biggest one so far.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

Which leads us into our next segment, which I've been excited for, Brandon. We're going to talk some prospects, some guys that we think could be featured four years from now in the World Cup. But more importantly, they're just guys that we're taking note of and we're going to be monitoring ahead of the next cycle. I just think, Brandon, maybe it's a bad taste in my mouth still from the way we went out in this World Cup, but I'm kind of fed up with a lot of these current USMNC guys. It was kind of a piss or get off the pot situation in this one. And we got off the pot. We evacuated. We did not piss. And it's been frustrating. So maybe I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect of some of these guys returning to the team, and I'm looking for new faces. Maybe you're a fan who tuned in casually for the World Cup and now you're invested. You remember Pachatino. You want to see who some of the up-and-comers are. Brandon, this is your segment here. So I'm going to feed off of you. Start us off with who's your favorite guy on this list? Who are you most excited to watch as a prospect for the US MNT? Oh, I didn't rank them, but I think go vibes. Go vibes.

SPEAKER_04 18:32

I mean, I think my top, and and I'd be lying if I picked anyone else. It's got to be Captain Sullivan.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

Yeah, that's I think that's the right pick. I think he might be the most talented guy on this list, too.

SPEAKER_04 18:42

The yeah, the 16-year-old currently playing at our club Philadelphia Union. He's really featured this year. He's now playing regular starter minutes in years. It's crazy to say in years past, he's 16, but the last two years, he's been playing sparingly. He's played a couple times with the second team, but he's pretty much been a nailed on starter this year. It's actually going to be interesting. His brother is coming back from ACL surgery, and they play pretty much the same position, so it'll be interesting to see. They play almost like two attacking midfielders, the the Philadelphia Union do. So it will be cool if they play one on each side. He can play with his brother. But uh yeah, I mean, he's going to Manchester City the day he turns 18, so we have about a year and a half left of him in here in MLS. It's it's wild to think he could be what what they're projecting, but it all signs point to being having a successful career, whether that be at Manchester City or one of their clubs, or if they loan him out, however, that ends up working. But he'll be somebody four years from now who we could definitely see on the field uh in at the next World Cup for the US.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Yeah, I think it's important to just kind of put into perspective how good he is at his age. I believe he made his MLS debut when he was 14. Yes. I mean, that's astonishing. Just put that into perspective. Think of a 14-year-old playing any sport professionally.

SPEAKER_04 20:02

And the MLS-that's like eighth grade.

SPEAKER_03 20:05

Yeah, what are we talking about? You know what I mean? And the MLS is not by any means like a low level. Like it's one of the 10, 12 best leagues in the world. So the fact that he's able to do that is astounding. The fact that he's already made it to 16 and now has worked his way into becoming a primary player for the union is even more impressive. He's so skilled, seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders, and he's been talked about and been under the microscope of big U.S. soccer fans for a while now at this point. He's been the best prospect in his age group for a long time. And he seems to be carrying those expectations well. You mentioned the move to Manchester City when he turns 18. That will be when even more eyes go onto him because that's a huge jump. Like from a team who's currently in last place in the MLS to a one of one of the top five teams in the world. That's a big one. So we'll see what that looks like. But I I couldn't be more excited for Kevin. Is it Kavon or Kavan? Kavin. I don't Kavan.

SPEAKER_04 21:00

Kavan, yeah, second one.

SPEAKER_03 21:02

Okay. Kavan Sullivan. I think I've been getting that wrong my whole life.

SPEAKER_04 21:05

I've been a good one guy.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

So Kavin Sullivan. He he's the first name I had written down as well. So I'm glad you let off with him. Who else do you have next?

SPEAKER_04 21:14

Yeah, so I got uh two, and all I will preface by saying all of my guys are currently playing in MLS. So all playing domestic. We I wanted to focus more on the domestic prospects today. Next would be Julian Hall. Uh Julian Hall, similar to Kavan, I believe he might be a little bit older, he might be 17. Plays for New York Red Bulls. He this season has nine goals and three assists. He's featured all through the US youth system. Almost almost made the World Cup team potentially, there was rumors, uh, this cycle. But he's been on fire. He's he's he's playing in the MLS All Star game. He's he's another guy with with Kav in that I I wouldn't be shocked to see them in the in the fold for twenty thirty in a primary role. The team at you know he'll be 21 at that point. So just another guy, uh forward, scores a lot, gets into the channels, just has a knack for soccer, and it's kind of silly to say it like that, but sometimes when you see these young players come through, they make a lot of silly mistakes, they don't really grasp the full magnitude of what they're doing. But he's somebody who looks like they're 25, 26 years old out there, and and you love to see that. And I'll be excited to see him continue to grow. Of course, he plays for the Philly Philly's biggest rival, New York, but you know, I I guess I'll cheer for him when he's not playing against Philly.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Yeah, I I've been a fan of what I've seen from him so far. He he does have a knack, he has a good feel for the game, like you said. I think he's pretty technical for his position. He moves fluidly, even if he's not the best athlete out there. He's a good athlete who moves well, and it just looks like he belongs, which is a credit to him being one of the youngest guys playing in the MLS. Doing so at a high level, scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in the sport, and he seems to have a knack for doing it. So he's definitely another guy. I'm glad you mentioned because we should be keeping an eye on him. And also, just in general, Brandon, I know they're a big rival for your union, but the New York Red Bulls just play young dudes and they play some fun football, and they're managed by a US MNT legend, I would say, Michael Bradley. I think they deserve a shout-out for just how cool it is to see. I mean, a lot of their starting lineup is it's like a U-21 team in Emile Forsberg.

SPEAKER_04 23:30

Yeah, yeah, it it it's it's good to see, and and Red Bull, that's really their bread and butter, and that's how they've that's how they've been for years. I think the last few years they've kind of gotten away from it a little bit. They bought some of these bigger guys to come in, Forsberg being one of them. But I think now they're getting back to their roots. I also want to highlight one of Hall's teammates, this guy, and it's funny we talked we talked offline about this, Sean, but I said, I'm gonna mention this guy, and you're gonna love him. Audrey Nanetti, the the center midfielder for New York Red Bulls, he's 17 years old. Sean, this man is wise beyond his years. He controls the play. He's I love a number six. I know you love a number six as well, but he's he's like a Sean Boyle player. He would plug and play right in your team. I mean, this guy, you would never guess he's 17. The way he can control the game, he presses, he tackles, he passes, he can dribble when he needs to dribble. It's it's incredible to see the and and I gotta give credit to Michael Bradley, their their department, their use system, because they're instilling this confidence in players that are playing in MLS, and they sh they're young enough to have dads that are that are in the MLS. And and they they look like the stars. So Mimedi, another guy I want to mention uh from New York Red Bull, and I know you you're a big fan of his as well.

SPEAKER_03 24:50

I absolutely love his game, Brandon. I uh love his game. He's as cool as you like on the ball. He's tall, lanky, looks like he belongs, receives and turns on the ball so well. Just things you don't see from a 17-year-old too often. He's been compared to Tyler Adams just because of where he comes from and the position that he plays. They're different players, but they do have some of those breaking up play characteristics about them. But I think Memedi at this age is just worlds better than Tyler on the ball. So that's what's now Tyler is one of the unique short burst athletes in all of world football, I would say. Like he's over a short area, he's so explosive, and that leads to those disruptive qualities that he has, which is why teams like Bournemouth love him. Memedi won't have that. He's a lot taller and more graceful in his movements, less explosive. But boy, is he a much better prospect at this age than Tyler Adams was. And Tyler Adams has turned out to be one of the best US MNT players ever. So a lot to be excited about for Memedi. And you're right, stylistically, just absolutely love that type of player. It's a dying breed. We don't see sixes that are able to do this stuff. So let's hope that he continues to develop in this way.

SPEAKER_04 26:05

Yeah, I love the Tyler Adams shout. Sean, when I first finished school, I worked for the Philadelphia Union, and this is 2016, so 10 years ago, and I was working primarily with the second team there, and we played a game against Red Bull 2 at Red Bull Arena. There's 16 people in the crowd because it's a second team game, and Tyler Adams is 13, 14, and everybody's like, This is the guy, this is the guy. I'm in the pregame scout with with the the union team, and they're like, All right, watch out for this guy, this guy. Sean, this performance was absolutely absurd. I was like, There's no way this guy's 14, he needs to be in the highest league possible right now. It was insane. Like the control he had, and and again, it goes back to Red Bull and their system and their confidence they instill in their players. But seeing Tyler Adams at 14, I remember going home and telling people, I'm like, this guy may be the best US player ever. Like and he and they're like, it's some 14-year-old kid, and I'm like, Yes, trust me, like, give him some time. But he, I mean, and and he continues to do it at Bournemouth on on a high, very high level. Um, but I remember seeing him 10 years ago, and I will never forget that game because I've never seen a player that good, that young in my in my life.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

That's that's awesome. That's a nice little story to share too for the listener. I think that provides some context of you kind of if you see it, you know, even at that age, with the world's best, you you can kind of tell.

SPEAKER_04 27:32

Yes, and it's funny because my role on the team, I wasn't doing any coaching, I was more off the field stuff. But just as someone who enjoys the game and and watching the game, I'm like, yeah, there he's got some special sauce in there. I don't know what it is, but but he's not gonna be playing for Red Bull 2 for very much longer.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

He's the best player on the pitch by so far. Such a wide margin, yeah. That's good stuff.

SPEAKER_04 27:54

Uh I I'll give you a couple other Sean, uh, and I'll let you cook with the last one. Uh, I think from the goalkeeper's perspective, I think that's an interesting position. I think we still will have probably Matt Turner, Matt Freeze. Oh, please don't say that. Don't say that. I'm just I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

Don't say it.

SPEAKER_04 28:11

Chris Brady, the third string goalie. I think he'll he'll make a move to Europe soon. He plays currently for Greg Berholter actually at Chicago Fire. Um, he has some European interest. I don't think it'll be this window, but we never know. And then Andrew Rick, a guy probably not known as well as Chris Brady, but he actually trained with the US men's national team at the World Cup. They brought a couple of extra goalies just to train so they had extra bodies. Um, he's Philadelphia's backup goalie, and it's unfortunate because Andre Blake is Philadelphia's starting goalie. He's probably a top three, four goalie in MLS all time. And he just can't, Andrew Rick, unfortunately, he just can't get on the pitch. He usually has to wait until Andre gets called up by Jamaica and then he'll he'll play goalie, but uh he's another guy I would keep an eye on in the system. And then two uh RSL guys, the first one I think is Diego Luna. I I know he got he was a snub. I I know there's talks, he's not that good, blah blah blah. I just think a guy with that mentality, Poch season. I I don't know what Poch was thinking. Let's I'm just gonna call it like it is. Maybe he didn't fit the system, whatever, but he to me seems like a player that Poch would love. And it seems like he did love him because he played him in every single game for the year and a half he was a coach and then not pick him. I don't know. But he'll he'll be hungry, he'll definitely be hungry to to make the team in 2030. And then the last one I'll let you cook with this guy, Xavier Gozo. You put me on to him. I I will say I didn't know him very well. I just looked at his stats. He has six goals and four assists so far this season in MLS. He's playing as almost like a wing back as well, so it's not even like he's playing as a number nine. Sean, give us a little breakdown on Gozo.

SPEAKER_03 29:48

Yeah, his starting position is so far from goal that six goals and four assists is actually great. I love this guy. He he's the same age as Julian Hall, I believe they're in that group together. And he might even be a little bit younger, but Gozo is the guy who he's just really skilled and it shines through. Uh every time I put RSL on, which admittedly is not too often, but I do tune in for Diego and him. And he's playing as that right wing back, which I interestingly think could be very well suited from Mauricio Pacetino. I don't think it's too dissimilar from the role Serginho Death plays, and I think the spaces that they would occupy would be relatively similar. It'd be great if RSL could find a way to get Gozo a little bit further up the pitch so he can shine and show what he's good at more often. But you see him get into these areas and he's trying to play one-touch passes with guys much older than him, and they're not at the same level as him at times. And he he's able to make smart runs in behind the ball. He has a good eye for when to shoot and when to pass and move quickly. I'm just a big fan of Gozo. I really like his upside. I like what he's producing at this moment in time, and I would be stunned if he's not firmly in the picture for the next cycle. We'll see exactly what that looks like, but he will be around these camps and around this team for the next four years. I want to quickly note on Luna, I agree with everything you said about how he seems like a Pacitino player. He was Pachettino's guy for a year and a half. He did start playing some pretty bad football at club level, apparently. I wasn't watching at this point, but the word on the street was that he wasn't playing well. But I still thought that would not be enough to knock him out of the 26-man squad. It was now I'm worried, Brandon, that he might have missed his window. Is there a chance that he's just one of these guys that doesn't make a World Cup squad? Because he's he's significantly older than the other guys that we're talking about at this moment in time, but he is a guy that I think US fans will be familiar with and should be keeping an eye on because when he's at his best, I think he adds something that a lot of guys in our pool don't have.

SPEAKER_04 31:49

That's a that's a good point, Sean. Yeah, he's definitely the odd man out age-wise compared to some of these other guys. Chris Brady's a little on the older side as well. Older being they're probably 23 and 24.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

So any keeper years, it doesn't matter. So Chris Brady, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:03

So the they still have time, but it's a good point. Like there have been guys that just never made a team, they just never put it together when they needed to, and it's unfortunate. I of course do not want that. I love Diego Luna, you know that. But yeah, he's gonna have to get back into form at club level. I know he battled a couple of small little injuries as well, but it's hard. I mean, it's hard. You only have 26 spots, and I think it's good that we are at a point, Sean, in this country, in this pool where we can talk and say, hey, we missed out on Diego Luna. In years past, it's like the roster basically writes itself, and it's like there's no variation, there's nobody else. And maybe in four years, like you mentioned earlier in this episode, Sean, we want to have hard decisions. We want Posh to have to decide between a pool of 50 guys instead of a pool of probably realistically 32, 33. So it only makes us better, but yeah, he's a guy I'm personally cheering for, I know you're cheering for as well. So we'll see how he continues to develop.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

Brandon, there's one more guy playing domestically that I know you're familiar with and I want to ask you about, and that is he's a freak of nature. He is 6'6, Neil Pierre, he is a center back for the union. He's recently come into the starting lineup under the new manager, seems to be putting in some good performances. Give me the scout on him. Sometimes guys are just simply too tall to be elite prospects, but I at his age, with his kind of dynamism in the way he plays, I think he's worth monitoring.

SPEAKER_04 33:32

Yeah. I I'm glad you gave Neil a shout because he interesting story came up through the Union Academy. He was the actual MLS Next Pro defender of the Year two years ago, I believe. He ended up making the first team, not really appearing at all, and then they sent him on loan to a Danish club. He actually just got back from the loan in June. Coincidentally, timing with the manager, new manager fit. He the new manager came from the second team, so he knows Neil very well. It it fit. He Neil comes in right in right in the lineup. Neil Neil comes into his first game off the bench. Uh the other center back who was starting had like a little pull or something. They pulled him out for basically two, three minutes into his first start, just an absolute slam dunk header on New York Red Bulls. It was I felt bad. It was Dylan Nealis covering him too. Dylan Nealis is not like not a bad MLS player by any means. And Tierre, the picture, Sean, it looks insane. It looks like LeBron on a fast break. Like he is so high, and he just dunks on him easily. He actually missed a second chance five minutes later off of another corner kick. Uh fell to his feet kind of awkwardly, and he actually hit the underside of the crossbar, and he was basically in the net. So it was he he might have been better off just missing it, and it maybe would have gone in anyways. But uh yeah, and then started the next game. They had a clean sheet. Like he, yeah, he's he's a prospect, he's somebody you're gonna have to look out for. It's interesting you mentioned his height because obviously it's his you know being six foot six or six foot seven, whatever he is. That's a big talking point. But on the ball, he's he's he's gonna be another Sean Boyle guy. On the ball, he can pass. The techers are there, like there's no worry. You see these big guys, Sean. You always worry. How are the feet? His feet are on point. It's it's good football from him. Yeah, he's I'm I'm glad you shouted him out. He's been in the use of US use system before. Yeah, could could could sneak his way onto a roster.

SPEAKER_03 35:31

I I wanted to bring him up because he's a fascinating player to watch. The moment you see him, you're like, whoa, we should be playing wing for the Sixers. You can get some minutes like LeBron. But I I think he's interesting. I've only seen a little bit of him, and immediately I was like, ooh, that was a good pass. And then the Thunderous header I saw the highlight of, I was like, okay, I'm in. And it's at a position for the United States where we didn't talk about any center backs at all. And boy, do we need some because we saw what Tim Reim and Company put on display in the home world cup. So it's to say we won't be running it back with a lot of that crew. It really might just be Chris Richards and he's looking for some new friends. So I'm interested to monitor Neil Pierre.

SPEAKER_04 36:10

One thing I also want to add just about Neil Pierre. So interestingly enough, you mentioned him coming into the team and how it all worked out. So the Philadelphia Union also, as of this second, still have him on the roster. Uh Owethu Makanya. So he starts he played for South Africa actually in the World Cup. He didn't actually play, but he was on the South African team. But he wants to move, he wanted to move to Europe and he didn't come back after the World Cup. He just said, I'm going back to South Africa, I'm not coming back because I want to move. And so, because of that, Neil Pierre kind of got minutes, his minutes, and now it's being rumored, and it's I think it's at the final stages that Makanya is gonna actually go to Rangers in Scotland. So again, just opens up the path for for Neil Pierre to play even more. So we'll see hopefully a lot more uh highlights from him over the coming months.

SPEAKER_03 36:59

Perfect. That's good stuff. We want these guys playing minutes, that's the most important thing. As we're trying to get excited, we need to have something to watch to be excited about. So getting on the field is very important. That is something I'm a little worried about with some of these international guys I wanted to talk to you about. We have Matisse Albert, who I would say is right up there talent-wise, with Mameti and Sullivan as the two or three best guys of monitoring that we've spoken about so far. He is at Borussia Dortmund, that's the club that Christian Pulisic broke through at. It's a great club for developing young players. I, quite frankly, in all of Europe, I wouldn't really ask for too many other clubs to go to in terms of where you can best develop and have a chance to showcase yourself. We saw Gio Reyna break through there as well. I will say for Matisse Albert, he's look he looks absolutely brilliant in preseason. He's a left winger, left midfielder, can play either side, but he's right footed and likes to invert. He's good at linking play, he can make runs off the ball, he scored a goal in the most recent preseason friendly. He's really making waves there. It's going to be interesting to see exactly whether that correlates to minutes on the field because that's a super high level to be playing at a set as a 17-year-old. I'm not so sure that'll be the case, but a lone move might be the best thing from Matisse Albert. And I think if he goes to the right club, he could, he's a guy who legitimately this year can play in a European league and make an impact on a team, which that's a high, high level for an American 17-year-old.

SPEAKER_04 38:25

Yeah, you'd love you'd love to see that, Sean. And again, it there's so many guys. I know you're talking you're gonna talk more about the international guys, but the the talent is there, and of course there's gonna be guys that flame out and and it doesn't work, and it's unfortunate, but Albert's another one where it's like, geez, like the next crop is special, and you you you know, you want to see that.

SPEAKER_03 38:48

Yes, I think I want I could be incorrect and off by a year, but I want to say that Sullivan, Albert, and Mameti are all the same birth year, and I believe some people think that that class could be as good as the best class in U.S. history, which was the Pulisic McKenney pairing, because they're the same age. They're both 98, born in 1998. So I think that that 09, I believe, class, that birth year can be which is shocking. Yeah, I think that can be something. It's early in the proceedings, but I think that can be one of the best classes the U.S. has to offer.

SPEAKER_05 39:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Two other guys I have for you quickly. Landon Imanolo. Imanolo? Eminolo, I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce it. I'll go with Landon Emanolo. He plays for Chelsea, he's in their youth ranks, he's been captain and been a part of their youth sides the last few years. He is a tri-national at this point. Oh so he is American, but he is also British, and he's also Nigerian. So he can represent any of those three national teams. I would say the United States, it seems the assumption is that he will represent the US. I don't know if that's locked in or anything at this point, but it does seem like we're the leader in the clubhouse at least. So if we put some work into it, I think he would commit. Pachatino get on it. He is a guy who he plays left back. He was a little bit rough around the edges in terms of on the ball, but recently in their preseason, he's been one of the best players so far in preseason. And their backup left back recently departed the club. There could potentially be an opportunity, but we're talking about at Chelsea, so it feels like it's a bit too much too soon. I do think he's a guy who should be securing a loan move, though, because he does need to be playing minutes, and he's explicitly stated in an interview: I'm going for minutes this year in the rotation, and if not, I would like to be loaned out. He said that recently in an interview, so that's interesting to see. He's pretty confident in himself. I think he's a good prospect for both left back and center back if he continues to grow a little bit. Apparently, his brother's like 6'5 or 6'6, so there's some thought that he might get a couple inches taller. It'd be great if he did.

SPEAKER_04 40:58

Love that. Yeah, we can definitely use some help on the back line. I do worry, of course, with the him being at Chelsea because uh Chelsea just had the roster of eight teams combined. Uh but if he can get a loan out and get minutes, that would be fantastic. I do appreciate you also bringing up the tri-national part because technically Kevin Sullivan's in that same boat. All signs are pointing that he he'll play for the US, but he has don't tell me that. Yeah, he has Germany and uh technically Bangladesh. And he has two older brothers.

SPEAKER_03 41:29

His last name's Sullivan Bangladesh. What are we doing?

SPEAKER_04 41:31

I think it's their grandparents. Two his two older brothers are twins, and they both played for the Bangladesh like under-21 team. They're they're about to go to college, which is weird to think. Like their younger brother is starting to download us. They're he they're going to college. I think they're going to St. Joe's to play soccer, but uh they featured this this past year with the Bangladesh, I think, under-21s or under-20s. So technically he has three options. Uh Mimedi also has an option. I'm not sure. I I want to say Albania, um, but he has another country that he can also play for. So, like you said, Pach has got to put the work in from day one because you want to. I mean, throw these guys in a game now, cap tie them, so at least make it harder for them if they do want to switch. But yes, throw them in a September friendly, October friendly, it doesn't even matter. Well, I'll take a 7-0 spanking by Aruba or whoever we play. That wouldn't happen on my boys' watch either. It wouldn't, it wouldn't. But if it did, I would take that loss because we got those guys locked down.

SPEAKER_03 42:30

He would have contributed more at the World Cup than Roldan did when he went. So, I mean, cargo Christian. Cargo Christian. I do agree. Let's captide these boys immediately. The last one, Brandon, I have not seen this guy kick a ball in my life. This is all, it's almost like a myth, a fairy tale. Apparently, he's really good, but his name is Leonard Prescott. He's a goalkeeper at Bayern Munich. And he's obviously not going to start for Bayern Munich, but apparently he's well regarded in their youth system, their youth setup. Bayern Munich are pretty damn good at scouting players. They sign the world's best youth players, they sign always the best players in Germany. So I think it's a good thing that he's in and around the first team in this preseason. I would suspect he gets a lone move where he's able to play several games, if not be the starter somewhere as a keeper. That won't be a Bayern Munich this season, but I think moving forward, he's a guy who might be in and around the Bayern Munich picture, which is exciting. And it's another position of need because you I got the tremors when I heard the the mats being brought up again as potentially running it back with Turner and Freeze. I cannot do that. So we need to shape upper ship out at the keeper spot. And Leonard Prescott, a lot's riding on you, bud.

SPEAKER_04 43:40

I I know you I know you don't like the mats, Sean, but the reality is goal, like you said, goalies don't age a little bit differently than field players, and they're both in their 20s. So no, you're 100% right in terms of Matt Turner might be a little older. He might be 30 by now. But yeah, Matt Turner Matt Freeze is like 24.

SPEAKER_03 43:57

Uh oh, you're 100% right in terms of they'll still. Be able to play, and they'll be in their quote unquote prime probably at the next World Cup. I just don't want to see them. They're not good enough, is how I would frame that.

SPEAKER_04 44:08

We're gonna have to get you a job at U.S.

SPEAKER_03 44:10

soccer so you can influence Potch because Well, I think this was a hostage situation where we just didn't have any other options. Now I think we're gonna have some other options. You know what I mean? I'm not saying anything about this World Cup. We had to take them. I I I said it myself. I was like, this is a position we should be worried about, but we can't do any better currently. So hopefully in four years, we don't have a hostage situation, is my point. But those are some guys we're gonna be keeping an eye on this season and for seasons to come. Brandon, I appreciate you going through those. I thought that was a good job by you. Before we get out of here, we have to talk about some MLS. We did the European kind of setting the table in the Premier League yesterday. I have to talk to you about some MLS. First of all, let's zoom out and just talk about the league in general. We're coming off the back of the World Cup on U.S. soil. Soccer was in a fever pitch, no pun intended. There was a buzz everywhere you went, talking, people of all walks of life saying, hey, I'm getting into this soccer thing. It's pretty cool. And the MLS had eight years' notice that we were going to be hosting a World Cup. And Brandon, they somehow couldn't figure out how to get the calendar right. So they're next year going to be switching to match the European calendar where leagues start in August and end in May. That's a good move. We all agree. Great job by UMLS. But how was this not in place sooner so that it could happen this year? Because boy, wouldn't it be nice to go right from the World Cup to have the MLS be the first league back and have all eyes on them. I'm gonna let you tell me about the why, but it's just a question that's been killing me.

SPEAKER_04 45:44

It's an extremely fair question, Sean. It doesn't make a ton of sense. Uh I think part of the issue is it had to do with like the TV media deal. They have a deal with Apple. For the first few years with the Apple deal, you had to buy a separate MLS subscription. Now it is just on Apple TV. So if you watch your Ted Lasso, your other shows, you can also just watch MLS with that, which is great. Labor agreements with the players union, they had to get all that sorted out as well. And I just think the discussions have taken a while. Honestly, when I worked in MLS in 2016, things like this were being discussed. And I'm not saying I'm not saying they discussed it at the highest level at that point, but there were rumors like why are we playing on this silly schedule? Because it messes with transfers and just attention. It's even harder, it makes certain windows make it harder for MLS players to leave. Also, um, it's it's messy, and again, no pun intended, I guess with messy, but I think I think it will be great that they now align with the world's calendar. Everything will be set. International breaks will make sense. We were having international breaks, and teams were still playing, missing five or six of their players. Like it it was really sloppy. The issues, I will say, that it could cause are we're gonna have to play wit games in the winter in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Minnesota. What's that field? Minnesota. So so winter in MLS is gonna look interesting. And then early summer, which we've we've already had summer in the MLS before, but in August, you're gonna be playing in Miami in these cities, but they were doing that already, but in this current model. So yeah, I think winter is an interesting one, and then shared venues also, because a lot uh there's a few teams that still share venues with NFL teams, and now you're gonna have to figure out scheduling and how that alliance. But it's it's the right move, it had to be done, and I'm glad MLS sorted it out maybe a little bit too late, but it'll help them long term.

SPEAKER_03 47:39

I I agree it's gonna be a great move long term. I'm right there with you. It just feels like since we had such a long run up, knowing we were hosting the World Cup and knowing there would be an excitement around the sport here. Now we're coming back to the MLS where they're already in the middle of their season. Yeah. And it's not just that, Brandon. I want you to kind of talk me through what the schedule looks like. So they returned to action two weekends ago, and now we're taking another break to do a different competition. So it's really upstart, and it's really hard for somebody who wants to become a fan of this thing to get on board. That's why I was like, Have we not got this in place so that this was the year we were kicking off in August? I digress on that point. Tell me what the schedule is now for the MLS.

SPEAKER_04 48:22

Yeah, it's it's funny you bring this up because their catchphrase after the World Cup was thanks, world, we'll take it from here. So you think, all right, we're gonna go fly and soar and do all this stuff. So yeah, the first weekend back was the weekend of the World Cup final. Teams played right after that, and each team has played two games since then. We had the MLS All-Star game last night, which is a just a friendly game between the MLS All-Stars and the Liga MX, the Mexican League All-Stars, which this is just a little of an aside note, Sean, but the game's gone. Like back in my day, MLS used to play Premier League teams, and it would be their preseason, so like you know, they're not they're not flying on the field, but you'd see stars actually. So they played in Philly in 2012. Uh, they played Chelsea. I'm sorry, Arsenal. Yeah, Arsenal in 2012, and then Spurs actually played MLS All-Stars in 2015, and this was the perfect scenario for me. So I was working in Colorado, living in Colorado, interning in Colorado, and Spurs were playing MLS All-Stars. The problem was my internship was paying me like $7 an hour, and I did not have the money to buy all-star tickets. I also did not have a car when I lived in Colorado, so I don't know how it would have gotten to the game, but that would have been cool. And I think they need to bring back that instead of playing nothing against Liga MX All-Stars, but they're they're just beginning their second season now. They play a spring and a fall season, and their their fall season just started, I think, last week. So they've played one game and now they're going to an all-star game. So it that they have to figure that out. But following the all-star game, uh, next week is the beginning of League's Cup. And now League's Cup Sean in MLS is another MLS and Liga MX competition. 18 teams from the MLS, and all 18 teams in Liga MX play each other. They each play three games against teams from the other league, and essentially the the top finishers then make it into this bracket of eight, and they play a quarterfinal, semifinal, final. Uh, they don't do ties in League's Cup, which is interesting. So if the game is tied after 90, it goes straight to a shootout, and you get two points for that win and one point for a shootout loss, which is which is a little bit interesting and different. It's I would say you use the quote uh farmers league, farmers only league. It's it's a little bit of that. You'll see a lot of teams rotate and not play their best players. Uh Miami has won the Leagues Cup before, Nashville's won the Leagues Cup before, and these are those are better teams, but every now and again, it it's it's actually it's funny. It's I think it's been an MLS team all all four years they've done this, but teams usually play their second team. It's not it's not always the most competitive. I think teams that are struggling, like Philly, will probably use this as an opportunity to kind of ramp back up. Philly has won their first two games since the World Cup, which is great because they only had one win for the 15 games before the World Cup. So they've already d uh tripled their win total for the season in the last two weeks. But it's it's it's it's a quick tournament, begins August 4th, and the final is September 6th, and nobody there's no MLS games during that time frame. The other teams in the MLS that aren't in Leagues Cup play in the US Open Cup. So they'll play sparingly over the the next few weeks. But it's a it's a weird period of time. I do think, like you said, MLS kind of fumbled the the structure with this.

SPEAKER_03 51:43

Uh and we can't go back now, but forward we'll take it from here. Is that what they said?

SPEAKER_04 51:50

Thanks, world. We'll take it from here.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

Yeah, well, they punted it into row Z from here, is what they did. What a what a shambolic way to get people back in to play two games and then immediately quit on your domestic season for a month. That's tough. I I actually, Brandon, I told you this originally. I I kind of am a fan of the Leagues Cup in theory. I think it's a cool idea. I love seeing different leagues compete against each other, different teams that don't typically play. I love seeing that it has a sort of continental Europa feel to it. I also think that if teams aren't going to take it seriously, you probably need to revisit what it looks like. And I can only imagine they're not taking it seriously because of the fact that it's sandwiched in the middle of their season and it's not been told to them that it's a point that they have to care about. You know what I mean? There's no repercussions to kind of mailing it in. There's no benefit to really going and trying to make a deep run. It really only comes with winning it, and even at that point, it's there's no history steeped into this competition at this point, so it's not that cool of a thing.

SPEAKER_04 52:52

Yeah, I think the winner gets an automatic bid into the champions, uh the Comca CAF. It's funny, that tournament is almost always run by the Mexican teams. And I think the other reason why MLS did it was, and I've been to some games in Philly when Phillies played in the League's Cup. Uh, they are playing again this year. The teams that support the Mexican teams, their fans show up. Um, so I remember going to a game, I think it was two years ago, and they played who did they play? I don't even remember who they played from the Mexican team, but like you would have thought it was an away game being a Philly fan. Um the other team crowds the stadium, they have their people, they have their vibe, and it's cool, but I think it's a little bit of marketing on MLS's part, and not necessarily the football being the main show.

SPEAKER_03 53:42

That that's okay, that makes sense. I hope that the League's Cup eventually becomes something that we could care about and get behind because it's a cool, cool idea in in theory. Brandon, before we get out of here, we have to talk about some new arrivals in the MLS. We have some familiar faces in new places. I'm still in the market for my favorite team. I haven't pledged my allegiance yet. I'm drawing that process out. I might wait till after the League's Cup, in fact. I might take the summer out. Think about it. Um, if you're gonna run a Mickey Mouse league, you're gonna get a Mickey Mouse fan out of me. So I'm still in consideration. I'll tell you what, I might just zag when you zig and become a Red Bulls guy now that they're playing all these all these youths, my guy Mameti, Hall, Michael Bradley. I I could be talked into anything at this point. Tell me about some of the new guys that have entered the MLS since the World Cup, though, and they're making their debuts now or have made them in the last couple weeks.

SPEAKER_04 54:34

Yeah, yeah, we've actually had a few bigger names joined the league. I think the biggest is probably Antoine Griezmann joined Orlando City baller. Absolute baller, great career at Athletica Madrid. Uh, comes to MLS, he scored in his first match for Orlando. Orlando, they're a weird team. They they struggled in the beginning, they actually fired their coach, and now they are they're they're doing pretty well. Some other names. We had Casemiro leaving Manchester United to go join Messi at inner Miami. Inner Miami, I don't know how they do it. The rules are a little bit shifted for them. Beckham, Beckham's got an in with the league. They don't have to follow the rules the other teams have to follow, but I digress.

SPEAKER_03 55:18

So he'll help him in my take two from his first game. I saw his compilation. Absolutely ran the show. I mean, he's still if he was a really good player last year at Manchester United, who finished third in the Premier League. Yes, he's 34. Yes, he's not in his peak. He's going to run the MLS. We saw Bousquets, who was a bag of bones, and he was running the show at Miami. I think Casemiro is going to even take that to another level.

SPEAKER_04 55:43

I agree with you, and I'm glad you brought up Bousquets because it's an extremely similar situation where it's like you're bringing these older guys in who are just gonna sit and be number sixes, but you know the quality and class they have in their in their boots, and you you just have to respect it.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

And he would run circles around Bousquets. Yeah, oh yeah, when he was playing Miami. He could not run, couldn't run. If somebody beat him by a yard for pace, he would just rip them down, like Kialini against England. He was like, and he puts his hand up, I take my yellow. It was insane, and he still could run a game just because of how good he is technically and how smart he is. And that's Casemiro has way more to offer than that.

SPEAKER_04 56:21

Yeah, oh yeah. Uh, some other some other transfer news. Alan St. Maximin going to Charlotte. I don't think he's made his debut yet, but that's another name that's interesting and um somebody to keep an eye out for. Robert Lewandowski, the Bayern Munich, Barcelona, legend, German legend, going to Chicago Fire, playing for your guy, Greg Berholter. Greg Berholter just bringing him in. And Chicago Fires had a great season so far. And now you have a tried and true number nine up there. I could see them making a run. I don't know if they have enough to win the MLS Cup, but from where they were a few years ago to now, Greg Berholter and his staff and the team, they've really revamped. So kudos, kudos to them.

SPEAKER_03 57:02

That pains me because I I love the city of Chicago, Brandon. I think it's a great city, a great place, one of my favorites. I cannot root for Greg Berholter, and I've never been a Robert Lewandowski fan. I admire how good he is. I have just never liked him personally for some reason. It's weird. He he's seems like a good enough guy. It's just something that wrote me the wrong way about him. I don't like guys. This is a little bit of a bone to pick because so many people do it. I can't really be actually mad, but he he was at Borussia Dortmund and then goes and joins Bayern Munich. And I don't like when guys make that switch to your fiercest rival. In Dortmund's case, it's not their fiercest rival, Shalka is, but it's the team you're competing at the top of the league with, and it always rubs me the wrong way. And we see guys do it time over time. Matt's homels did it, like there's a bunch of guys that have done this. Rafael Guerrero did it recently, and it didn't even work out for him, but I just don't love that. And maybe that was when I was getting into the sport at a serious level. He was in the midst of doing that, and I was just kind of like, I'm good on Lewandowski. He is definitely still going to bang home some goals in the MLS, though.

SPEAKER_04 58:06

Yeah, yeah. Uh a couple other Premier League two MLS moves. Jack Harrison actually went to college at Wake Forest. Yeah. Played at played at Leeds.

SPEAKER_03 58:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:19

Played at Leeds, but actually played at New York City before he went to Leeds and now is back in MLS with the New England Revolution. Uh Eric Baye, center back, going to the Columbus crew. Columbus crew, for the roster they have and the team they have, in my opinion, they should be playing a lot better. Uh, they've really struggled this far so far this season, so I think Baye's gonna help them. And then we have a couple of uh I call them reunions, Sean. So Daryl DK, another guy in the pool. He's made noise, but unfortunately, a lot of injuries, played in the championship, like you said. He's going back to Orlando City. So it'll be interesting to see what happens there because they have Griezmann, but Griezmann can probably play off on the wing a little bit more. Darryl DK can play more as a nine. Uh, they got rid of Duncan McGuire, who they had to make room, and then Kai Wagner back to Philadelphia Union. All-time assist leader, left back, went to Birmingham City for six months and was really, really good in the championship for them. They didn't get promoted or anything, but sounded like there was some family personal things. His family couldn't really get settled there, and he had an offer to come back to the union, and they they took him kind of take the boy out of Philly, can't take Philly out of the boy, you know. Exactly. And it's and it's kind of funny because they sold him for like two million, but had to pay four million to buy him back, which so it's like just bad business. So Birmingham got him for two million dollars for six months, and it's like that's and they made two million or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 59:40

So it's like I don't know, not the yeah, he he has been a stalwart for the union, it feels like for a long time, and a very, very good MLS player. So that's a good reunion, I would say. Yeah, the ghost of Daryl DK does not seem like it'll be as impactful as of a transfer. The poor guy, you said it, he just can't stay healthy. It's one thing after another. If he is operating well in an ideal world, the Griezmann playing as a secondary striker, which is kind of his bread and butter playing right off the shoulder of the actual nine, getting into those pockets, that's where Griezmann excels. Griezmann will make the best and the worst players look good. So I think I could get a tune. If Griezmann's feeding me little balls, I could score a couple, maybe. But so hopefully for Dika, he's able to find some you know, peace and get back to playing at least just regular football would be nice for him. He was a guy who in past cycles he's always kicking his. Oh, you're like, oh, Daryl Dika, he could be something, and it just never worked out.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:39

Yeah, unfortunate. And Sean, I know you mentioned you still don't have your allegiance, your team yet. Uh, just a couple notes, maybe this will influence you, maybe not. Uh, so I noted Orlando City. I think they will be very fun to watch with Griezmann and could really take some strides in the east. Uh, currently, Nashville is on top of the east. I could see you being a Nashville guy. Um, Sam Serge, he's he's a number nine, like after my heart. I love Sam Serge. Uh Hani Mukhtar, they're number 10. You'll like Honey. You like yeah. Miami is also in that upper echelon in the east, and then in the west, I know you're not a Vancouver guy, but Vancouver's doing well in the west. LAFC also in the west. They got our guy Sonny. Uh, and Denny Bowanga, who's been a star in MLS.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

Hey, Sonny's back in goals now, too. He was he didn't have a goal for a while, but he was the assist leader, and now three on the bounce.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:32

Yeah, yeah, they're they're they're a dangerous team. And then uh San Jose actually is also tied with them for first place. San Jose with Timo Werner.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:40

That's the disqualifier for me, though. That's unfortunate. Timo Werner disqualifier. I can't stand many players more than I hate Timo Werner for what he did at Tottenham. It was oh my god. He's the worst Tottenham player I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:52

I I agree with you. They actually have another guy we didn't mention in the um in the prospects, uh, Nico Tuscaris, young guy, center midfielder. He's been playing pretty well there, so he'll be another guy we got to keep our eyes on. But those are kind of the the top of the league at the moment. We've had some new coaches start since the season has started. We've actually seen Portland, Philly, Austin, Columbus, Miami, Montreal, and Orlando all get new coaches since the season has started. So MLS short leash. I I did a I took a couple more notes. There's only six coaches currently in MLS that have been with their team for more than two years. So win or get out. Yeah, it's been tough. I mean, some guys have gotten promoted to better teams and opportunities, but it's been a very uh tough league to get in and get settled. Uh Brian Schmitzer, he's the coach of the Seattle Sounders, he's by far the longest tenured MLS coach at 10 years. So I don't know if that'll influence you with who you like or who you don't like, but just wanted to give you a little bit of a lay of the land in the MLS.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:58

Well, Brandon, I appreciate the update, and it certainly does help me take in some more information as I'm trying to make this decision of who I'll support. I'll say this: any teams that might be listening out there, I'll post this clip and I'm not too proud to take money. I don't need to be bought, but I can be bought with a scarf. Scarf would go a long way. I'll put it on the scarf wall. You'll have it every episode. I'll be a devout supporter to anybody who's willing to shell some merch my way. I think that would go so far in my decision. I honestly, there wouldn't be a wrong answer. I I I could I could be bought in any direction with just a scarf, really. But I I am still taking in some notes, Brandon. I appreciate your help. I will be picking a team sometime in 2026. Okay. So that's all that's I'm gonna put a little bit of a loose timeline on it. It's gonna happen in the next couple of months.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:47

Okay, and so just to throw, theoretically, if care package in the mail, your address, and you see that you see the return address says San Jose, California. How do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:00

Let's go Quakes. Go Quakes. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, go Quakes.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:05

I mean, listen, they're they're an OG MLS team. They're they're not they're not a bad team to cheer for. They have good people running the club. Bruce Arena is their uh their manager.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:13

I do like Bruce. I do like Bruce. I did see Timo Werner miss a penalty in the last game that that came across my timeline. Not surprising. But hey, listen, if if the Quakes send a care package, I'll I'll be all in. I'll stay up late and watch West Coast games. I'm I'm telling you. You're getting a true fan on me. You know that, Brandon. I when I I'm I was most passionate in high school.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:34

You know what I mean? When I go in, I go in. You you might be you you're probably gonna get a package from the galaxy or LAFC at this point because you just absolutely hate it on the earthquake, so I highly doubt they're mailing you anything, but hey.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:47

Yeah, I hate it on the crazier things have happened. Earthquakes have been a tremendous organization in the MLS. People burner is not a not a friend of mine. But sure, I'd take some galaxy merch, I'd have a look at it. I know we're playing the long game, we're waiting till Ricky Puy gets healthy next season. You know what I mean? I'm keeping my I'm keeping my tentacles up. I've I'm getting I'm reading the room and and trying to plot out my decision carefully, because once I commit, there's no going back.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:12

Yeah, as we've learned with Spurs, our uh 15-year love story, love affair with with Tottenham. We've had good times, we've had bad times, but you gotta stick through them. And and that's what we're gonna continue to do.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:24

That's right. I think that's a good place to wrap up today, Brandon. I appreciate all of your work on the domestic front. I thought you did a great job taking us through not only the prospects, but the current state of affairs in the MLS.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:35

Yeah, yeah, thank you, Sean. Uh I I enjoy getting to talk about the domestic league. The international leagues are great, but it's something special when you get to talk about home soil, especially our listeners that are primarily in the US, they can probably see a game within a few hours' drive, hopefully, from their houses. So latch on, pick a team. You can you can wait it out like Sean, or you can you can be a Philly guy like me. But but MLS is a good league, and I'm excited to see it continue to grow and thrive.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:01

Yeah, it's a good league and it's getting better. So that's that's the good news. They're they're slowly but surely figuring things out. It's not gonna happen overnight, but Rome wasn't built in the day. Neither was the MLS. So hopefully, as we keep talking about these upcoming World Cup cycles, it just gets better and better each four years. Brandon, that'll do it for today's episode. Listeners, thank you all for tuning in. We really appreciate it. As always, you know the drill. If you could, if you could like the show, subscribe. A five-star rating would be huge. That'd mean a lot. And then, of course, tell a friend to tell a friend. Thank you all for tuning in, and until next time, take care.