Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Whitecaps Are Going To The MLS Cup Final!

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason look back at a busy Week 13 with Too Deep Zone NFL insider Mike Tanier (2:43), plus the boys preview the MLS Cup Final featuring the Vancouver Whitecaps and Lionel Messi's Inter Miami CF, as Apple TV MLS analyst Bradley Wright-Phillips (26:31) joins the show.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

He rolls, he's pressured, he's in trouble, heaps it up, oh, now Ernest Jones, house call. He will take it all the way. A game-changing play from Ernest Jones, 84 yards and no flags. 7-1 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. The front of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Scory, death freedom hat trick.

One, no more interest, two, much lower payments in three, financial peace of mind. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Mike Tanier, our NFL insider from the two deep zone, is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to by Jason hominuck at Jason. Dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. visit them online at Jason Dow Mortgage

We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics Before the year runs out visit kintech.net See if this was the music that was playing during Quinn Hughes When Quinn Hughes woke up every morning like his alarm clock If this was the music that was playing I think he'd be a lot happier more chill Yeah this would fix the body language issue

I think you'd wake up and hit that alarm clock with a hammer He's more smooth jazz It all comes down to the music that you wake up to So that's the mood for the day It's very important So the audio we played over this delicious track Coming back from break That was Ernest Jones

Returning an interception It was 85 yards 85 yards on Sunday For the first touchdown in his career I think Max should have held on to that Maybe Just take the sack It's okay

Did you His head coach's explanation In the aftermath He was a young guy trying to make a play And it went catastrophically bad There's a young guy trying to make a play and then things got worse.

I'm not sure he knew it was fourth down. I remain convinced that I don't think he knew it was fourth down. Yeah. I hope he knew because that was a decision that they had to make. I think he panicked in the moment and didn't realize that flinging it the way that he did, which was more than likely going to be either intercepted or possibly a fumble. Do you think it was fifth down? Why would he make that play?

I don't know. He made a bad situation worse is what he did. Although he's like, I've seen Mahomes, dude. this, the underhand. There was no saving that game. Here comes Josh Allen. Nope. Let's talk more about this game and everything else that happened in the NFL with our next

guest. He's waiting patiently on hold from the two deep zone, our NFL insider, Mike Tannier, here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning. Michael. How are you? I'm doing great. The best defense I can make for Brosmer's throw there on fourth and one is that I've seen Carson Wentz make that throw as like a seven-year vet.

veteran with like a $200 million contract or whatever. I've seen him do the exact same thing in like a fourth and one panic situation. I felt bad for him. He was clearly in over his head. Of course. And he now goes down in infamy. He is the first player to throw four interceptions in his first career start since the immortal Nathan Peterman did it for Buffalo.

Oh, my God. Remember him? 2017, he threw five picks in his first ever start. Were there any real takeaways from that one? because that was just a demolition by the Seahawks defense. Five total takeaways in that one. It's a demolition, but it is for a Seahawks fan. You're looking and say, okay, that wasn't a real team.

And secondly, you look at it and say, boy, the offense sputtered at times, like the Seahawks offense sputtered at times. When it needed to produce points, it got them, it took care of opportunities. The defense played outstanding, and the special teams played very well, because you got a long punt return when you needed one. You got all those long field goals. So it wasn't a real opponent, but it's a blowout and a shutout, and you take those when you get them. Yeah, you know things have changed when it comes to expectations when the Seahawks win a game 26 to nothing,

and people are critical of the offense. I'm having trouble. I'm actually having trouble with this because I didn't come into this season with any hopes of a Super Bowl, and now it's entered my mind and some of it is the Seahawks play a lot of it is the Seahawks play but a lot of it also is just the rest of the NFC and the rest of the league

because I mean we all thought the Rams were the best team in the NFC and then they go down to Carolina and lose and not that Carolina's as bad as they were but for me the opportunity for the Seahawks is pretty big right now so are we right to start

nitpicking things about the Seahawks because I don't know it seems it seems like they got a pretty good opportunity here there's a difference between being nitpicking and being objective and doing those things and looking at a 26 nothing win and being like I'm not satisfied I didn't like that that's that's where Eagles fans were before the Eagles now they were right to be critical right they were right to be great it's like is that does it feel good you know does that help you and it's like you know if the Seahawks like lose a game we were right to be critical of Sam Darnal not, you know, playing well in the first half against the Vikings. Wins are precious.

Division titles are precious. Playoff berths are precious. These are all things that you take in stride as they come and you find the joy in them. I don't know if the Seahawks are going to win the Super Bowl. I think the Rams are going to bounce back from what happened in Carolina yesterday. I don't think the lions and the Eagles are going to keep losing. Get to the tournament. Get there.

Maximize your strengths and see what happens. that's where the Seahawks should be right now. They have as good a chance as any team in the NFC of being the one that comes out of the playoffs. Enjoy that feeling. How good is that defense in Seattle? Oh, it's extremely strong. And really, you look at it,

it starts with what the defensive front takes care of, where you've got Leo Williams and all these other guys and Bois Maffei playing so hard that you rush with four. You're rushed with four consistency, and consistently, that creates opportunities in the back end for guys like Reeve Willen and Witherspoon and the others. So it's a very strong defense. According to the analytics, it's a top three or four defense in the NFL.

It's up there with the Texans, Broncos and Rams defenses. And again, that's where you want to be, especially on this team that doesn't really have a lot of big names, going into the playoff berths. You're healthier than you were earlier in the year. You're playing outstanding football. Do you think other teams have a good idea what needs to be done to stop Sam Darnold? because it's now three straight games where Donald has been either, I mean, he had the four-pick performance against the Rams,

and I think against Tennessee and Minnesota, not very good teams, although Minnesota has a decent defense. He just looked fine. He didn't look, you know what I mean? He looked fine. And earlier in the season, he looked very good. Right. He looked very good.

It's coming back to Earth, although it's not coming back to Earth away, to say Daniel Jones is coming back to Earth, you know, it's not this, this problem that crops up in various places and injuries and all these other factors there. Yeah, I think teams understand it. You always knew you wanted to pressure, Donald. There's a recognition that the Seahawks are an okay, but not great running team, and they're going to run a lot, and you want to just hold them to like three-yard games, four-yard games with Walker and Charbonnet. You know it's Jackson Smith and Jigba. You know everybody else is sort of just a supporting player there. So, you know, how you're going to roll your coverage, how you're going to focus on that.

I think that the Seahawks have solutions to a lot of these problems. I think Rashid Shaheed is going to be a factor. I think Cooper Cup is going to continue to be a helpful player along the way. I think that too tight end, run-based, play-action-based approach is going to work as long as the defense is keeping them in games, which I think they will. So it's another situation where if you're a Seahawks fan saying, well, I've seen the flaws in this offense and I'm worried, watch an Eagles game Watch the Broncos last night

That's what it looks like right now in the NFL You just have to make the most of it Okay Mike Now I have to ask you this question Because I made a mistake on social media yesterday And that was tweeting Anything about Shrewer Sanders And I mostly have people that follow me for

Canucks hockey stuff And so I tweeted out something critical of Shador Sanders and I had immediately all these replies to me like absolutely to the point where I thought like are these bots because a lot of them had like one follower none of them were followers of mine what is going on in your country with the debate around Shador Sanders I have never seen anything like it in my life I think it's bots I think there are a lot of bots. I think that there are bots in, you know, foreign weird countries out there that look and say, what's polarizing in the USA that gets people mad and gets people on other sides

of political coin? And Shador Sanders popped onto the list. Somehow he popped onto that list, and that's where some of this madness comes from. So there is a very odd conspiracy theory going around here in the USA that Shador Sanders is a victim of, let's say, of race. let's be blunt. There are many, many, many victims of legitimate racism here in the United States in the sports world and the world of quarterbacks in the private sector, everything else like that. And if you made a list of all of them and say who is the really a victim of racism and who for who is kind of like a meme or something like that, should be way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, he's a young man of fame and privilege. He's been put in this situation. He is not performing well in this situation. Yet there is this weird

meme out there that says, no, he's a victim. Anyone who criticizes him as a hater and just wait till he proves the doubters wrong. If you're out there and you believe that, okay, fine, you believe what you want to believe. Maybe look at it from a different perspective because that's not really what's going on. And frankly, I'm sorry you went through that, but that's kind of how it is right now where if you want to go out there and say anything about Shador Sanders, particularly anything critical, you're going to sort of activate a weird corner of the internet. We're speaking to Mike Taney,

or our NFL insider from the Two Deep Zone, a presentation of the Clayton Public House here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I think I'm ready to write off Shadur's Cleveland Browns in the race for the AFC North, although not quite, but I think I'm ready to do it. However, I don't think you can write off any other team in that division because the division is so mediocre.

So we saw Baltimore lose on Thanksgiving. So Pittsburgh, what a nightmare game that was for them against Buffalo yesterday afternoon. Cincinnati at 4 and 8 with Joe Burrow back in the mix and having won that game on Thanksgiving. Look, I'm not going to throw it out there. I'm just going to say with everything that's going on with Rogers and with Burrow and with Lamar Jackson,

everything, how do you see that division playing out? I think that the Ravens are going to pull away with it because they are very good, they are healthy, that Thanksgiving game got away from them in so many weird ways with a fumble at the goal line that becomes a touchback and a nullified offensive pass interference penalty that nullifies a touchdown, etc. I think the Steelers are fading. I think what we saw when Aaron Rogers got hurt was kind of like the magic evaporating, that has been helping keeping them around 500 with smoking mirrors. The Bengals are interesting.

I'm looking at the DVOA analytical playoff odds at FTN Fantasy right now. Bengals have a 6.4% chance of making the playoffs. So you're saying there's a chance, and it's all winning the division. Their only hope is to win the division. Therefore, at 8, there are only two games off the pace. A couple weeks ago, I was like, why is Joe Barrowing back? Why is he hurrying back? He could get hurt.

They don't have a chance to make the playoffs. Now I'm looking at it like, yeah, let's do this. Let's see what happens. Go out there with Barrow and Chase. Higgins will be back healthy too. Try to make a run at this. Try to make a Cinderella story. That's what the NFL is about.

That's what football's about. Bengals have a slim chance, but they have a chance. And that's because the Steelers are fading and the Ravens sometimes can't get out of their own way. What did you make of the Steelers fans chanting Fire Tomlin during that disappointing loss to the bills? Now, I get so angry because I'm here in Philly where they shout Fire Siriani. Right.

There was a parade for Siriani in February. They're screaming Fire Siriani here. In Buffalo, up until halftime, they were probably shouting Fire McDermott. That's what's going on up there in Buffalo. All of these teams, they're shouting Fire Harbaugh in Baltimore for a guy who's been the coach there 20 years. At least with Steelers fans, I kind of get it, because the team winds up going 9 and 8 every year. They're not like, you know, in the AFC championship game. They're going nine and eight.

I get that. You get it and you just get tired of saying, oh, we were kind of better than average. Still, the question always is, okay, fire Tomlin or fire Siriani. Who replaces them? Is this going to be musical chairs where everybody just changes guys? Because if you say, oh, we'll just get the hot young coordinator. Who's the hot young coordinator? Is it Clint Kubiak?

Is that what you're really saying? going to take Clint Kubiak from the Seahawks and he's going to replace Mike Tomlin. Does that sound like a great idea for the Steelers? And this sounds like a great idea for me. And that's why I wonder about these fire Siriani, fire Tomlin, fire everybody else, chance that you hear from big sections of these fan bases. Well, the Chicago Bears got the hot coordinator in Ben Johnson. And they're, they're nine, yeah, right?

They're nine and three now after beating the Eagles. just your takeaways from that game both from the bear's perspective and the Eagles as well From the Bears perspective up until that game they looked like a team that was beating other teams backup quarterbacks

in one score games you look through their resume and it was full of we caught the other team with their backup and then we won a close game that was a convincing victory that was a tough victory against a very good opponent running game looked very good defense looked very good. Eagles have all kind of problems.

So for the Bears, I don't think they're a real Super Bowl contender. I don't think that, you know, I think the Seahawks are clearly superior team. I think the Bears are too. I think the Eagles are when they're active together, et cetera. But if you're a Bears fan and you're saying, has the culture turned around? Absolutely. Is Johnson getting the job done? Absolutely. Is Caleb Williams making strides? Yes, he's making strides. There's a ways to go, but he's not just dropping back and getting sacked every third play like he was last year.

So there are a lot of things to be happy for moving forward, and of course this team hasn't had a playoff appearance in a while. That's going to be exciting for them. Eagles, we're an post-apocalyptic nightmare here in Philadelphia. I don't know what to tell my neighbors at this point about the

fact that this team is still in first place. The last two losses came to a winning team and a Cowboys team that's very tough. I don't think the Eagles are a Super Bowl team this year that said they could go on a run at any time and this idea that this team has lost its way completely

I simply don't see it I don't really think that's the case. The Bears and the Packers still play twice this season including next week in Green Bay. I just looked at the line the Packers are five and a half point favorites over the Bears. What does that line say about

what people think about these teams because the Bears are actually the first place team in the division right now? Right, but every statistical metric that you have have all the analytics back up what I was saying before. This was a team that was beating backup quarterbacks by one score of games. And that's how stuff doesn't go away because you beat the Eagles.

And Vegas uses the same analytics like DVOA and FTN fantasy that I've been using for years. It's the same stuff under the hood. It has third down rates and goal to go rates and strength of schedule adjustments and everything like that. They say that the bears are not that good. So five and a half point seems like a lot because the Packers have run, hot and cold this year. I think the Packers are the superior team. Here's what's interesting. I'm looking at the playoff odds right now. Packers' odds 90.5%. Bears odds, 69.4%. The Lions odds are only 50-50 right now. That's what's being swept by the

Packers and having some of these other losses to teams like the Eagles. That's what that's done to the Lions. The Bears are in better shape than that. So I want to turn our attention to Indianapolis for a second here because I think this might, we might be on the precipice of a really really big collapse. So it wasn't that long ago they were, I think they were 7 and 1. They've lost three of their last four. Daniel Jones is playing on a broken leg. Suddenly you look at the standings

and now they're behind Jacksonville because Jacksonville I think they got point differential on them. They just lost... They're in Jacksonville next week too. Yeah, so they've got two games left against Jacksonville. They got one more game left against the Texans and they just lost to the Texans. I think it's conceivable that they could end up finishing

third in the division and missing the playoffs, which would be an all-time collapse from Danny Dimes who I mean look I watched him play on the weekend he's clearly not right he does have a broken leg they're asking a lot of them right now and it might be I don't know a mountain too high a bridge too far for them to climb because they are going in the wrong direction right now they're going in the wrong direction Danny Dimes is playing hurt swast gardner got hurt they got him at the deadline like three weeks ago and he was walking around in an ankle boot uh during that game he might miss a game or two it's not that serious I don't believe but this is an example of

a team where I was warning folks on the two-deep zone at their buy, and it's like they had the hardest schedule down the stretch. They had one of the easiest schedules earlier in the season with a lot of Raiders and Titans on it, and now they have this stretch where Chiefs, tough opponent, Texans bet, tough opponent, Jaguars and Seahawks, pack the back on the road, tough opponent, there are no easy outs down the stretch.

My gut tells me the Colts do enough to make the playoffs. They'll split with the Jaguars, for example. a win maybe against the 49ers. Maybe they'll surprise the Seahawks, who knows. But they're going to be a one-and-done playoff team. And that's interesting because Daniel Jones is a free agent in the off-season. And this team has a new owner, and there's going to be a lot of questions. You go one and done, you wind up 10 and 7 after you had that hot start.

What does Carly Ers say Gordon do? What does they do with Danny Jones? What do they do with Anthony Richardson? There'll be a lot of questions about the Colts if they kind of fade down the stretch and barely make the playoffs or miss the playoffs. Hey, I know we're focusing on, like, the good teams and the teams that are challenging for the playoffs. But I got to ask you about Tennessee because they got absolutely blown at 25 to 3 against Jacksonville. When or has it happened already, do you start worrying about Cam Ward's projections?

Because this has been a real tough year. And that was a huge step back against Jacksonville. You're like a not bad game against the Seahawks. Yeah, I thought he played well against the Seahawks. They're one in 11. They got 170 points in 12. It's just an awful set of circumstances. I know they're not very talented, but I do wonder if or when there might be concern there.

Yeah, there is a worry. I mean, the best news is he's not taking tons and tons of hits. Yeah. And he's not having like these four interception meltdown games. He's going out there. He's playing dink and dunk. And he's kind of doing what he can with no supporting chaos and the interim head coach. So I would worry.

The problem with worry is, okay, I have worries, but what do you do? What do you do about it? You're a fired the coach. You don't want to just put him on the bench to put him on the bench. That sends the wrong message. And he's a very fierce competitor. He would not take well to that. So you kind of have to live in the where.

He hope he gets a win here or there. And then the number one thing you have to do is, okay, Caleb Williams had that terrible season last year, and here comes Ben Johnson. Here comes the hot coordinator. Not to come in for a team that's like eight and four already, but for a team that needs a full turnaround. round. So maybe that's where you say you have to get it right with the coaching hire and get

this problem solved next year. And in the meantime, hope Ward just doesn't get broken. I'm going to throw you on the spot here and go to college football for a moment. But I'm sure you've got a thought or two for what Lane Kiffin has done over the last 72 hours. Is this a lane Kiffin problem or is this a college football problem? A little bit of both because there are other Lane Kiffins out there. College football makes Lane Kiffins out of these coaches, and there needs to be reform. And people, when they do college football reform, they start with, oh, the NIL

money and the transfer portal. It must start with the coaches. It must start with the guys who get $30 million, another $20 million, and buy out when they get fired. There has to be some sort of binding contract. When you sign that contract with that team, you are with that team until their bull ends. You can't do things like that. That's where it starts. Hold the people who have the privilege

and the extreme wealth in the entitle it. Force them to be accountable to some level. Protect the young people in the program. And if we get that done, then we can start asking questions like, hey, maybe there's a better solution than this transfer portal or maybe we can put some kind of restrictor plates

on NIL money to make sure that people are sharing the wealth. Are the coaches governed by the NCAA or they governed, not at all, because they are employees of the universities? The NCAA doesn't really govern very well. It never governed well. Its specialty was like suspending kids for getting a free tattoo. That was like their valley with, and it was obliterated by NIL.

So it's basically a bunch of people collecting a paycheck somewhere. So it's the wild wild west for the head coaches. It has been for years, and it's gotten progressively. worse. Mike, you're the best. Thanks for doing this today, man. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Monday. You got it. Always a pleasure. Take care and enjoy your week. Thanks, man. That's Mike Tanier, our NFL insider from the two-deep zone here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. You kind of stole my what we learned there. I was trying to foreshadow it. I was, uh, well, I was going to talk about Lane Kiffen, but now we've

talked about him. That's why I brought it up in just an ever so slightly. Okay. Tiny a little bit. We got a, we got a bunch left on the show. We're going to talk to, we're going to talk to some white caps and Miami with Bradley Wright Phillips of Apple TV. And then we've got some audio from Elliot Friedman, the most recent edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, and it relates to the Philadelphia Flyers, maybe wanting to bring some Vancouver Canucks to Philly. Rick Tocke, maybe saying to his

Philly guys, go get this guy or go get that guy. So, We'll play that audio as well, and then Satt's going to join us at 8 o'clock. We can continue the Quinn Hughes discussion that we were having earlier in the show with Satt. We can get into maybe the fact that nothing seems imminent reportedly with the Canucks when it comes to trades, according to, again, Elliot Friedman. So lots to discuss. Get your what we learns into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650, 650. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 6.50. In five minutes time, be caller number 5, 7.30 this morning for a $50 gift card to White Spot every day this week.

We're giving away in advance of the holiday season. Pot roast is back at White Spot. That's the big launch for all of December. It's back, baby. Love it. Pot roast at White Spot and all the trimmons and all the fixings. Caller number five at 730 this morning, 604, 280, 0650. That number again, 604-280-0-6-50.

Caller number 5 at 730. We'll get a $50 gift card to Whitespot, and we're going to do that every day this week. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. For me, best team in the league when you talk about how they coach, style of play, depth, against, and with the ball.

For me, they're the best team on their day. I'm not saying they're going to win MLSG up, but I'm saying to be there. You have to earn it. 732 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates.

Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn how, visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. That voice you just heard coming back from break. That's Bradley Wright-Phillips, legendary MLS striker. Now an analyst with Apple TV for MLS season pass. He was talking about. of the Vancouver Whitecaps. He's going to join us in just a sec here. Our two of this program brought to you by Jason hominock at Jason.orgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage,

then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.combe whitecaps are on their way to their third final of the season. Concaf Cup final. We don't need to mention that one. Canadian Club Championship final. They won that one. And now against Inter Miami on Saturday in Miami for the M&KACF. MLS Cup finals. It's been a dream season. Great win over San Diego on the weekend. Joining us now to talk about it a little bit more. We welcome back to the program, Bradley Wright-Phillips, here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning. Bradley, how are you? How are you guys doing? Oh, we're great. He's probably buzzing.

We are still buzzing, very much so. It feels like this run, although it will come to an end one way or another on Saturday. It just feels like the White Caps refused to let it go. Yeah, I wasn't scared enough on Saturday, though. I needed that scare put into me. It was too easy. You know what? I want to start right there with you because we talked about this in the intro to the show about, you know, despite the similarities in matches between the LAAFC match and the San Diego match, the end was different.

The vibes were different. It felt like it was more comfortable, even though there were some similarities there. What you saw on the weekend from Vancouver in San Diego, what allowed them to get that lead, but having much easy? time with San Diego than they did with L.A. in the Western Conference semifinal. First of all, dominant performance. I was on the show on Countdown, and I said the difference between these two, because when you think about Vancouver and you think about San Diego, both teams play really good football on the ground, nice passages to play, good build-out

ideas from the goalkeeper. The difference with Vancouver is against the ball. They put you in a game. They put San Diego in a game that was way too fast for what they are used to. They like to, San Diego like to play at their rhythm, they get Sverskov on the ball, he controls the tempo. Vancouver said, no, we're going there, we put them in a fast game. Whenever they lost the ball, they counterpress. They just suffocated San Diego. Then getting an earlier goal, it just puts the game in Vancouver's favor. It was a really impressive performance. I, you know, I've been a little bit harsh on San Diego all season while I think they're one of my favorite teams to watch. And I felt bad because, again, in this game, I just knew that Vancouver

would have a little bit too much for them on the day. What can you say about the performance? that Ali Ahmed had in that first 45 minutes of that match against San Diego. Wow. When we're off camera, I'm always talking about him and Sabibar. In this game, Ahmed was a joke. I couldn't imagine being a defender and having to defend him. It's so tricky because he can go on the outside or he can go inside. Very shifty, like unbalanced his defenders, quick, you know, decent size on him too, like nice height. He just so difficult to contain. Once he adds more goals to his game, he's going to go up another level too. And the thoughts on once again

Bear Halter and Kubas who I think are going to be really under the microscope going into this match against Miami. It was interesting because a lot of focus going into this from the San Diego side of things was on Andres Dreyer their MVP candidate and between and I think it was in most part

because of the work of Berhalter and Kubas really silenced him in that match I think he only finished with one shot on target and was kind of a non-factor for San Diego oh man those two listen you got some superstars in your team now some guys that have made their name throughout the season and it's easy to fall in love

with a few of those as players but for me, those two, Bell Harter and Cuba's in the middle, there's a few players and you guys have had to deal with it all season losing like important players. But if those two are missing, I think it's a complete different team. Again, another set of players, if I was a midfield, I had to be in the middle

of the park against those two. One, they're very good on the ball, very comfortable you know, have good footballing ideas, great football IQ but against the ball, they're pit bulls. And that's what are all the best teams Okay, you can have a nice style of play You can have some fancy players

Some world class players But you need to be good You need to be able to go and get that ball back Strong in the tackle And both of them are similar in that way To where they're fearless Doesn't matter who they're playing against They're going to go win that ball back

And do it for 90 plus minutes That's why I said that The quote at the beginning of their show You guys just had up is I'm not saying they're going to win I'm not saying their favorites I'm saying if you beat them You have to be at your very best

And that's my view on Vancouver because every player just leaves it all out on the pitch. What's your view on Miami? How can the White Caps beat Miami? Because they are going to be significant underdogs in the final. They will be because of the Superstars Miami have got, but I think it's going to be similar. If I was Soros and I would say the same,

I'd want to put them in a fast game. Miami are a team, you know, they've got better as a team. You know, with some of the changes they've made, they press out of a three now. They have younger legs to pair with Messi. You know, obviously the brilliance of Messi is always going to be difficult to contain. But you've got to put them in a game. They don't want to play it.

I remember when you guys played them in the Conquerath Champions Cup. And I'm not sure if it was the first game, the home first leg, 2-0 win. It was a fast game. I remember Kubas getting in, you know, in the mind of Messi, tackling them, not giving him a second. And you could see frustration on Messi's face. I think you kind of got to take a leaf out of that book when Seattle beat them in the league cup final. They made that game very hard for them. You have to respect them but almost, you know, respect them so much that you give them no space and time.

If you do, that's when in the Miami can hunt. A little deeper dive into the differences and two big ones, I think, really, for Miami from the side that Vancouver dispatched of in the Concaf Cup funnels. One, the obvious one is adding Rodrigo de Palo to the midfield and everything that he's brought. But the other one is a move that Mascherano made

dropping Suarez from the 11 and playing the 19-year-old Argentinian Silvetti. How different a squad are Miami with just those two changes to their 11? Yeah, it's imperative to what they need to be as a team. Whenever we saw, when they first, you know, when Messi first got here, Messi and friends, they were like the Harlem Globe Chores. Yeah, they were fun to watch.

They're going to score goals, but you're going to score a bunch against him. That's what's changed. We've taken Suarez out the side. Now you have All of those players, the pool that can all run and press and keep a good team shape. When it was Messi and Suarez playing up there, his two players kind of walking. Yes, when they get the ball, they can hurt you.

But for 90 minutes, you're going to need, especially in the final playing against Vancouver, you're going to need 11 players on that field, working in tandem, chasing the ball, getting back into shape, otherwise you're going to lose. And I think that's been a big help to them, especially we'll read about the pool. In midfield, he can run all day. I remember his first game when he got to it in the Miami. I can't remember if they played against it. It might have been in the league's cup.

But he was just off the plane and he ran for over 90 minutes. So it was very impressive. Playing against Vancouver, they're going to need that. Where are they most exploitable? Miami. The backline. I think the backline is one that we've always looked upon. Now, saying that in the playoffs,

they've been a lot better because I think they're getting more of a team effort in front of that backline. But balls in behind them, not the fastest backline. When things don't go well for them, they put bus guests back there. I think that's even a, you know, without being disrespectful, that's something if I was a fool, I wouldn't fear, you know?

I wouldn't fear it because you can get in behind him. You can take him on 1V1. But yeah, definitely that backline. I've got to ask about the extracurricular. So for the Whitecaps fans out there that haven't seen Miami since the Conca Cups matches, they thrive on chaos. They like making things happen between whistles and they like it being the temperature ratchet up.

We saw it against NYCFC. There were a lot of scrums. They like putting the referees under pressure and under the Koch to make decisions and intervene. And sometimes they don't. We saw it play to their advantage. I just know that this is a team that thrives on the chaos of a match. Do you think that's something that will play out in the final?

Do you think they're going to try and use that to their advantage? Because one of the things about the earlier matches against Vancouver is the temperature was very low from Miami. They didn't really raise it up. Vancouver really dictated how those matches were played. I wonder if that'll change in the final. No, and Inter Miami will remember that. They're a very chippy side. You've got to understand it's like these are all top players.

A lot of these players are when you're thinking Messi Buske's, Alba, Paul Suarez. They're all big players. And I have one example. And because they played in so many big games and so many big moments, sometimes they need to be fired up. They need to get fired up because, you know, a final, I don't imagine Messi going into a final and getting nervous.

So what else will motivate them? It's when somebody tackles him hard or it's when these teams down a goal. And that's when for those kind of guys, the lights come on or the switch turns. I remember playing with Thierry and some games we will go out. And you could have CTC wasn't really, you know, he needed something to push it. And every now and again, a defender would say something to him, talk a bit of a trash in his ear,

and then I see his eyes, he wakes up, and he's like, okay, you want to play? Then he just raises the level. And I think in the Miami, it's similar in that way to where, yeah, it's one thing, one tackle, and then they're like, okay, this team, you know, they're trying to give us a hard time, let's show them who we really are. You mentioned Messi won't get. Yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned Messi won't get nervous for Miami,

and that's obviously going to be. helpful for them. What will Thomas Mueller bring the white cast because this is a big game for him, but maybe not the biggest game of his life. He's been in a few big games in his career. Yeah, but he's set up a little different, isn't he? He's like, you know, I don't want to be too stereotypical, but German,

you know, very, while he's got a great personality in and very funny, when you see him on the pitch, it's one thing, it's win. The biggest thing I've noticed, you know, we can talk about his talent all day. His leadership has been unbelievable. When you get a DP, I think I said this last time, it's not just about goals and fancy touches they bring.

It's about how do they help the players around them that haven't experienced what they've experienced in the game. How do they help those players get better? And that's what he does. He's leading the press. He's telling players when to pass the ball. When should we start the press? When should the ball go back to the left or right?

It's fascinating to watch it. He leads in a different way than Messi and Suarez do. But, yeah, instrumental. I think he goes out there with that mentality. Like he said in his interview, I wanted this, I hoped for this fixed shot. This is we wanted to play against in the final, so I expect his attitude to match that come December 6th.

How big is this for MLS as a league having? I know there's a Canadian team in there, and sometimes when there's a Canadian team in there, it's harder to sell it to an American audience, but the star-studdedness of this final, I mean, you've got two legendary players in Messian. and Mueller are going up against each other for the MLS Cup. And I imagine that's pretty good for the league.

Listen, if you love football, you're going to tune into this game. If you've been watching Major League Soccer this season, you've been to understand that both of these teams are very good, and it's a game you shouldn't miss. But with those two players you just mentioned, and you can throw the rest in, this is going to bring the eyes that. You know, the casual fan.

They're a casual fan that I used to watch in European leagues, and they say, wait, Messi's playing against Mueller, and Suarez is on that team, Buskets. as well, but you're going to watch, it's going to bring way more eyes. And the good thing about that is it's not just going to be two stars of yesterday. These are two players that are very much in tune with the league

still playing at a very high level and both want to win. It's going to be fireworks. Firewood. I cannot wait to get down to mine, honestly. It's going to be a great final. We're very much looking forward to it. And this definitely heightened our interest, expectations, and excitement for the match. Brad, thanks a lot for doing this today.

We really appreciate it. everything in Miami. I don't need to tell anyone to have a good time in Miami. Enjoy Miami. This is so boring. Try and have a good time and enjoy the match. It should be a lot of fun. All right. Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, thanks for coming on. Thank you. Bradley Wright-Phillips,

Apple, TV, MLS, analysts, one of the greatest strikers in MLS history here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Former Brentford B back when they were in the championship, Bradley Wright-Phillips. So I was watching 60 minutes as I do, because I'm old yesterday. day. Okay.

They had a big profile on Lameen Yamal. Yeah. You told me about this at the break. I was a little bit, no. I mean, I guess, look, the World Cup is coming to North America. Yep.

So there's going to be some promotion for that. But, I mean, it was pretty interesting, too. That kid is confident. Yeah, 18 years old. Yeah. And he's accomplished a lot at 18, right? I mean, that's a scary thing.

And it happens when we see these young wonder. kins like get out into the public eye yeah is it's equal parts like people are amazed and they drool and salivated the possibility of how good they're going to become when they fully like mature and everything else but there's also the scrutiny that comes with it and an 18 year old's not really prepared to deal with that like a pretty comfortable with it yeah there's been a lot of stuff from but nothing's gone wrong yet there's been like things here and there like typical gossip rag

kind of stuff like his birthday parties and all like the pictures that were being taken from him. He just turned 18. Yeah. So that's the thing.

Okay. He had an adult birthday celebration. Oh, I see. Yeah. So it was and a lot of it is this trying to balance between

shielding a player and a young player at that from all the ills of like fame and celebrity in the world while at the same time acknowledging like his time isn't in the future. His time is right now. Like, he's a superstar right now.

Right now. He's won big titles. He's playing for gigantic clubs. He's going to be a central figure for Spain at the World Cup. Did you ever watch that documentary on Maradonna when he went to Napoli? I haven't watched it yet. You haven't watched that? I have not watched it yet.

Are there too many subtitles? It's not in, is there's, it's mostly subtitled. Kid can't even read. So it might be a problem for you, but that was fascinating. Yeah. And I'm not going to say this is going to happen to Lamin Yamal, right? Why not? But essentially what happened was he got in there with the,

with the mafia there and he became friends with them and it didn't turn out great for him no let's just put it that way although he won titles for Napoli and he returned the pride to

yeah to and it was a part of the country where you know the rest of Italy kind of looks down on them and I mean it was just a great documentary yeah and I I'm always curious when you have these young phenoms everything seems to be going right for them

and it's amazing right nothing goes wrong and they think I'm unstoppable and they did have some kind of some foreshadowing some potential foreshadowing when they asked a broadcaster on there or a journalist they were like

well what could go wrong and he was like wow I mean it's a long list right it could be injuries it could It could be family issues. It could be team issues, et cetera, et cetera. And then you think back to a player like Maradonna, and it seemed like nothing could go wrong for him

until it started going wrong, and then it just snowballed. Well, that's one of the most remarkable things about, one, the length of Messi's career, but two, the way that it's gone the trajectory is... That's a good point. He also broke into the sport as a... Like, he was a phenom from a very young age. And when he joined the Barcelona,

Salon Academy. They understood that they had something extremely profound and special. And he's kind of led this career where there's been missteps, like everyone, but nothing really sort of dramatic or significant in the sense of like a personal setback.

Is the Sydney Crosby of soccer? Kind of, you know? And I mean, if you want to there are modern superstars like I look at LeBron. I'm like 23 years in the NBA and what's the worst thing he ever did. Probably the decision. I'm going to take my talents to the decision, which was just like a bad basketball move. Like, it wasn't anything that damaging, but personality-wise, we don't need to go down that road.

But what you're seeing with Messi now is a total reinvention of the way that the career arc and the brand have gone. But not in a really negative way. Although I will say it, I did want to get back this because I asked Bradley Wright-Phillips about this. I am going to be curious to see what the temperature of that match. And I'm not talking about degrees Fahrenheit in Miami. I'm talking about if those guys that they employ in Miami, by that I mean, Messi and his cohorts,

if they'll try and drag the game down to the sewers a little bit because they love playing in the dirt and they love playing in the mud. And it's... Sometimes I watch soccer, and I'll be honest with you, I don't... Sometimes it feels like 75% of the game

is just trying to get calls. Yep. It's an unfortunate part of the game. It really is. So you have that audio? at the ready, that tiny step that I got from the game. By the way, that San Jose Canucks game, that was like a soccer game.

How so? Just trying to get calls. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And the referee's kind of losing control. And then all of a sudden you had some diving, some embellishment. And it was just like, you got to call this now because you call the other ones. Like, there was no surprise to me that Celebrini got a misconduct. Right.

Because earlier in the game, Quinn Hughes got a misconduct, like a two-minute minor. The each got them, right? You don't even, you don't, you rarely see that in a game when a player gets two minutes for running his mouth or whatever. It felt like the referees were, and this is, I guess, is uniquely hockey. It felt like they were just like, how do we even it up? The whole game. This is amazing. And meanwhile, meanwhile, the players were like, the referees really seem like they're in one here.

so we're going to take advantage of this. I don't know if you knew that I was going to play this clip, but this is the perfect segue for it. So this is a clip from the NYFC-M Miami match from the New York radio call. Okay. And he's talking about... I didn't know for the record.

Yeah, he's talking about Inter-Miamis ability to dictate what the referee is doing or more specifically not doing. It's about 25 seconds long. This is so this, I'll do the spoiler afterwards. I won't spoil the clip, but this is the lead-in to a very pivotal play. This is from the New York.

York City radio call of their 5-1 loss to enter Miami on the weekend. Well, look, there's four or five into Miami players around the referee now, and it's only should be the captain, which is Lionel Messi, and John Freeman's letting them do it. He's letting them tell him how to referee this game, and that was a problem. We talked about it before the game. The referee's not quite up to it, not quite up to refereeing figures as big as this, and they're telling him what to do and how to do it. So right after that, Inter-Miamy scored on a free kick because NYFC was distracted from all the chaos that was going around.

There was a huge scrum. There was like every player involved in it. And the referee just stood off to the side and didn't intervene and didn't take care of it. And a lot of people have said this is kind of the problem with Messi in MLS is that he's such a big figure that the referees at times just let him do whatever he wants to do because it's Lionel Messi. They love to get into stuff after the whistles And push and prod and chirp And it becomes a bit of a side show But they thrive on it

That Inter Miami team thrives on it I don't know what it is Like some guys just do better When there's chaos They like the heightened energy They like how frenetic it is And they feel like their opponents Throwing off

I'll be very curious to see if that plays itself out Against the White Caps on Saturday Okay we're going to We're going to chat with Sat Next We've also got some Elliott Friedman audio that we still need to play. Get you what we learns into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line at 650-650. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.

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