Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #554: Antonee ascendant, Gio goal, CCV & Trusty win a trophy

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

Vince and Belz talk through the action from the weekend, including Celtic's Cup triumph over Rangers, Jedi's big performane at Anfield, Gio's nice goal and otherwise forgettable performance, Cardoso back in the XI (but not very good), Alex Zendejas's clutch Liguilla showing, and much more.Sanjay Sujanthakumar interviewed Zendejas for Scuffed last month. They talked about the scrap with Edson in Guadalajara, playing for Poch, playing in Mexico in general. Check it out: https://scuffed.simplecast.com/episodes/550-alex-zendejas-joins-the-pod Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Scuff podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer. Hey, everybody, it's the Monday Review. Bells and Vince here. Vince, how are you doing? I'm doing great. Adam Bells, how you doing? I'm good. I'm good. Let's start with some, I think, pretty exciting news. Chris Richards was not in the squad for Crystal Palace over the weekend, which was a little troubling. But then on his Instagram, it appears he is a new father. Is that, am I reading that right? I think so He took the care to put the

To put the heart over the baby's face I feel like you would only put the heart over the baby's face If it's your baby You know other people's babies I don't think you'd be as protective Over their agency, identity Etcetera So I think that is the case

And you know Him being out the squad completely after it was announced by Doug McIntyre the Hazus Perez USMNT assistant would be in attendance for this match he wouldn't go see much action anyway I don't think but but it was like it was like what's going on here

you know we're like is he about to be in the PL2 what's going on man the heart is just over the face the swaddling clothing is pink traditional signals yeah it's a girl So congratulations to him. We haven't got that woke, Adam Bell's.

You know, when we start bringing out the earth tones for every new baby. Yeah. Hey, I love an earth tone on a baby. Yeah, cool. Exciting for him. When it comes to the action, let's start in Glasgow because Celtic won Scottish Cup. I do just want to say, welcome to hell, Chris. But go ahead.

I guess I won't disagree. with that. It was a 3-3 barn burner at Hampton Park decided in penalties. Pretty, like a lot going on in the city that day yesterday. Clashes in the streets. Rangers fans

running around in Santa hats and black skinny jeans throwing flares at Celtic fans. Cops just giving it to them with their billy clubs. I mean, it's crazy. If you see the, if you Google the videos, it's

lot going on one at one point some rangers fans saw that there were Celtic fans in a restaurant opened the door through a flare in and then just like stood there giving them the double birds through the window as the flare's like popping off underneath one of the tables in the restaurant it's fired man before we get to ccv and trustee one other thing i noticed is uh... bojrami scored the game's opening goal and he's albanian he flashed the double eagle when he scored and i thought of you because i know that that i know that signal means something to you. Mean something.

It means something to me. It wasn't against Serbia. So, you know, you really can't, you really can't top that flashing a double eagle against Serbia. But yeah, shout out to all my, all my Balkan people that were, you know, oppressed by the Serbians, mostly Muslims. Yeah. Shout out to you.

I'm with y'all in solidarity. I live within walking distance of a Bosnian. Muslim mosque. Okay. So, you know, I mean, I've made my love known for the Bosnian people here on the Monday Review multiple times. I mean, the coolest people you'll ever meet, man. A culture of strong masculinity.

I'll say that. So, trustee came off in the 56th minute. I think maybe he was not at his sharpest. brought Liam scales on for him. I don't think scales was really that sharp either. CCV on the other hand, extremely sharp. Some critical interventions and dual winning. The biggest moment, you know, the one they're going to remember at Celtic for a long time

is him in a 4V1 on the counterattack. One versus four. And he does manage to keep it, keep them from scoring. He slides to cut out. the ball across for a certain tap-in. This is in the 52nd minute. It was 1-0 at the time. Huge play from him.

Otherwise, you know, I mean, he was a grown man, you know, as he usually is. You know, he's a rock back there. So he made this play. He made the 4v1 play, right? But he, I think I would have wanted a little bit more from him on the Bajrami goal. Because he kind of got sat down. Yeah, he got sat down. I think he had enough time to kind of get there and get pressure.

to the ball carrier. There was a turnover in Celtics midfield that led to a ranger's transition. That then led to a shot that Casper Schmichael spilled and then Bajrami followed it up and put it in the goal. But yeah, maybe it would have won a little bit more from there but, you know, he made up with it with the four-on-one.

Trustee, I mean, he had a bad pass to CCV that got picked off. I remember that. But other than that, I mean, he looked like Austin trusting to me. I don't know. We'll have to see. I think I've said this on my interview a few times,

but I've been to Glasgow for, like, on the day of a derby, a derby. And it's sort of like a core memory at this point. I was there when I was 19 years old. Watching the police on horseback, hold back. The Celtic fans coming out of the train station on their way into Ibrox. me and my buddy Alan from Norway I thought we could maybe scalp some tickets that day and we just got laughed

we got laughed out of the city you know there was no chance um makes sense and then I went Henrik Larson scored two goals that day and I was in a taxi coming back from the game to where we were staying

and uh and the taxi driver sang the song Henrik Larson Henrik Larson Henrik Larson is the king of Kings. So it's all very meaningful to me. Yeah. I've told the story on the Monday review before, but you telling me about the cops,

dishing out the Billy Clubs just reminds me of my best friend telling me about his experience in Glasgow where he was out and about on the streets. And I guess he might have took the wrong right turn or something went down the wrong alley or something. But he just sees a a man whipping an armless man in the wheelchair with the belt

incessantly. That does sound like a wrong turn. Him and his wife turned around and with the other way. But yeah, they were just like yelling at each other. And yeah, the man either had one arm or no arms, but he was getting whipped by a man with the belt.

I don't know what's, I don't know what's going on. I don't want no problems with Glasgow, though. I've watched enough shows based in Glasgow to know what they're about over there. Yeah, I think it's the tougher of the two big cities in Scotland. All right, lots of other stuff to get to. So Fulham gets a draw at Anfield. Jedi had two assists, shut down Mossala,

or at least, you know, put the clamps on him for much of the game. He was so good, in fact, that Liverpool fans were asking him to come play for them after the game, you know, especially given that Andy Robertson got a red card in the 11th minute. Yeah. Look, Ben Jedi fever is catching on. Yeah. They're saying, you know, and he, so interestingly enough, he was liking tweets, I mean, not tweets, Instagram comments, from Liverpool fans who were saying, come play for us.

or, you know, Anfield suits you. That's right. I mean, Everton did them wrong. So, so it only, it's only right. It is justice. And so let's talk about the two assists. So first ones in the 11th minute before the Robertson red card. It's just, it's pretty straightforward stuff.

I mean, Jedi on the overlap, after a good switch from Harry Wilson to Iwoby, Wobie plays it into Jedi's path. Good first touch, takes him towards the goal. And he just curls a ball to the back post. where Pereira goes airborne and volleys it in off of Robertson into the roof of the net. Pretty nice finish, or at least an acrobatic finish with a little bit of luck to it. And then the second is in the 76th. The game is one one at the time.

This is the one that really spoke to me. Yeah. I mean, so he plays a ball into the middle of the park in his own half, then just makes a classic Anthony Robinson run, 75 yards, right down the left channel. And so dynamic, so powerful. He's pulling the train horn, bro. He do.

Doo, dude. He holds off the Kwanza, the centerback. I mean, he holds him off to get to the cutback zone and get on the ball. And then he just slides it across, does enough to slide it across. Rodrigo Munez does enough to bundle it in from just inside the six.

Just heroic stuff. Start to finish from Jedi. Our left back, Fulham's captain. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's just one of those... I mean, it gets you off your seat, man.

It moves you. You know? I mean, to the point to where it's like, man, at my age, I want to get out here and do something. I mean, I'm not going to go and play some soccer, but let me get some shots up on the... Yeah. Let me get some shots up in my basketball rim that's in the cul-de-sac.

Because, you know, I mean, it's just... It's just everything, man. Everything bottled into the one. First of all, it makes a pass. Yeah, plays it to the midfielder, but then plays it out wide. I think it was a Wobie that played it to Anthony again. I want to say?

Yeah, it was. Yeah. That plays it to a woeby. And like, first of all, as soon as Jedi makes that first pass, I mean, literally 75-yard sprint down the field. Like, it's crazy. And he just looks so strong when he's doing it, you know? He meets Kwanza, you know, 60 yards into the sprint and still has enough to give him, like, to just tell him to get off me, man.

You know what I'm saying? Gets to the cutback, plays it. Brilliant. Yeah. And he was big brother and people all game long, including Mosala late. Yep. Got the inside shoulder on him, put him off, took the ball, got fouled. Face full of grass from Osala right there.

That's right. As Jedi skirts behind him, you know, I'm just left him in his, left him in his wake, man. Beep, beep, like real, like, real runner style, man. So what an athlete does do this? Yeah, it's crazy. It's like you see other soccer players getting tired all the time. Everybody's always getting tired, which is understandable. It's a very demanding game physically.

But man, he just doesn't ever look tired. And he's just doing this up and down, up and down. The capacity to make sprints. You know what I'm saying? If, God forbid, if Anthony Robinson were to ever get hurt, you know, and he's coming back, I would have to adjust my sprint threshold. to, you know, we've talked about it with Cat Macario, Gian Arena. You know, I want to see three, three hard sprits to let me know you're all the way back.

We're not talking about capacity to affect the soccer game. We're talking about health here. For Tone, you know, for me to let, I need 10 sprints. Because, I mean, for him, there's no excuse for him not to sprint. Like, this is his thing. This is his trademark. He is going to sprint. So, I mean, 10, 10 up and down the sideline, man, then I'm, okay, okay, he's back.

But it's just, bro, like, literally. up and down the touchline this entire match, which makes a 70-yard run even crazier because it's like he's literally been doing this entire game. Yeah, and it's the 76th minute. And, you know, Fulham was up a man, right? As you alluded to with the Robertson Red Card. But it was still like an up-and-down affair.

Like Liverpool got plenty of chances, plenty of XG, I mean out-XG'd Fulham. all different type of stuff. So it's not like Fulham was just camped in Liverpool's half the way the Panama was against the U.S. Like, Bells, you know, ever since ever since I match, man,

I'd be looking at every 11v-10 match and it's just like, huh? We couldn't do that. No. We couldn't do anything, really. We did not have the capacity to put up much of anything, really, just a limp

RICO header You know We got the flow Of course Yeah But the you know The Rico header From the West

Dink across Like only two chances We had on match But anyway That's in the past That's in the past I'm gonna leave that in 2024 Ladies and gentlemen

But I'll never forget though Yeah Jedaz Jedaz that guy You know how it is When You know

He's just started to catch on He's been making a name For itself in England I think everybody knew who Anthony Robinson was at this point. He's been putting in shifts for Fulham for how long they've been up now, three years, four years. Yeah, something like that. I'm not sure. But, yeah, it's just one of those things now where, you know, I don't watch match of the day or anything like that.

But he's becoming a household name in England. Everybody wants him at their club. one of if not the best left back in the league also would be starting for England we've said this for a long time that's true that that little luke shaw flash during the euros did not trick me it did not trick me it may have tricked y'all it didn't trick me i watched enough luke shaw i'm very familiar with his game so uh yeah happy we have him yeah it's wonderful um not at fault for either goal either hey in dortman we get another Gio start. How lucky are we?

How lucky are we? Another GEO start and a goal. Yeah. A really nice goal. I haven't listened to the Champions League review yet. I'm sorry, y'all. It's okay. But I don't know if y'all covered this or not, but Dormant got an injury crisis right now,

particularly in their backline, and they got to move midfielders out of midfield to the backline. There's a lot of stuff going on. So it did seem like Gio was going to be able to. but a follow-up that Barsa match with another start. And here we are. Yeah. I actually don't think he was that good in this game overall. But...

If he didn't score that goal, I mean, it would have been... It would have been a rough one. He would have been ass. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But he did luckily score the goal. And so let's talk about it real quick.

It's getting whips across in. It gets headed right to Gio at the top of the box. He takes it down with his chest and then just smash. it on the bounce. It's like a really nice hit, veering away from the keeper into the top corner. Unstoppable. A couple things. Gittins rushes over to him to give him some rambunctious congratulations. It occurs to me again that there's this must be this brotherhood of the young and talented in Europe. I'm thinking of like Jude, Gavi, Gittins, Gio. There's like a special club, it seems like, that they're all in.

Not that Raina's going to be on the level of those other guys in his career. We don't know yet, but he has their regard, I think. And then I'm curious if you can shed some light on this. He does this celebration where he sort of pantomimes, I don't know, it was like removing his shirt or like, he goes like this, and then he points at the sky, two fingers, which is, I think, you know, thank you Lord but what does the

what does that part the first part of it mean where you go like this I have no clue okay I have no clue I think maybe he's saying he was bathed in the waters

of Lake Minnetonka I'm not totally sure though it does seem vaguely monastic or something you know yeah yeah some type of just blessed covered

he's covered by the yeah by the grace of God you know what I'm saying this ankle this whole lower half is yours You do it.

What you please. Yeah. And he blessed him to be able to take that strike. I don't know. I don't know. But, you know, like I did say, the performance for the most part was asked, and it was. But it's what I'd be asking for G. G.O.R.ana to do, man.

You know, be decisive. This is, this is what you should do. Yeah. This is what G. G. Arena does. This is what I'm looking for from G. G. Arena. Be decisive.

You know what I'm saying? The Barcelona match. while good didn't do too much for me it was good don't get me wrong and I feel like it was funny because just the the language like the discourse around it I feel like everyone kind of agreed

on the performance but depending on where you're standing the language was either very flowery or you were just like down on it or like the language you used would make you seem like you were down on it Like I got this idea from Bob Morocco, actually. He tweeted he was like, you know, G.

O'Rena played non-progressive passes and 31 touches or something like that. And he did that against an elite opponent or something like that. And then he followed up the tweet would say to and said, yeah, I'd probably give him about a six out of ten. And I was sitting there, I was like, you know what, I'd give him a six out of ten too. That was, but I wasn't necessarily, I guess my pros. My pros wasn't going to be as flowery about the performance or whatnot. But I think if you nailed everybody down, everybody would be like, yeah, that was about a six out of ten. He did well with the ball or whatever and tested that offside trap.

Bells, did you know that Barcelona caught Killian Boppe off sides 15 times? Wow. And I was a classical when they played. Yeah, so that's what Barcelona does. It seems like Gio's whole role in that starting lineup was to test that thing. And he tested it. And Barcelona got his ass a few times. Um, but yeah, that was a six out of ten because what I want to see, basically give me that

performance combined with this goal and we really cooking, baby. Yeah, then we got an eight or a nine. Yeah. Yeah. Even though he's still, bro, I mean, two, two sheets to the win defensively. It must be said. It's, uh, you know, we, we have not yet reached, um, 2020, three Nations League levels of business handling from Gio. I know it's in there.

He's got to bring it out. And the sprint test, it's, it's, he's failed, he's 0 for two. He's going to start this next game too, so. Well, the thing is he had a chance to sprint. He had a chance, he got played in by Nemetja, Nemeca. Yep. He was a good player, by the way.

So he really is, man. Yeah, he's real, he's just, you can't take the ball from him. But, um, the ball is, it's a really nice through ball. Raina's got, Garasi, you know, basically running free in the box to his right, he's got one defender between him and Garassi, and he just kind of dithers on the ball. For one thing, he doesn't look fast running it down, and then when he does get to it, he's not able to get it over to Garassi.

He tries to touch it back to the inside, touches it into a help defender who's arriving, so he loses it. didn't love that. It feels like this game is probably a, you know, sketches out to a six out of ten as well because of the goal. But if it's without the goal, we're talking three or four. That opportunity on the throughball, like he was, this is the one where he had to jostle with a centerback

or a fullback or something, you know. He had found a nice pocket space in their back line was naked. He was in the centerback's blind spot. Bro couldn't see him. The other fullback was preoccupied. with Giddens out there. You know, you can't really take your eyes off him. So Gio had found, like, you know, he was clean.

If he was able to run, we would have saw it right there. I'm not taking it underway from what he's doing right now. He's got a start spot back. He's playing. I'm giving him grace. We'll revisit when we get to like five starts. But the point is, but the point is Gittins are Adiemi, if they get played into that exact same position,

they play it over, they're able to play it over to Garasi. It's a goal, you know? Yeah. And Raina's not quite there yet. And so then he's got to be, he can't be a line-stretching attacker. Then he's got to be getting on the ball a lot.

You know, he's got to be getting on the ball a lot and being highly influential. And I wouldn't say he was even really that in this game. Yeah, that's the thing. thing. Not on the ball enough at all, particularly that first half. Yeah. But once again, we're talking about his second start.

I mean, this was his first goal in a... 14 years. Something like that. His first league goal in a long time. I'm happy about it. Look, I mean, the thing is, the man can do just whatever he wants with a soccer ball. you know and that's another thing I was thinking about just as far as like I ain't going to lie if Brendan Arrinson scored this goal I might have still said this was a four performance because it's not a I would have

been I would have threw the goal away like hey you know what that's not a repeatable action we never gonna see that from Brendan Arrison again uh throw it in the trash however Giorina it is a repeatable action yeah he's gonna get that thing on frame Five out of ten times, which I think is a pretty good rate for that specific action. I mean, encouraging signs. Yeah. Encouraging signs. Yeah.

I mean, the quality is obviously there. He just, he's, he needs to, he needs to put that lower half more firmly in God's hands, I guess. How about Joe Scali? How do he do? Joe played against Olston Keel, I want to say. I think I'm too glad I played this weekend. I just wanted to bring up Joe because I haven't been as tapped in. You know, excuse me, I'm sorry to all my scally lads.

I haven't been as tapped in to Joe because it just got to the point where it's just like, man, he ain't really doing nothing out there. But I checked in last week, right, when they played Dortmund. And watching that game, I'm like, okay, Joe's doing a little bit more on the ball than we've seen previously. And against Holst and Kiel, I saw it again. You know, he's receiving the ball out there, you know, the standard right back position when you're building off in the back. He's receiving the ball. And sometimes they also flex into like a little bit tighter of a back three type of thing.

It's similar to what you would see, you know, underpotch. But he's making good progressive passes in each of those situations. He's also learned how to, how to kind of like bend the ball a little bit. Like the one thing, one thing that was weird about early Joe is like he didn't, he didn't have a lot of culture to him, right? Because, you know, you need different passes, you know. You need different shapes. on them, different whips to them, you know, things like that when you're trying to get creative and build out of the back if you're trying to hit, like, trying to hit your striker checking back

to the ball or whatever. You know, you need different clubs in your bag, right? Joe got him now. I'm seeing things from Joe that I haven't previously seen from Joe. Most of the time it was just, I mean, most time it was back passes, right? If he didn't have an option, he's just playing that thing back. But now he's playing, he's playing ball, right foot, left foot. progressive passes he's hitting uh i think uh plee right the striker has been there for a long time

hit he hit him multiple times uh was also involved in their fourth goal i want to say um at that point they had crowded around their their you know hosting kills box uh joe plays a nice pass to to plie i think plee a basically lays it off um and then a goal score from the it's a it's a little sharp sequels from Dorp from Gladbach. But Joe Keyes it with the with the pass and the Plié and these aren't obvious like these aren't obvious got to have them passing windows. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah.

Good. Joe's actually, he's actually making something happen with the ball. And I think that is notable. That's good to hear. Love to hear it. And we know he's a reasonably stout defender too. So that is, that's a big thing. Let's take a break.

Come back. We got YuVe. Johnny comes back into the 11 for Real Batisse. Alex And Dejas wins his third trophy at Club America and a few other things. We'll be back in a second. YuVe drops points at home against Venetia. Wes and Tim both start, as does John Luca Busio. Wes playing in the midfield, Tim at right wing.

John Luca as a left side of midfielder. I would say, you know, actually a pretty up-end. down game for the first 60 or so or so minutes. It did devolve into the horseshoe of death for YuVe late. And I just, as an aside, I just want to say, I love some of the camera shots in this game. Some shots I've never seen before, almost like someone creeping around with a camera with a stabilizer on it, you know, like coming down the aisle at the, like during the Gatikol, I tweeted this out the other day.

Yeah. I really, really like that. I don't know if I've ever seen that before. But anyway. It was interesting. Yeah. Both,

I think Tim was probably a little better in his minutes than Wes was. You really see, I guess I was just reminded of something that I've, is not new, but that Tim, Tim can provide a lot of threat without ever beating anybody one B one.

you know, which is kind of how he has been for the national team and, and for every club team he's played for for a while. But he was, he was doing a lot of this. He, you know, his combination instincts, his runs him behind. He didn't, you know, he didn't, like, cut him open, but he projects over there. And I think he did, he had a pretty solid game before he came off. Yeah, you know, standard temp stuff. Yeah.

You know, because, you know, he's a. coming back deep in and buildout rate and it's like you know one time he received the ball on the on the left touch line did a nice little turn

eliminated a dude and then he's you know it's a jail break situation for YuVe another time it's just like a one classic Tim one two you know and then he's able to eliminate his dude that way then get on his horse and then

YuVA's off to the races once again you know it's no nothing came from these tax unfortunately that's true that is also true mm-hmm but what 10 does but but you know

Potch has you know open Tim's well not his third eye but you know get him over on the right on his dominant eye who knows who knows the potential may be boundless I don't necessarily think it is but I don't think it is we shall see

I don't think it is either well the the good thing about that though with Potch was just the fact that Tim was a, he wasn't receiving the ball on the touch line while playing left wing. You know, I mean, a lot of his touches, I want to say, were in and around the box, maybe two yards outside of the box,

and then he could really get busy from there. I tend to prefer Tim on, at the right wing position, because he's so, I think he's like, so, he has so many repeatable tools over there. But, you know, I'm going to let, I'm going to let Potch cook. We have no choice but too. That's right. And, you know, it's fun to let him do it and watch.

Wes mostly is casual on the ball and effective, a little messy on occasion, and pretty wasteful, I would say, in the attacking third. So it may be more effective in his own half, less effective in the final third. He did have an excellent track back to snuff a counter in the 72nd minute that the crowd loved. Sort of a classic Wes moment.

Yeah, there was one moment where he had, has the ball in a AVP situation, right? Running at the back line. He just kicked that thing out to, I think it was Yilded starting this match on the left.

He just kicked it out to Yielders. And it's like, I mean, he had like, Vovic making a run. He could have tried a nice little reverse pass with his right foot, you know, going to the left, like Vlaavich was making that into out type of run.

I think he might have had Tim in there making a run too. You know, it's just, I always hate when you got somebody running down the dead middle of the field. And they just pass it. it out to the winger to do something. Yeah, it's a little bit of a surrender.

Wes, you could have took a shot. I mean, you could have did anything, really. John Luca would have took that shot, I think, you know? John Luca mostly, yeah, I agree. I agree with that. I noticed that a couple, actually a couple times. John Luca mostly quiet, I would say, but he almost scores in 31st minute on a late run and a cutback.

A sliding challenge from Kalulu, a heroic sliding challenge. challenge from Kalulu, cuts it out. But it did look like it was headed to the bottom corner. And I just, I had to look up Kalulu, whether he's ever been capped by the full French national team. He has not, which I think is just another reminder, man, how much talent that country has. You know, some driving runs, a lot of resolute help defense on Yieldies from Bousio. And a big result for his team. Just not, you know, he wasn't like everywhere doing everything.

I mean, what else? So Yildiz gets a second for Yuvay in the 48th, but it's chalked off for handball. It's kind of a strange one because he heads it off his own arm, which carries it over the goalkeeper. I don't know if I've ever seen a handball like that. Venetia equalized in the 61st. then after 20 more minutes of YuVA not really threatening,

Venetia scores on a set piece, and man, the jeers are raining down in Turen. And they get a lifeline with a pretty unlucky handball from a Venetia player, Candela. This ball just strikes his outstretched arm. Incredibly unlucky. Vlauhaevich scores tie game. Blahovic Jaws.

with Idzis, the centerback with whom we'd been tussling all game. And it just struck me. Blavich has some crazy eyes, man. You see him when he gets mad. He looks a little crazy to me. Yeah. I won't say too much, but, well, actually, well, it's a Serbian in him, man. Maybe.

It's a Serbian animal. I got to say, it's kind of embarrassing to hear them play daft punks one more time. after a stoppage time penalty to equalize at home against the team at the very bottom of the table. I can't imagine that that is enjoyed by the fans in the stadium. But, you know, hats off to Venetia. Even with the misfortune of the penalty, a good result for them, obviously. Yeah, I mean, they're still dead last. 10 points, I want to say.

I think the line is 14. So, hey, every point counts. Every point counts, baby. Absolutely. But, Uve is also undefeated, you know, so. I know, but. Maybe that's something to celebrate. They're also out of the Champions League while being undefeated qualification spots in the table.

Yeah. They're like eighth in the table or something, right? Maybe not that low. Hold on. I got it right here. They are six. Okay. I mean, draws are better than losses, but how many draws they got?

Ten. 10 is crazy this early That's how you get That's how you get your undefeated Credentials Six wins Ten draws for YuVe They're three points behind Lathio

Three points behind Fiorantina They both got a game at hand On UVA So you know Uve could be six points Out of top four By Christmas time You know maybe they can set a record

For draws in a Syria I season Pulisik lists Milan Very briefly Milan draws zero-zero at home with Genoa without Pulisic. I didn't watch this. Did you? Lusa wasn't planned, so like, no.

They're also five points behind you, by the way. They are in eighth place. Okay, that's why my confusion was. And I guess the only other thing there is there, Milan is reportedly signing Pulisic through 2028 with a one more year option. May I might as well.

finish his career there as far as I'm concerned. Might as well, man. You don't found you a spot. Don't, don't. Hey, grass is not greener. You know this, Christian. Like at this point. You know the grass ain't greener, man.

Sto you ass in Milan. You know, I mean, it's Milan. Yeah, come on. It's not like you in Naples. Right. It's not like you in Naples, man. I mean, shout out to all my Neapolitans. But organized crime and whatnot.

You're going crazy down there. So I've heard. So I've heard maybe I'm pushing anti-Italian stereotypes. Y'all let me know. Anti-Southern Italian stereotypes, no less. Right. Right. I hate to see it.

Yeah. Which is, they're saying old dude, Luigi is a southern Italian. Is he? But we don't got to get into it. He's got that color to him, though. He looked like he's related to Lorenzo and Senye. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I saw a video of him skateboarding yesterday. There's just, there's endless, there's endless video out there of this guy on the internet. A Luigi? Yeah, yeah. Jesus. I mean, he was a good skateboarder, actually.

When news of this came out, they said, you know, Pully would be signing or whatever and would get like a net salary of four to five million euros. And Joe Lowry quote tweeted it and said, I think there's six players making more than 5 million euros a season in MLS and that the draw for American players to come back to MLS will always be there because of that money. But then people got on Joe's ass like Joe, it says net. You dumb ass, Joe Lowry?

To which, after enough people said that, Joe said, I see people have pointed out that it says net the point does not change which I will say I think the point does change a little bit because I went and checked

the MLS salaries I mean you got messy making you know just crazy how much yeah and then Insignet is behind him making

I think Insignier makes like $15 million a year for Toronto but it's like outside of those two like severe outliers um you know

Pulisix Milan salary would be top in the MLS basically. I mean, if you take into account that, you know, $8 million MLS salary is like $4 million at least. Right. Maybe the less. What is the tax rate for the very, very rich? Is it 50%. It's 50%.

Yeah. It's 50%. You know, my brother was a part of the very, very rich for about four years. Mm-hmm. And even him, which is, you know, He's making 10 times less than $8 million a year. You know, you make like a solid like $800,000, you know what I'm saying? But they would take a 50% of that too.

So if they take a 50% of $800,000. Right. The net is going to be less than $5 or $6 million. You know, but still, I mean, Pulisic will very likely come back to MLS. Oh, yeah, I'm not saying he won't. Only when he starts to not have it. more, I think. I think he's,

I think he's got that dog in him. Real Bedez beats Vialo on the road. Johnny, back in the 11 for the first time since early November, goes 90. This dude was also ass, if you asked me.

That was a smile before you said it. That's probably one of the worst Johnny Betty's games I've seen. He lost every single duel. Like he could not. stop a ball carrier. He could not get past anybody. Yeah. It was bad. The passes were off target. I would say the highlight of the game for him. I mean, his team did win down 90 for,

you know, two-thirds of the game. I mean, not down 90, down a man for two-thirds of the game. So, I mean, that's great for Bethes. But the highlight of the game for him is a clearance in his own box late in the game where I mean he puts a boot high in the air like hit it he clears it and his foot travels over like in an arc over the head of an attacker

who's coming through so it's like we're talking tenths of a second from a red card sending off penalty you know which he he pulled it off so hats off to him but he did look I mean, he looked rusty. He looked like he was not quite back up to speed.

Correct. Which, uh, you know. But he's back. Yeah, yeah, nothing more really to say about it. Okay, Zendejas. Uh, gets a goal and two assists in the two-legged final with Monterey. Uh, that Club America wins to win the Apertura in League of Amekis. Mm.

America wins three two on aggregate. So each. goal mattered. Sandias involved in all three of them. Let's run through them. First of all, the goal in the home leg midweek was outstanding. Let's a ball run through the back line and then buries it far corner with his left foot. Just a sweet strike.

The first assist in that game, which America won two to one was a total accident. He like swung and missed and it kind of came off his plant foot into the path of a team who, you know, thrashed at home from close range. But, you know, you don't look at counting stat in the mouth, as they say. Yeah, that's right. Just keep it moving. You take them, you take them, bear, and keep it moving. And the assist on Sunday, which that game was in Monterey, it was 1-1, was the final score.

It was a very intentional, and I think, small. Hatter to lay it off for a teammate who just hits an absolute laser beam of a goal. If you haven't seen it, you should look that one up. But that's it. His third trophy with the club, only four goals and four assists for him this fall, but two and two came in the last three games of the playoffs. So big game player. Yeah.

Big game player. Playing for, I mean, I think. it's safe to say it's the continent's biggest club club america you know i mean yeah the the any any club america kit like you're liable to see it anywhere just as far as like you know i watch a lot of music videos bills um yeah a lot of club america kits being worn by rappers singers etc you know you can catch one any any vintage you know it can be from 80s 90s i mean they still putting out fire ones to this day um dude they're so iconic yeah imitation Club America kits.

A lot of streetwear brands are making like imitation Club America kits I've seen. So yeah, I mean, you know, Club America is Club America. But, you know, San Dejas, with regards to, you know, doing this for the actual national team, has not come to fruition.

But I would like to say, I don't have a lot of hope that it will come to fruition as far as like it's Club America play translating or whatever the hell. But as long as we got him in Mexico, don't, I'll take it. Because I'm assuming they would like to have them a little Alexendez. And I think he, you know, he has a shot at making a difference. I mean, maybe in a gold cup. Sanjay Sujadhaquhar interviewed him for us last month.

And I'll put the link to that in the show notes. But, I mean, they talked about a lot of stuff The Scrap with Edson and Guadalajara Playing for Potch, playing in Mexico in general But he also said he was hurt in that Gold Cup Which I think is what, you know, that gold cup I forget what year it was But the one where he got to play a bunch and didn't play well

He claims he was hurt That in that tournament Or not fully fit And I feel like he, you know, he'll get a shit. He'll get a shot. I'm not saying I'm super optimistic. He's going to become like a crucial player for the national team, but I think he'll keep getting a shot under Potch.

Yeah. I'm curious, what would you rather be a franchise player for Club America or a rotational, like, and, you know, living in Mexico City, really at the top of the food chain in the Western Hemisphere. Right. would you rather be like coming off the bench in Dortmund or something you know um like just for your quality of life quality of life yeah i think i'd rather be the guy for america for sure i think i would too i mean like like c dmx haven't been there what i've seen

looks tremendous i mean i know a lot of uh well-traveled people that that i know of uh well-traveled people that I know of saying, you know, that's like, it's one of the world's greatest cities. So I'm going to take that over living in, living in Dorman and that general area, it don't seem too entice it to me. Yeah, I mean, Dorman, I guess, is a little bit of an unfair comparison. But it just does seem like a grind sometimes to be over there. in the old continent and then you look at these

these playoff games I mean it's just lit y'all heard it here first Greg Bell's endorsing Giorana to Club America let's get that done yeah that's like the sort of the scuffed corollary

to the Alexi Lalas um land and Donovan campaign to get him to play in MLS I guess Brandon Vasquez was also involved in these matches I think largely

frustrated, not too many touches. I would say uneven when he did touch the ball. He got three tame headers on frame in the home leg for him, which was the one yesterday. But, you know, he's out there putting in a shift. Utrecht. I know you probably are dialed into this one. Utrecht draws, go ahead, Eagles at home three to three. This is crazy because they...

They were up a man for 81 minutes, something like that. And they were still down 3-1 in the 86. But they get two goals in the last 10 minutes of action, rescue a draw. They had 40 shots. I was not tapped into this match. This is when I sat out. What did you think of Pax? I feel like I watched enough Pax.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Okay, I was somewhat, I was somewhat dapped. Yeah, I know what's going on. And it didn't seem like this was one. that I really needed to see, so I've focused on... You know what's going on. Watching Johnny, for instance.

Well, I have a little bit of a prosecution of PACs here, because the first goal was a banger by the guy who ultimately got sent off, like, you know, three minutes later. But he could have probably stepped a little bit to this guy as he was, you know, dribbling into the area above the box. I mean, debatable. I don't know that anybody

expected him to hit it from there and it was a really nice goal. He definitely could have done better on the third goal, which was a cut back that his man got to first. Pax was a little sleepy. A little sleepy in the wedding

caking on top of the goal. And then he had the exact same thing happened in stoppage time. And he was just bailed out by the guy missing from like, the six, like skying it from the six, outside of the boot. So, I mean, probably got to hone those defending in the box instincts a bit.

Let's go quick here. PSV lost on a late mistake from Flamingo and Loscagali. Toulouse wins on Friday over Saint-Etien. Mark goes 90 again. I do have something to say here. He maybe could have done better. on the goal, which was him allowing a curling ball from well-wide for Sainz's only goal. I don't know.

It's a transition. He doesn't want to get too close to the guy. But the good thing is he was commanding in the air in this game, like totally dominant. Everything that came into his area, he was either body in the guy and heading it away or bodying the guy and kicking it away, or bodying the guy and letting it bounce for his teammate to collect it. Very, very strong aerial duel performance, and duels in general he was strung in.

I mean, I mean, Mara McKinney, he's a certified business handler now. You know, I mean, usually, usually he would,

like, bungle one of these, like, mistime the jump or something. That's right. It, like, bounces behind them and bounces, like, comically high, like into an attacker and they score a goal or something. It's just like damn Mark. Once again, but, bro, he hasn't,

I don't think he's had a single Mark moment for to lose yet. Huh. It'll be interesting to see how Potch, you know, who Potch plays at centerback in March. Because I know there's a, there's a C-CV, there's a groundswell for CCV out there. You got to look at the competition levels, though. I mean, Mark is playing against.

grown men, real athletes every week, and holding his own. CCV is going to be a hero in the Celtic Pantheon probably, but, you know, what was it you said the other day? You don't need a blarney stone. I don't need to hear about a blarney stone. I think that's more Irish than Scottish. Anyway.

Yeah, I'd be getting them mixed up, man. Forgive me, y'all. Yeah, no. But you know, arts, Kilmarnock, Ross County. Come on, bro. We'll be doing. But I will say, after I said that, I was thinking about it. I remember, bro, being on that Bleacher Report Live app,

waking up early in the morning, I watched Tim Wea and jumping out my seat whenever Tim Wea scored a goal. Yeah. Hey, man. R-R-P to Bleacher Report Live app, man. And when they had Champions League for those two seasons. What was going on? Bro, really, there was no starker contrast than Steve.

Steve Nash and Stu Holden to the CBS desk now. Oh, man. Yeah. Things have improved, I would say. Nothing against Steve and Stu, I guess. So a few miscellaneous items, Tyler Adams and Bournemouth play West Ham later today. That's why we haven't mentioned him. We're recording on late Monday morning.

Kavin Sullivan visited his Future Club Man City over the weekend. Nice. Kind of a tough time to do a visit, but it's okay. Testman stays on the bench and a 3-1 lost to PSG on the dual nat front. Go ahead, go ahead. That's on Tanner real quick. First of all, I was watching the Europa Conference League and watching George Bello play Furentina. I mean, last got absolutely thrashed.

George was also getting... Seven to one? Yeah. George was also getting thrashed. Like, multiple goals where we're on his back. You know what I'm saying? But I was watching... So if you're a Tina, right, they got Amir Richardson.

He's playing. He's starting every match. Et cetera, et cetera. And it's just like, man. Tanner, that could have been you, bro. that could have been you but whatever went down between the agent

whatever whatever Furentina also as we mentioned one of those teams in front of Yuve for a Champions League spot everything's going

swimmingly over there Moisey Kane Moisey Kane Career Renaissance you know what I'm saying he's out there scoring goals

doing dance moves beautiful to see but yeah it would be it would it would be slightly more beautiful for me if Tanna

was a part of it uh yeah his uh his minutes i've kind of dwindled for leone just because he's he's the backup six he's not getting much run at uh the eight anymore seems like leon is leon's like back to full health you know he doesn't have to deputize at the eight really he's just there for when mattych comes out uh nemania mantich hasn't been coming out a lot lately and he even played a i mean this man just played a what a saturday Saturday, Thursday, Saturday, Thursday, Sunday. Strathing back to back to back.

Matches did. He starts in a row. So we'll see. Tann is just waiting in the wings right now. And we'll see if he gets an opportunity or not. If old man, Mattis breaks down, then it'll be Tannett time. Yeah. I guess I'm not too worried about it.

But, um... No, not really. You know, if he's... If he keeps... If his minutes continue to dwindle, maybe he should head for greener pastures in the summer or something. You got any other ones to slip in here before we get to this? I got a couple dual nats to mention.

All right. So Nathaniel Brown had a nice goal for Frankfurt over the weekend, a left-footed strike from the left side of the box. He has three goals, two assists since the beginning of November. I don't know what the situation is with him and who he's going to play for national team wise. I don't know that anything has even been reported. He is U.S. eligible, though, and Germany eligible.

On the other end of the spectrum, Burnley wins, but Luca Koliosho, and he went 90, I think, but he's now scoreless in three months in the championship. I mean, it's possible he's tearing it up out there, but I haven't. I haven't checked. I just don't know.

I just know he has not scored. I don't think he is tearing it up, unfortunately. Also, Bell's a lot too. I did have one more. Brendan Aronson, real quick. Oh, yeah. He missed a pretty good chance to score,

unfortunately. Left side of the box, ball falls to him. He's naked, wide open, takes a strike with his left. foot um air mail baby over over the frame uh you know typical brendo reaction i mean we've seen this we've seen this multiple time you can see it in your head you can you can see it in your head when brenda missed a chance he goes into mourning in his face sort of right yeah yeah it's a head

tilted toward the sky in disbelief all that different type of stuff you know how it goes you know And Leeds drew that game, right? Yes. Preston. With Preston North End. Correct. Correct, correct. I'm sure the Leeds fan base will be very understanding of that miss.

Hey, let's get out of here. You know, if you want to listen to the podcast, ad-free and support us, join the Patreon. The link is in the show notes. We'll see you.