Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #712: New Hopes: a young prospect look-ahead for the 2030 cycle

Episode Date: July 25, 2026

Vince, Sanjay and Marcus Chairez start off with the Union v Red Bull match, and work through a lot of the boxes the USMNT needs to check over the next four years. You know how it is. Let's get started now. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus 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: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedCheck out our store, where you can get Scuffed hats and sweatshirts and other stuff: scuffedpodcast.com/storeAlso, 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.scuffedpodcast.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 when we talk about U.S. soccer. Welcome to the scuff podcast. It's Vince here with Sanjay, and we're getting back to our roots today. We're joined by a special guest getting back to it. You know, we're a full reset, old scuff days, getting back to prospects, baby. So who better to have the Mr. Marcus Cherez? Long time from the other podcast coming back on once again to talk to talk use. Marcus, how you doing, bro?

I'm good. Good to see you guys. I was fortunate to see both of you guys during the World Cup cycle, so happy to be back with you. You know, that's the beautiful thing about all those games being on the West Coast, is that I got to get out there. We got to show love to our West Coast contingent. You know, that seems to be pretty sizable. You know, you got to get out of Seattle. I made the last second decision to get out to San Fran, me and Marcus,

had a great time in the tailgate and after the match. I think my defining moment of the World Cup, the thing I'm going to think about the most is the concourse, I haven't talked about it on the Pai. The concourse at Santa Clara Stadium after the match, just an organic like chance circle broke out. You know, AEO came through. They had the drums.

They started beating a little bit. And I was here when it very first started, because I was on the concourse, like, as the match concluded. And I saw it forming it organically. At first, it was just like 10 people, Chan. Then it started growing, 40, 50, 100. I'm going to say a solid 500 people in the concourse. I have video of it on the Scuft Instagram. You might have seen it if you're, if you follow USM&T stuff on Instagram or whatever.

But huge Chan Circle just formed with people. People everywhere, people climbing on poles, people that has walked up on the steps to, like, get to the upper parts of the stadium to see what was going on to be a part of it. It was a great time. Now, look, the American Outlaw chance get a lot of criticism. But when they're done right and they're performed, you know, by a group of rabid fans that have just experienced a knockout win. It was a great time. It was a great time. And it was shared by me and Marcus, man.

I'll never forget. It was magical. Yeah. A passionate chant can kind of color over maybe the lack of creativity in the song. So if you're belting and everybody's in it 100%, you kind of forget about the rest of it. So that's what it felt like. It was pretty cool. That's right, bro.

honest, that's what all the chance are in foreign languages too, or with a British accent. They're not always the most creative thing, but it's the energy, right? It's the energy, for it does it. It's the energy for just chanting by itself. If you want to, can be interpreted as cringe. If you want to be that person on the outside looking at them, like, look at them, having fun, losing themselves to the moment. Anytime you got somebody losing themselves to the moment where they're like really

filling themselves, whether it's dancing or chanting or singing or whatever, You can easily be on the outside and be like, oh, look at these land people. But anyway, let's get, let's get to the youth. The World Cup is long gone. We are on to the future, on to 2030. So, Sanjay, you've created a punch list for 2030 to see what we can check off. That was Marcus, actually. Oh, this is.

I'm glad to hear that. Yeah, before we start, I just want to say, so we'll get to talking about this game soon, the Philly Red Bull game. I was there in person. It was a great, beautiful summer evening. for soccer. I stayed with the legendary Jonathan Tannenwald, Mr. Philadelphia, my good friend, Mr. Philly.

And the morning after the game, the last kind of dream I had was LeBron James signing with the Sixers. I'm not making this up. I said this to him when I woke up. And that was yesterday. That was yesterday. I woke up having had that dream. And today, here we are.

But yeah, it was a great day. in Philly and I'm excited to talk about not just their prospects, but a lot of prospects from in the league and beyond. So, I mean, it makes a lot of sense. LeBron James now paired up with the baby LeBron James of soccer. You know, we might have to officially snatch that title from Christian Polisic and then attach it all our hosting dreams to young Kevin Sullivan. So anyway, Marcus, you created this punch list for 2030 to see what we can check off in these four years. as far as what the national team needs going forward for us to feel good about what's going to happen in 2030. Can you list off these?

Yeah, yeah. And it was kind of inspired by the last pod you guys did after Spain won the World Cup. And you're talking, you guys were talking a little bit about depths and how once again we kind of went into the World Cup with like 12 guys that the coach trusted. And so I started to think about like an ideal. checklist that we would ideally love to check off before the next World Cup. I think some of these things are unlikely. Some of these things are more likely. But I thought it could help sort of shape the discussion today.

And also, I think just shape how we look at the players that we hope to emerge over the next four years and kind of focus our attention a little bit. So, yeah, let me go through it really quick because there's a lot of stuff that podcast that got me thinking. I think the number one thing, which will likely not get checked off before the next World Cup, but it's something you guys talked about and all these teams that any team that makes a run in the World Cup for the most part has to have at least a superstar. And I think one of the things I felt like in the Belgian game was when in that first

kind of like 15 minutes when we were in hell. A lot of times teams that don't get off to the start that they want, and this is kind of true for a lot of sports, I think. You need someone to kind of remind you that it's okay, and usually that's a superstar that does something a little magical and just lets everybody breathe a little bit. And we were looking around hoping for someone to do that, and there just was nobody there.

I think Malik's free kick was the closest thing to do that. And then we gave up a goal in like one minute. And that kind of just completely washed that out. So, you know, the point here is like we have still not developed a true global superstar. And I think that is the number one thing we're missing right now. Never mind depth. We need one of our guys to become, you know, I don't love the term world class. but that that's more or less, I think, what we need.

So. Rodry and Mehdi wouldn't have been rattled in that game. Well, we'll see. All right. Number two, we had some, we had some clear weaknesses, right? In this, even in our starting 11. So we talk about, yeah, we had like 12, 13 guys, maybe that potch trusted. But there were also just really clear weaknesses that really didn't come to

until that that belsum game so um i think most notably um centerback right like ream had a tough time in that game and we kind of knew that was going to come to a head at some point um and then goalkeeper so a position that's historically been a strength for us soccer has been a weakness now for really since since tim howard retired so um center back and goalkeeper are areas where we need to raise the floor of the starting 11 by the next cycle. And I don't think it's abundantly clear who that will be. I think there are lottery tickets, but those were, I think, the two weaknesses.

And then I would say, right, like, Desk position, another, we need a dynamic winger. And, like, Des had some nice games, right? But at the end of the day against the pot one team, we started a erudivizzi right back at wing. And I think that that's like the truth of the matter. And that, you know, that again was like a clear problem. We didn't have a guy. We didn't have a, we didn't have a dude on the wing that we can go to and just make things happen.

So to me, those are the three kind of like, if everybody can maintain their level and there may be guys that come. emerge and displace some of our core guys, and that's great. We'll always welcome that. But these were, to me, the three weaknesses that need to be improved for the next World Cup. So we can talk about guys that maybe can do that. Yeah. Those three positions, they're kind of limiting factors. Right.

It's almost like the same thing as the point I made last podcast with the depth piece, where it's like, if we don't check this box, like don't expect this. we need to upgrade significantly probably two of these spots for 2030 and if that doesn't happen I'm gonna have some concerns yeah yeah we'll have once again trouble making it pass around a 16 for sure especially these backline positions right going up against equality attack like that's just always going to be an issue

Okay, I think on the secession planning topic, you know, we have some guys that are going to be that we've been relying on for eight years that are going to be in their low 30s in the next World Cup. Some of them may maintain and be, you know, good enough for us to make it passed around a 16. some of them may drop off pretty significantly. I would say of those guys, so the guy's born in the 90s, basically. So you got Christian, you got Weston, you got Jedi, and you got who my, Tyler, right? So those four guys are going to be in their low 30s

for the next World Cup. Maybe two of the four are still at like a two or three of the four, you'd hope, are at a high quality level. the one I'm most concerned about is probably Jedi. He's the oldest of the group. I think he's had more significant lower body injury issues. We're starting to see the tread on the tire maybe. For sure.

You know, those tires may be getting a little bit bald, which would make sense just based on his playing style and being in the Premier League. I remember when he was asked about fitness stuff, when we were in Atlanta before the tournament got going and he joked like he hasn't been 100% since he was like mid-teens.

You know what I mean? Like he's been dealing with injuries for his whole career from the very beginning. So yeah, there's definitely a reason to be concerned about him. I'm still concerned about other guys too that you mentioned but agree with that. Yeah. Four more years seems like we're asking too much of him.

So we got to and we went into this tournament with our backup left back as basically Austin trustee is the defensive option and Max Arsson as the attacking option and that's not an acceptable level I think for the next World Cup so we needed to start finding the next

left back. The next one it seems like the most attainable and honestly feels like we already have it. We just didn't either the guys weren't available or we didn't bring them. So quality depth and kind of midfield and then I would say an attack. So when Christian comes off,

early and we replace him with Sebastian Burrhalter, that is an unacceptable level of depth in attack, right? So you guys covered Tim, like the kind of Tim Way of drop off and not playing him on the right. I don't need to get into that. But I mean, we do theoretically have midfield depth. If you look at, if you have a healthy Johnny, you have a, you know, a reintegrated Eunice that can maybe find some stability in his club and, you know, maybe a Tanner Testament who has a stronger second half of the season is there and probably a more reliable option. So I think midfield and attack is totally viable, probably highly probable for the next World Cup,

and there are even other younger options like, I guess we're calling him Roger Mimetti. That'll probably be there as well. So like this one to me is probably the most likely box to check. And then the last thing is just like any time we can get a little bit better in that kind of like core 15, anytime someone can raise the ceiling a little bit, raise the floor, we'll take it. And so that will likely happen as well in some places just like it did this last cycle. Yeah, Freeman's a good example of that, right? Because we didn't, he was obviously not on the radar going into the cycle.

And then we get to, you know, we get closer to the World Cup. and he is raising the floor and the ceiling. Yep. He's a good reminder that, like, things can change with a player in about a calendar month. And that's kind of what happened with Freeman, right? He was a next pro player to a Villa Real player. Granted, he didn't play a bunch,

but he did play at the end of the year and look good there and then had a pretty good World Cup. So, like, anytime you're feeling like the future is bleak, and there are times when we all feel that way, these things do tend to happen, and it can happen pretty quickly, and I think Freeman's a good example of that. Yeah, and for me,

if you ask me, like, ceiling versus floor, I'm looking at the floor, to be honest. Like, usually, of course, yeah, of course I love the excitement that a big talent can give. Of course, I would love to have a superstar, all the different type of stuff. But Freeman's, Alex Freeman is a perfect example. Like the stability that he provided for playing, from playing his position and giving us a solid seven out of ten, you know, consistently where you could expect it, that's what we need.

As much as I absolutely adore Weston McKinney, Tyler Adams, Christian Polisick, et cetera, they have low floors. I mean, they do have low floors as players, I mean, especially when we're talking about. potentially beating a pot one team, beating a top 12 team or whatever. And you see that, you see that floor kind of come out to play a little bit. So, yeah. Freeman ceiling is crazy, to be fair.

I mean, yes, but I'm looking, as I've said many times, I'm looking for a consistency of performance, brother, over this cycle. I'm looking, that's the main thing I need. And without a doubt, I'm not disputing what you're saying, Sanjay. So I agree with you. But if he was, if Alex Freeman was less consistent than he has been in his young U.S. men's national team career,

I, so I don't think I would like that as much. You know, I mean, just give me, I'm happy that he was somebody that we could trust with the minutes that we gave him. And it's not like necessarily dealing with the things that you necessarily associate with you.

and experience. You know, and him providing that providing that kind of performance beyond his years, or at least beyond his playing years, professional playing years, is that's something I want to see. I want that type of security blanket.

You know, we can put somebody out there, know what we're going to get kind of regardless of opponent. One thing I want to add to this, it's going to be interesting not just to see, who checks these boxes, but like which kids hit in such a big way that it influences how we want to play. For example, like, I think Mehdi might be the prime example of this.

He's a certain type of player where if he is that good, if he pans out the way we hope, then it's suddenly like, are you building the team around him and playing through him and maybe leaning a little bit more towards a possession-oriented approach? You know what I mean? versus if it's Albert and Goh. who are crushing it and even Kevin who can thrive in transition like are we meant to play more

in that way so it's not just about guys filling in spots in a depth chart but it's like who is really hitting in a big way that pushes whoever the next coach is we're recording on friday uh we haven't had maricio news yet but maybe we will soon but yeah whoever it is next even if it's him again, like how you want to play, it could change based on which kids really, really step up. All right, all right, Sanjay, it's a perfect segue because let's go ahead and get right back into it, man. MLS is fully back, and they served us with a game

that's like catnip for the scuff podcast, the scuff podcast, OGs, sickos, etc. Sanjay, Marcus, me alike, Philadelphia versus Red Bull. As you said, Sanjay, you were there. And in this match. Right, we have Kevin Sullivan starting. Frankie Westfield starting.

Neil Pierre came on late. Well, not late, but in the second half. And Quinn Sullivan returned from his, it was an ACL? Yes. A.C.L. And then on the other side, the Red Bull side, under Mr. Mikey Bradley, we have Audrey Mametti, of course, Julian Hall, Maddie Dos Santos, and Justin Chey as well.

and I'm just going to throw it out there. Sanja, you were there. What caught your eye the most? Yeah, beautiful Knight in Philly. Ryan Richter, head coaching debut. I think the headliner was Kavin's performance. I think we can all agree about that for the purpose of this conversation. I mean, he was just feeling himself like the uninhibited flare,

which I love. A few people were, uh, maybe not a few people. I think a lot of people were wet blanketing some of the stuff that he tried, but I'm here for all of it. I mean, you know, the whole, the whole time I was thinking of that, that Bruce Arena quote about Clint Dempsey where he tries shit.

This guy was out here trying shit, uh, every time, not every time I got the ball, but, but as much as he could. He has that chemistry on the right side with his buddy, um,

Frankie Westfield, which is nice to see. I think his, his decision making, has gotten really good. I've seen a lot of people say, like, it takes him, Marcus Newman agree with this, takes him some time to, like, adjust to a level as he climbs.

But he's clearly, you know, the speed of the game is not too much for him. The physicality, he's always been willing to get in the cage, and I think he's holding his own, say the least there. But, yeah, we saw it all. You know, there was an audacious half-volley hit with the outside of his foot. but there was like a moment midway through the first half

where it was just like a snapshot of what this game was, like, what I really appreciate in it. Westfield was throwing the ball in, and he threw it like backwards, so Cabin was like jogging onto the ball, and then he tried a back heel right away that, like, Westfield couldn't get to, but it was like just little things like that too,

not just the stuff that made it in the highlight reel. And yeah, he played some really incisive through balls. Westfield missed an easy chance early on, but I thought he did a lot of good things. Marcus, I want to get your take on him. I think he's a really interesting player. There was one moment, too. Like, everyone looks to him. He's a physical specimen, you know, tall guy, strong kid, fast kid.

Apparently comes from a family of athletes. I learned his brother's a top basketball player in the area. But there was a moment towards the end of that first half where, like, he took a disgusting thing first touch off of a corner flying to like the other sideline. There was a corner across ball was in the air for a long time and he took it down with the outside of his boot, no problem. So little things like that too, it's cool to see. But yeah, I think everyone saw the comments by now, the highlights.

Audrey did some good things too, including on the goal where he showcased how well he can just always receive the ball with the right foot, you know, in the right space. because he knows where he is in the pitch. And he just so effortlessly is able to open up his body and activate his left foot in a way that I don't see with a lot of players. There's not many players his age period playing, playing this league at that position.

But even a general in the pool, it's really nice to see. So yeah. Yeah, just so real quick, Sanjay. This is Audrey Mehdi receiving the ball from, I think either a centerback of the goalkeeper. I forgot who passed it to him. but in a pocket of space that is really like a half space,

surrounded by two or three people, he receives the ball with his off foot. The touch, he cushions the ball as he goes to turn. The ball does not leave that foot, perfect touch, and then just brings through his other foot to pass the ball forward. It just, like, easy as he like, you know, for a 17, 17? 17? 18?

Yeah, yeah. For a 17-year-old to just make that play. I mean, look, it's a turn, you know, Sanja, you gave him the nickname. It's a turn that you would see Rodry do, bro. You know what I'm saying? It's something where, like, there is any error in his touch while receiving that pass or any indecision on where he was going after receiving that pass. He is dispossessed.

He loses the ball there. But instead, he makes a progressive play. and basically that whole goal sequence is just like up the middle from the New York Red Bulls. Keyed by him. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely keyed by him, bro. Honestly, I don't know if he'll in this league because there's enough time and space.

I don't know if he'd lose it if he took more touches or more time with it. But like just technically his foundation, like that's stuff that you can't teach. And that's stuff that a lot of guys can't develop after a certain age. And he just has those habits, you know, ingrained in him. even in the 15th minute at clock, like he received the ball deep in the Red Bulls half and just like effortlessly sidestepped past Yvonne Lugut was coming at him. Yeah, he was one of those little box dribbles

where he moved it from his right to his left and went past him. And a lot of guys can't use both feet like that, making quick decisions like that. So good to see from him. The game got away from Red Bull later on as it got more, you know, fast, physical, sloppy, you could say, like back and forth.

but Julian Hall, who also gets a lot of attention with this team, he was in on goal in the 54th minute and couldn't beat Andre Blake with, like, it wasn't an easy chance by any stretch, but the ball was kind of bouncing, and he had to go with the outside of his right foot. And it was a one-one game then, so if he scores that, it's a totally different one. And then, yeah, eventually gets away from Red Bull. But Hall, an All-Star, getting a lot of attention for his exploit so far. But, yeah, good to see.

a lot of good things from those main prospects on both sides. And then you also have, you have Maddie DeSantos, whose fitness is still getting built up. He came off at half. He's an interesting player. I don't know how high his ceiling is, but I think he's a player that if he gets a few seasons in him, unless he'll be a solid pro.

It's more a question of, you know, the manager having that faith in him, and Michael Bradley certainly does so far. Justin Shea is a name we might talk about in this cycle because of the lack of options at centerback, but we saw one of those high ceiling, high potential options in Neil Pierre coming on and getting that absolute dunk of a corner.

But yeah, it's just crazy to see him out there, man. He is massive. He's a, he's big. He clarified after the game. He's not 6'6. He's 6'7 and growing. But, yeah, I'll turn it over to Marcus to get some thoughts on some of the guys we saw in this game,

because this was definitely the highlight of MLS being back for all the sickos. Yeah, I mean, I agree with a lot of what you guys are saying. I think it was the perfect game for those of us who were kind of wanting to cleanse ourselves from the last game in the World Cup and just start to look forward. Honestly, couldn't have had a better game to watch to kind of start that process. So, I mean, honestly, probably five guys in this game that could very well become part, you know, key players. in this next cycle. If I had to, if I was the betting man, I'd probably put that on

Kevin, Frankie, Neil, Audrey, and Julian are all guys that could, you know, play roles in the next cycle. So that's a lot for one MLS game, which is pretty cool. Well, we're well clear to clarify because the thought just crossed my mind. For people that don't know the positions of these players. Yeah, yeah. Good call. Let's go ahead and go through them a quick. Kevin Sullivan, Marcus?

Yeah, I think he's best as like a pocket, right wing, 10, play in the half space. He can either great play centrally or, you know, get the ball on his left foot. He's got a good strike with his left foot. So, yeah, right wing or 10. So is Frankie Westfield? Frankie Westfield is the right back. Neil Pierre is a centerback. Audrey Mehdi is a six.

Julian Hall. He came up as a winger. he's performed pretty well as a nine. I think he's more of a nine. I know I've made the comparison before to Ballo. Ballo came up as a winger, transitioned more as a nine. Physically, they've got some similarities. Hall's got to clean up some things technically,

but I think there's some fair comparisons to make there, but I think he's a nine long term. Yeah, Madag de Santos is a left back. and Che is like a, I guess he's a tweener. Like, I don't know, Marcus, what do you think? You think he's going to be right back in the end? Yeah, I mean, I think he's played some of his best soccer as a centerback. I think he's playing his best soccer right now, and he's playing as a true centerback

in a back four. He played a lot of right back for, like, Byron 2 and Hoffenheim. I mean, it's kind of one of these classic, like, probably ideal in, like, a back. three is on the right side would be his best position where his size can be massed a little bit. But yeah, he's kind of a hybrid right back, centerback. Yeah, he may be great for that role if we continue it, right, that Potch hybrid role. He could probably play Freeman's stay-at-home right-back role, you know, functionally fairly well. So, yeah.

These teams are, and yeah, we mentioned Quinn Sullivan gets the return to a standing ovation, which is really cool to see. Quinn, by the way, he's had a big part in Cabin's success. He's a model older brother, a great kid, so really cool to see him get that reception from the Philly crowd. Well, we're real quick, Slange, before we go any further, because you said that Calvin by far was the star of this match for all the baby yanks. and I disagree. I want to say, get right here on the record to say I disagree

because I just, I look at Audrey Mehdi, bro, and I just feel like, like, look, I'm not here to. I'm not going to argue that.

I just watch them every week. Yeah, yeah. Having this moment hit different for everyone, but. Yeah, fair, fair. He probably gave us a little bit more

than we had seen in MLS so far. Kevin did. But I still think, performance for performance. Like, Audrey, it's like, I mean, he's playing as the six for this team. As you can see and tell by just watching the Red Bulls play even once if you haven't, Mikey Bradley puts a lot of responsibility on Audrey McMuddy.

And, I mean, he handles it, bro. He handles it in this league. He carries itself with a poised, not befitting a 17-year-old. His ability on the ball. his ability to just read things defensively. I don't know. I'm not totally sure. I do have good feelings on his physical projection going forward,

but I'm not totally sure if he's going to be, you know, if he's going to have everything needed defensively as a defensive midfielder as he matures. But he might not need it, bro. He just might be his total match controller as he matures with just his technical ability, a skill on the ball. And like I said, defensively, he reads things extremely well. He uses his body extremely well. Look, I don't want to hear about the running, the effort stuff.

We did this with another technical genius, Jack McGlynn. At a certain point, we have to progress the way we try to play. And this guy is gifted. Like, people gave me crap. I thought I was, like, kidding when I said that he should have gone to the World Cup in roster 26 guys, at least for the experience, because I think that highly of his future, his ceiling. but the calmness, the composure, like, you can't teach that.

And we saw our team get totally undressed, you know, in the big game, the game that really mattered. So when you talk about guys who are going to rise the occasion four years from now, he definitely has all the tools too. And I think, Vince, you're probably most excited about Audrey going back to your statement earlier about you really are looking for guys that are going to set a really high floor. and I don't think any prospect in the pool sets a higher floor than Audrey. I think he's about as sure of a bet barring injuries, you know, which is the thing that can get anybody. But outside of that, he's a pretty sure bet.

He's going to be a very good USMNT impact player for a long time. And you can drive in a double pivot too, right? It doesn't have to be the way the Red Bulls do it where you're playing through him in a single pivot. play him next to Johnny, if Tyler can make it to the next World Cup, that'd be, that'd be amazing. Next to, next to Musa. Like, there's ways to, you know, mitigate those defensive deficiencies if you think that's, you know, a huge issue, I think. Yeah, he's a, he's a malleable player, bro. He's one of those ballsers, I feel like you can put next to anybody.

They're going to love playing with them when that time comes. But I don't want to, I want to make sure we do spend the proper amount of time on Kevin, just because, like, watching this match. And really, this is my first, I think, I've checked in on him here and there. But I kind of missed his run of minutes that he got in the run-in to the break before the World Cup. And then checking this match out, you know, just watching him operate, like his short space explosivity. His explosiveness in tight spaces, his ability to shift the ball on, you know, right-left foot and then just go and leave somebody. from like a stop position. You know, I mean, that's, you can see where the hype's coming from and where are the,

and then obviously, Sanja, you mentioned it earlier, but his eye for a pass, he released multiple people with through balls when he, when he received it, coming in field a little bit. And so. There were also times where he would just, like, play a one-touch pass. Like, it's not, this guy's not trying to be a highlight real every time he receives the ball. I think that decision-making has gotten better. but you don't want to bring that in at all.

In terms of Philly overall, too, like this could be another appointment viewing team for the sick of those. If Pierre is starting and Yakopovic is starting eventually because Damiani, like I can't stand watching him play. He's talented, but at a certain point, I think both those guys should start soon. And at that point, I mean, tell me if I'm wrong, Marcus. I don't think there's a team that's besides me of the Red Bulls,

like that's more worth watching for our fans. Yeah, these are the two. I mean, these are the two best academies in Major League Soccer, and these are the two teams that have the most young talent to watch, for sure. Yeah, I think the thing about Kevin and Audrey and why they're at the top of any prospect list is they have supreme confidence in what they can do. and they don't care who they're playing, what level they're playing. They believe that they can apply their skills against anybody, and I think that's very clear in how they play.

That's a mentality factor that I think the national team needs, and I think those are two players that are mentally elite, as well as gifted soccer players. And so what I appreciate about kids, Kevin and what I think he'll bring to the national team eventually is he's just he does things that are surprising. He does things that are unexpected. He does need players around him that are kind of thinking differently as well. Sometimes he's trying things that others are not, you know, maybe aware of a pass that's coming. But I agree. I think he's gotten better at learning when to

play quick and play simple and when to kind of take it on his own. I think that's that's improving. I think you also just saw a player that was playing for a coach that gave him the keys and said, hey, we believe in you. Go make it happen. Don't worry about, you know, don't worry about any like, I think Carnell was so concerned about every pressing rotation, every, you know, every coverage, every little thing that, you know, when you have a player like having, you, you, first and foremost, let him go create and go play with confidence. And I think that was a big different and what we saw from him in this game versus what we were seeing in the first half of the season. So, I mean, I'm extremely, extremely excited about both these guys.

And I'm probably then the next most excited about Neil Pierre. Of all the young centerbacks that could break through before the next cycle, I would probably put Pierre at the top of my list and most likely to be able to do it. you guys have talked a lot about needing business handlers on the back line. Pierre, I've been watching Pierre since he was 14. He's always been a business handler. Like that's kind of what he's hung his hat on from the get-go. Like he dominates duels on the ground.

He dominates duels in the air. He's a defender first and foremost. That's what he started. Like he was first and foremost, defense. He added distribution to his game later on. I hope he doesn't get any taller. Six-seven is tall enough. I worry a little bit about his ability to defend in space,

but he had a couple nice reps. He had a nice rep on Julian Hall at about where kind of the midline and touchline meet. Boxed him out. He kind of went to ground but got up quickly, which for a six-seven guy, I think got up actually quite quickly. which is a good sign of his athleticism. He recovered on a play and showed his more like recovery speed. So I think he's, I think he can look awkward.

Like he definitely had the Bambi effect when he was younger. But he's starting to grow into his body. And I'm not too worried about his ability to defend in a high line and in space. And this Philly system is really going to test that as well. So I'm, I'm super high on Neil. I think he might be the guy that that plays it. alongside Chris if Nokey never commits. And then, you know, you got to see what he can do on set plays.

Like this is his X factor. He scored, he was recently on a loan with Lingby, helping them in their promotion campaign in the second tier of the Danish League. And I think he had like four goals in like six or seven games. He almost had a second one in this game. Like he is an absolute problem in the air. and that's, you know, we don't get a lot of set play love outside of got some Malik magic in this World Cup, but that's another thing he adds that we just don't have is like he not only does he have the size,

he knows how to use it, he can get up, he tights his jumps well. I mean, that was an absolute dunk. Yeah, he attacks the ball with ferocity. And that's another thing just, I mean, just even off the set pieces, you can kind of see as athleticism play up a little bit more than just being six-seven, as you said, Mark. He should have scored twice, by the way. He nearly scored a second time as well. I don't know how he didn't.

But before we move on from these teams, Marcus, your thoughts on Yakopovich? I know a lot of people are excited about flow, you know, potential when you face the team leading the line. But we all know we need depth and we need quality depth when we talk about guys we brought on in a game like the Belgian game. I think he's a really interesting player who could be in the mix right in 2030. Your thoughts and your expectations for Yakopovich.

Yeah, I think this year's probably too soon. Like, I agree that Philly strikers are not great. But Yakopo, which is, he's actually in quite a bit of a slump right now. I don't think he's scored in like five months or something. He goes off to like a screaming start in Next Pro last year. He had like 11 goals and like nine games. But he slowed down a little bit just for folks that don't know anything about him. He's a Bosnian-American.

He's probably already about 6'3. left-footed, wiry, good feet, can create shots on his own, scoring a lot of different ways with his head, with his left foot. I think his biggest area of growth right now is doing more without the ball. He needs to get kind of the opposite of what's going on with Julian Hall. Julian Hall is getting a lot of easy goals just because he's relentlessly running. Baligan gets a lot of goals because he's just relentlessly running. Jakopovich needs to.

I think become more relentless running off the ball. I think he's wanting the ball to feet too much and relying on that too much. And he moves well. People should know, right? Like for his, he's a big guy, but I'm really impressed whenever I watch him how well he moves around the pitch. Yeah, yeah, he's not, he's not super stiff. He moves well. He's got good feet.

So, yeah, he might, he could be the highest ceiling striker prospect we have in the youth pool. he could yeah he could he could come to fruition before the next world strikeers take a little longer sometimes maybe I think next year is probably the year where he starts to get some real minutes with Philly but yeah I'm super high on him too okay all good stuff we have some more younger players in MLS they have the ability to check some boxes for the USMNT we'll get into that later we're going to take a break though

right now all right all right we're back to go through some more young players in MLS who have been catching eyes, getting some minutes, and may be able to check some of these boxes for the U.S. men's national team going forward. All right, all right. Yeah, before I jump into like some guys that are playing that I think can be factors this cycle in MLS, could be factors for the national team that are playing in MLS. I kind of realize that I am watching a lot of these players in their first team

probably with a different perspective than a lot of others because I've been watching most of these guys since they were like 13 or 14 years old, right? So I almost know their games too well. And so for me, I'm just looking to see like the things that they've been able to do at high level in the academy and second team. Are they able to apply it when they're playing against, you know, first team professionals, adults, grown men? That's kind of the number one thing I'm looking for. Those are, that's typically a good sign of a young player.

But I guess before we get into this list, what I wanted to ask both you guys is, for guys who are probably mainly just watching players once they're in a first team, what are you looking for? Like, what gets you excited? Like, what is the difference between a guy that's like, Yeah, he's fine. Like, he's a serviceable MLS player versus a guy you're like, I know both you guys are excited about Audrey. So, like, what is it about a player that makes you kind of like, turn your head a little bit?

Like, oh, he's different. He looks like a difference maker for the national team. Yeah, with young players or new players, I look for a few things, and they all kind of fit into the categories of, of, you know, when you're taking a coaching course, you'll probably hear about technical, tactical, physical, psychosocial. These things kind of fit into those categories,

but at a high level, I'm looking at first things first touch, however they are technically. The next thing is speed of thought, because even if young players can't physically execute things, like can they see the game fast enough and make the right decisions? And then the third thing, and this might bleed into, of the physical stuff a bit is, is can they impact the game? Like, are they brave enough to really influence the way things are happening in the pitch,

even at such a young age if they're not totally developed, you know, technically or physically? So I'll bring up two debuts that I thought, I may be zooming out. I may be judge players too quickly, and I'm more than happy to admit when I'm wrong about a player not panning out. I think usually in any sport, it's easy to lean towards, you know, being skeptical until you're proven one way or another. But, yeah, with Christian's debut for Dorman,

I'll never forget thinking, like, he had it because he did have an amazing impact in that game. He was very decisive. You could tell technically he was at the level. And he had maybe more pace and burst then than he does now. Or, you know, I don't know how much of his step he's lost, but that jumped out of me. and then a debut where I didn't think much was going to come of him

was Julian Green with the national team and he was very young at that time but Yergan threw him into a friendly against Mexico I think it was one of those where it like wasn't a FIFA window but yeah technically it looked okay but he didn't look like someone I thought could really impact the game so that's what I'm looking for in young players because if they can show certain things you know despite not being physically developed

like a lot of the other guys in the pitch, I think it's, it bodes well. And, yeah, Audrey's obviously a player. You saw it right away, especially given how much they're putting on his plate. Really impressive to see what he does every week. But, Benz, go ahead. Yeah, man, for me, I mean, my whole, like,

view of the game, when soccer really made sense for me is when I started looking at the game from a player point of view and breaking down players through, like, their attributes and what they could do. um on a pitch so that's kind of how i look at like any new player that i'm introduced to i just watch them and i'm like okay like what what foot do they use like what you know what what foot do they use do they do they can they receive the ball on the half turn can they when they do

they have an idea going forward you know the speed of thought kind of thing but then also just like i'm looking at it very simply like ball striking boom passing but Boom. Like what what what is their touch like? It's just from a attribute point of view first. And then because as you these attributes kind of come, they become quite obvious like before anything else, I would say. Right? You can tell what kind of player somebody is. Yeah, but before anything else. And then as you as you see that, then you start to see like how did they apply these attributes. on like a professional pitch or whatever going forward. So whether, and that applies anybody, what is a young person, old person, whatever. Like, you know, you see what they like to do, what they can do, and then are they able to get to it?

Yeah. Kind of thing. Like, you know, so that, that's, that's me. Yeah, like in basketball, you know, you talk about, like, can they get to their spot? Right. Can they get to their spot? Can they, like, they have a foundation of what they can do.

Can they apply it against, as they climb the level of competition, can they continue to apply it? Right, exactly. And then with young players, it's like their ability to get to it, to get to whatever the superpower is, whatever they're good at doing,

it might be sporadic. And so you kind of have to, you might have to watch a little bit closer, especially for like a young player who's applying their trade in like a top five league or something. Like it might look a little rough, but there might be one, two, three flashes in a match where it's like, okay, like that's it.

Like, that's what they want to do. That's what they can do. And it's just about seeing, like, if they can improve that consistency, basically improve that floor to where now they're able to get to what they want to do and execute it at a, you know, professional level, at a level that'll keep them in a professional team, you know, more than just their potential or promise or whatever. And look calm while doing it too, right?

That's another thing as I watch. You've been fortunate to watch some of these great teams that went far in this last World Cup. And it's tied to the technical stuff. Like if you're that much better at controlling the bowl, you're going to be that much more calm on the pitch. But yeah, that's something that stands out to me as we try to catch up to the elite. Yeah. All right.

Thank you, guys. I think, I think like those are all, those are all things that make sense to me. And maybe just gives like people an idea of like if they want to tune in and watch some of these guys, like some things to look for. Sometimes I think people are maybe looking at the wrong things or just looking at a box score or looking at a fop-mop score or whatever. And I think for younger players specifically, there's a lot of nuance. and I think in what you need to look for to have some rational hope for what they might become. So why don't I, I'll rattle through the guys, I think, like going back to that punch list we talked about at the beginning. I just created a list of guys that could be.

They're all could be guys, right? We don't know what they're going to become, but these are all guys that are more or less either have a really big role in their team right now or kind of growing into a role. So if you do want to tune in to MLS, you know, most likely you're going to get to see these guys play most weekends and weeks. So I'm going to start from back to front positionally because I think back is where, you know, we talked about we need some help. The young goalkeeper right now that I think is probably, you know, outside of Chris Brady, who was on the World Cup team. I'm not going to talk about him. I'm going to go a little bit younger. The youngest goalkeeper, American goalkeeper, that's played in MLS so far this year quite a bit is a kid named Duran Furi.

He plays at San Diego FC. He's been kind of a part-time starter for them. His kind of underlying goalkeeping numbers are pretty good. San Diego's backline's been pretty chaotic and messy, which I think have impacted that. He's extremely, extremely calm, almost to the point of too confident with his feet at times. But kind of the exact opposite of what we've come to see with our goalkeepers, like he is, he is really smooth with it on the ball. He's maybe a little bit undersized, but, you know, good reaction, good athlete, get the ball on the ground quickly. He's really taken,

I think, some big steps forward at San Diego. So he's, he's one I'm keeping an eye on just because he brings a different kind of like element to the goalkeeping position that we just haven't had in a while. So keep an eye on him. Teammate, who had kind of a breakout year last year, is left back Luca Bombino. So another maybe post-Jedai era option.

Luca really thrives in kind of San Diego's like play out of the back at all costs, play with possession at all costs style. I think he's got that speed of thought, can play in tight spaces, technically good. The question for him is going to be can he defend?

you know, world-class attackers at long-term. That would be my question for him. And you guys jump in at any point, if you want to talk about anybody specifically. The next left back... You get through him, and then I think at the end we'll... All right. I'll try to power through quickly. The other left back, that is probably most people's favorite

to succeed Jedi is Peyton Miller from New England. He's on the younger side. He's still only 18. He's a young 2007. He just signed an extension with New England, but the rumors are that he's already got, potentially already got a deal to go at the end of the season, potentially to a Premier League club. His coach, former U-20 coach, Marco Mitrovich,

talked about him recently. Something I kind of was confusing to me about what he said his strengths right now, he plays a lot as a winger for New England, which I don't think is where he's going to end up. I don't think he's got enough creativity to stick there. But he's got loads of pace. He's strong. You know, he said his best attributes are, you know, his ability to arrive and play in the final third. I don't necessarily disagree with that. He said his biggest, you know, area of growth is defending. So I'm sitting here like, all right, well, put him out, put him out back and let him defend. What are you doing?

So I'm a little worried about that. I do think, I think he's a capable defender, but he needs reps against good attackers, and he's not really getting them right now. So I'm a little worried about that, but I do think he's the highest potential probably left back, young left back in the pool at the moment. Yeah. So I basically took that from when I, from watching these dudes today. Like, first I watched Lucan Bobbino, and then I got to Peyton Miller, which like like luca's nice don't get me wrong and um his ability to just pass move receive pass uh continually is impressive um but he's he's a little frail i guess i would say or at least he plays frail uh like like a little bit um you know when you see him getting the duels and

stuff he's not really bringing anything to the party uh lucca bombino it's not and then when you turn on paid miller it's like all right this dude he he has broad shoulders like he's a he's a little he's compact right he's built like a nickel corner yeah yeah he's compact he's powerful you know you see him getting up and down the pitch and yeah he just has a little bit more juice than luca bobby you know that's right now just as far as just a athletically and obviously in the attack as well and this is not to take away from luca whatsoever he's a solid player and as he grows physically I mean, I think you could see, I could easily see him possibly applying his trade for the national team going forward.

But yeah, it's just, it's just, you know, when you look at the two in a lineup or something like that, or you just see him on the pitch in and of itself, you know, you could see like Peyton Miller, all right, that's why people are excited about Peyton Miller kind of thing. Yeah, now that we're doing this, like I'll just say Peyton Miller is the one I'm most excited. about on this list. I think there's a lot of solid future pros in here. Maybe not men's national team difference makers or starters or even squad guys, but it's good to see them raise the floor of MLS overall, right? That's nice to see. But yeah, Payne Miller is a top, top player. And I rate him about just about higher than anyone else in this list, but let's keep it going. Yeah, so we talked

about Neil Pierre. He's probably, if I would keep it on any centerback, young centerback in MLS, that would be my choice. The other one that's getting some time on a bad team, but getting a lot of good experience is Ian James, as sporting KC, and he's got all the attributes. I mean, he's, he's a big, strong dude. He likes to defend, which I always look for. I think we've got a, we got a lot of kids in the academy system that are like six to athletic and like to pass, but they don't necessarily like to defend. And that's why we got a lot of non-business handlers on our senior team. It's like, you're a centerback, right? Like, number one, I want to see you, like,

I want to see some nastiness. I want to see some physicality and duels. And I do think Ian brings a bit of that. There might be some questions about his ability to play in space. But there's a really good foundation there, and it's good to see him. He's playing centerback and him all us at a very, very young age. Sometimes he's getting asked to pop out and play at right back, even,

which I think good reps for him to have to play in space against attackers. So I love. like Ian a lot. I'll pause real quick, see if you guys have anything you want to say about him. I have some questions technically about his ball playing. I mean, I think

a lot of it was nerves because he got a lot better during the match. But I think Sporting Casey played Red Bull and he started that match. And it was like for the first 15 minutes, it was like, I mean, obviously the ball's coming to him under no pressure. Like they're not pressing the centerbacks

necessarily, but even then it's like he was having a tough time controlling the ball. He would have to look at it into his foot every once in a while. And I was like, whoa. Like is this, um, is MLS like, is he there a little bit too early? You know, is he playing minutes in MLS little bit too early? Is this a too big of a step for him? I don't, I don't know, I don't know. But then as the match started going forward, has it, has we gotten about to the 25th, 30th minute, I want to say?

He looked a lot better, and he actually did hit some incisive passes into the amoeba, but still that, he still did have that difficulty kind of like trapping the ball as it's coming to him. Like, it would pop up on him. It would, he would accidentally do croquettas and stuff. Like, you know, it was kind of wild. It was like an adventure watching him play. But obviously you can see, like, I mean, he's a huge dude. He's a big guy, like you said, likes to play defense.

And I think that's another thing for Justin Chey as well. Justin Chey, I mean, he might be a little bit too rambunctious. But you can tell he likes playing D as well. He likes putting his hands on people, having that contact with people physically. So I do need to see some more with Ian Jay. I can see where the potential promise is coming from as far as like just being a large human, 18 years old, playing centerback. the in the MLS, but. Yeah, I haven't watched him nearly as much as you guys have, Mark,

is definitely not as much as you have, but I'm not a hope trafficker. I'm careful about who I get excited about and try to get people excited about, and I want to see a better foundation to be pumped about someone. So that goes for most of the people on this list, honestly. That's fair. Like, I would definitely say that about E&J. Matter of fact, before like the 25th minute came around, I was about to text this very group that comprises this streamyard chat right now and be like, man, well, like, why is he a name on this list?

I like Quirkering a lot, but even with him, he's the next name on this list. Like, I'm not going to get too hyped about him for, you know, other areas that are that, that I don't think are at the level for his age to be a national team player anytime soon. All right. Hey, I appreciate your honesty. I've seen enough from James to like, I've seen enough on the ball to think like it can get there. I think he does have, he has got the propensities for some oopsies. But, you know, the center back barrel is thin, boys. And we need to, we need to find whoever we can.

And like I said, once he, I think it was clearly nervous. because it was crazy what was going on before. He kind of reined it in. But like I said, he found some, he found some in slice of passes, man. Like, there was, there was some stuff up the gut that I was like, okay. And maybe like a few long balls too.

I was like, all right, all right. Maybe. But like I said, he's a long way away. Like, as far as we talk about getting to it, his ability to get to it right now might be pretty compromised. If he's under just the slightest bit of pressure as far as being able to play those passes

into the Miba right now, I don't think that's like a skill or trait that we can say that he is exhibiting, is exhibiting is confident in right now. Let's keep moving because I want to get to the Euro kids too. There's some, and there's one possibly at centerback that people might be really excited about. All right. I'll just list out the rest. And there's probably, I think we maybe only want to talk about the last two attackers.

So midfielders, the next two are kind of. leaving maybe prospect status. But Matthew Corcoran, yeah, he's limited. Really good passer. But, you know, starting in midfield for maybe the best team in MLS, so as a 20-year-old, so we give him credit for that. A player, I think I have been higher on, has not responded well since his four-turnia injury at the end of last year.

But I think a player Vince, you've also liked at times, his Owen Wolf, box-to-box midfielder. A younger player, younger midfielder is starting to get some minutes for LAAFC. Another Boxbox midfielder named Jude Terry. He's grown a little bit, kind of late. So I think of all the midfielers we're probably talking about right now, he's probably got the most promise. LIFC is a really tough theme to break through as an academy player. Very few have.

I think he's probably a season away from maybe being a real contributor there. I have to say, I like what I've seen in limited minutes. Yeah, yeah. He's clean on the ball. Like all the foundational stuff he talked about, touch, turn, pass, striking the ball. He's got that on lock. I'd like to see him control his space defensively a little bit more. He still, he needs to fill out. He's young. He's young on the younger side for his age group as well. So he's still only 17. But yeah, of the midfills we're talking about Corkren Wolf, Terry, Habrune, Shakiris, he's got the highest ceiling.

And I think he's a high floor player too. Like, I think he's going to be a good player. Just looking at him because I think he has one star for L.A.F.C. He scored a banger. And then since then he's kind of played like bit minutes or whatever. But I just wasn't expecting. It's like when I turned him on, I'm like, I feel like people should be talking. talking about him a little bit more just because like I guess you said he's grown lately because he looks like he has a a nice projectable body you know what I'm saying but to potentially scale up um past MLS like I don't I don't know if there's I don't know how many physical concerns that there are with you but but just seeing him on the pitch I'm like okay this is a big kid you know and then you know his ball playing

ability just sticks out immediately and his and it's calm and stuff on the ball. You know, you can see that. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, he was, he's about 5-8, 5-9 for like, from like a U-15. And then I think he sprouted to like 5-11, almost six feet recently. Okay.

Yeah. It's a nice, it's a nice little late, little late ad. And I think it'll make a difference for him. Yeah. So if we're taking lottery tickets, you give me the 5-11, six-foot midfielder that is nice on the ball. that projects to be nice on the ball. I'm taking that. So consider this right now, I'm putting a little bit down on Jutari.

I think that's a smart move. All right. I'll keep him moving. The more attacking maybe midfielders of this group, Bha Bruhn, he's been mostly starting for Columbus, I think mixed results. Always been a player that can combine playing tight space, has ideas in the final third,

has got some goals in him. Yeah, he's a laundry player. fair to say right yeah yeah he's a player that kind of like he does some things that are valuable in a soccer game he's not a complete player but but yeah and i think i think chakiris is kind of the same like really good in the final third has has ideas um all the technical stuff's really good um got off to a great start this year and unfortunately got hurt um i think Shakiris can control the pitch better than the typical, like, 10 flare guy. You know what I mean?

The problem with him is injuries, right? We talked about him a lot. We've had him on this podcast before. Like, we know him. I have high hopes for him, but the injuries are concerning now because he's not that young anymore. They're mounting up, brother. Yeah. Yeah.

It's every year. It's sometimes twice a year. Yeah, it's, he's going to have to shake the allegations at this point. At some point, you have to be able to make it through a full season. And if he hasn't yet, and I think, I think there's real reason to be concerned about that. Okay, the last two, the guy that was also maybe getting a little bit of, a little bit of interest in terms of making this last World Cup team was Gozo. Xavier Gozo, he's a winger, kind of plays more as a right wing back for Real Salt Lake. But mainly is, you know, playing a wing.

Tucks in, plays in the half space a lot. very good athlete two years ago if we were talking about the things i think both you guys are talking about and what you're looking for and just like being able to control the first touch and control the ball you probably would have watched zavier gozo and been like no way i i i certainly was down on him but he he just kind of turned to turn to corner last year um i know he works extremely hard, you know, outside of what you see. Another guy who has, I think, an elite mentality, fears nothing, fears no one on the pitch is going to attack no matter, you know, the situation. He is not a perfect winger. You know, he still lacks some cleanliness on the ball. His ball striking

has greatly improved. I think he's a future, you know, our wing floor is pretty low right now. I think he's a player for the senior team quite soon. And I don't know that he's going to get his European move, unfortunately, this summer. I think RSO really, really want to keep him and try to make a run in the playoffs. And he'll probably be gone then at the end of the season, which I think he's fine. And, yeah, I mean, I don't think anyone, I don't think any young player in MLS is having as much of an impact on he is the guy for RSO. when you watch them play um i've watched them a lot he he is he is the straw that serves the drink there i think more so than dago luna yeah we talked about him a lot right as as we got close to the

world cup i think our listeners know him pretty well like the physical profile the physical output already is great um yeah is he a lock to start of the next world cup on the wing no but but we're keeping an eye on him but yeah yeah as far as if you're listening to this and you're trying to figure out which which of these players should I turn on to, you know, if you want to rank them as far as like in order of priority or whatever, you know, but Gozo needs to be up there.

Yeah, Payton Miller and Gozo, I think, really stand out on this list. The last name, Marcus, I haven't watched him as much as these other guys, but I think a lot of people are intrigued by Justin Ellis, right? He's just like, all right, we just saw a

We just saw World Cup final with Spain and Argentina. Justin Ellis, you say he's been developed in a Spanish Academy, Argentina Academy. You buy it 100%. We just do not produce players like this.

So I just enjoy I enjoy him for a lot of reasons. He's kind of an asshole on the pitch. He's nasty. He has 100% belief in his ability. He's got flare he uh he's just a he's a one of one u.s soccer prospect um he's not the biggest

striker he's not very fast but nope god goddamn can he handle the ball can he see the pitch can he make plays um yeah i don't i don't know where he fits long term and he's like a second striker maybe i i i think he i think he's a nine like i i i i i think he's a nine like i i i i i I like him as a nine. I just think he's a nine that's just going to drop in to the midfield and help connect play. He's improved. The knock on him earlier in his kind of development was that he didn't score enough

goals. He has improved that in the last year or two. But he is a playmaker. So I don't, you know, he plays kind of a second striker right now. He's played as a 10. If you ask him,

he's a nine. So I just think he's a guy that, you know, you play a little bit differently when he's in the game, but this guy can make things happen. Like you play against a low block. This is a guy you put in the game to make things happen. Yeah, I mean, this goes back to what I said earlier about deciding,

you know, how to play based on which guys really hit or the guys that we already have, how they evolve. Like if someone like Polisic is better suited to do a second striker role or someone like Justin Ellis is like really staking his claim, do you look at maybe doing that instead of, you know, three men? midfield someone someone to play with ballo i'm i mean they would have to really be staking their claim you know like all this i mean i mean it starts with polistic right like that's the more likely path like him bawling more centrally rather than on the wing and then it's like all right how do you

fill in the depth chart from there and ellis is someone who could maybe be a a depth option yeah and yeah he's he's nice bro like if we just if we would open this segment by marcus saying like who vince who you want to talk about i would have said just an ellis I mean, the dude, like, he just put a smile on my face watching him play. Like, as a nine, NMLS, as a young kid, like, is he 19? He's 19? He's 19. 2000.

Yeah, 19. Okay. Just as far as, like, first of all, you know, the first thing that I'm seeing in this match are just him, like, receiving the ball, like, posting somebody up. Yeah. And, like, just no problem whatsoever. Off arm. He gets that off arm.

on you and he grabs that jersey and you're you're in hell you're in hell bro and then like the ball is coming to him he receives it clean as you like and then he's playmaking from that position yeah you know and and you talk about getting to it left foot doesn't matter you talk about the ability to to show what you can do and then the ability to get to it in a match amongst professionals like he was controlling that space you know what I'm saying it's like the ball's coming to him nobody else is touching this I'm getting it and And then also, while I have my arm on you, I'm either, I'm either, like, I'm either going to turn face up and, like, play somebody over the top and behind. Or I'm like, like, just the amount of different ideas he had.

Like, in this match, they just played against San Diego FC, where he got, he got, he assisted Antoine Gris-Monds first in MLS goal. Yep. Which was off the press, off the press and getting it back there. But it had nothing to do with the traditional Justin Ellis ingenuity. But, yeah, just, and I don't know. Like, he just has that, like, like you said, Marcus, he just has that level of comfort and ability and ideas on the ball. While, and none of this has to do with any physical, like, nothing physical. Yep.

Whatsoever. But he's just a baller and a playmaker, man. I'm very excited to continue watching. Yeah. There may be, if you're like a, if you're a soccer purist, there's probably not a more enjoyable young American player to watch, I would say. He's just like, he's got it. I got to tune in.

I got to lock in. Wow. Yeah, yeah, he's got a, he's got a watch him, Beau, because he's just, like, you don't see a lot of soccer players playmake from the non-position, and especially in like back to goal receiving it against the centerback position in the way that he does. Like the passes that he finds out of that position are just like, you just like, what? Like, you know, the stuff he tries and the stuff he is capable of pulling off, like,

it's, it's, he's, he's sick, bro. He's sick. It warms my heart that you, uh, that you, uh, that you had this experience. That's cool. Yeah. That's, that's awesome. All right. We are, we are, we are venturing into like, uh, two episode territory.

Let's switch over to some guys who are going to be based in Europe that also could check some boxes. I will once again allow me to rattle through quick, and then I think we'll probably, and I'll say like a line about each, and then we'll probably focus on one or two, maybe three. Okay, so the keeper I'm probably most excited about young keeper for the future is Diego Cochin. He's been developed at LaMessia. He's getting his first chance to be the guy at a first team. So the same club, Neil Pierre, was on loan with Lingby. They're now in the first tier in Denmark.

He'll get a chance to be the starting keeper there. So tune in. Actually, I don't know how we tune in to Denmark outside unless you have Y Scout. So good luck. But we'll get to see some highlights. But I'm hopeful that he has a big year and kind of starts to take off and becomes a guy. So that's my hope. On the dual knot front, I'm just going to get a name out there that, you know, in two years, you'll remember this name.

And I think he'll be a big deal. But he's like a big, big goalkeeping deal in Germany. He's born in New York. We heard about him when they were having that goalkeeping crisis, right? And it was like, wait a second. Is he about to play? Oh, that's right. Right.

He almost started, I think, a Champions League game. Yeah. Because they had a bunch of injuries. His name is Leonard Prescott, Leo Prescott, I think goes by Leo. Born in New York, kind of our templated German-American story, American dad, German mother. Grew up mostly in Germany. What? Yep, I think, mixed, six, four.

I mean, he can do it all. I mean, he's got everything you want in a keeper distribution, saves, athleticism, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, I think he's the biggest German goalkeeping prospect, not just the fact that he's German-American. So Byron, I think Byron think he's kind of the future there. So it might be very, very, very difficult for us, though, you know, our advantage is that we can typically offer things faster. So if that's, if that's, uh, give him all the NIL, whatever he wants. Yeah, if that's the, if that's enticing to him, maybe we got a shot.

You don't know. He's only played for a Germany on the youth national team front. He's never been in a U.S. camp. Um, no idea, you know, so just tuck that name into your back pocket for later. He'll be a dual national panic guy for sure. Um, an emerging player that's, uh, been starting for Chelsea and pre-examination. season and going on their preseason tour as a kid named Landon Emmanolo. He kind of came up as a six.

He's a left back now, left-footed player, good athlete, just kind of does everything well. Chelsea seemed to really like him. Again, he has, so unlike Leo, he's been in U.S. Youth National Team camps, but in the U-17 cycle, when it kind of came down to where he was going to get, he was kind of getting slept on by England, and then they brought them to their U-17 kind of World Cup qualification and then we lost him.

But I think... Sorry, go ahead, Marcus. I don't know, please. No, I was just going to say he's the son of the former Chelsea technical director. If that last name sounds familiar, that is why

he played for Nigeria as well. Yeah, and was the director of football at Chelsea and Monaco. Yeah, so another post-Jedai candidate, I would say, probably he and Peyton are probably the top two options, but we'll have to fend off England for him, which I think is possible.

I do want to add this about him while we're on the subject. I saw a quote from John Terry. There was a piece about him and his brother in the athletic. Earlier this year, his brother apparently is a top basketball player, plays the one here. and John Terry said Lennon is a very good football player he's a very good footballer I think he plays for the first team and comes through he currently plays left back he's not a left back he can play left center half

he prefers to play in midfield as a six a big future a really good player so yeah if he gets if he keeps growing that maybe is another centerback option to keep an eye on Yeah, his brother's like 6-6, though. He's not that. He's like 6 feet, I think. Yeah, he's kind of like Nico O'Reilly Light. I think he's got a little less going forward. But yeah, he's probably, he's more comfortable as a 6 or 8.

Left-footed, though, so he can play like, you know, left-side three-back system, left-back. He just does almost everything at a good level, but maybe he doesn't do anything. at an elite, elite level. So another high floor guy. Next is the centerback. We probably, so Noki Banks, right? We talked, I mean, we are on Noki Watch for like all of last season.

I'm sure we'll get into him a little bit more. But the story here is, you know, he's probably the most ready young centerback to kind of jump in and fill Tim Riem's shoes. But the truth of the matter is, you know, the pretty girl at the school, Germany, finally came calling. And he was, you know, he was flattered. And he said, more or less said no to a World Cup on American soil. So that's a tough one to recover from, from my perspective. I'm kind of moving forward, assuming he's not in. but obviously it'd be a great addition, I think, if he was.

I think you've gotten out, I was talking to another friend of the pod, Daniel Smith, about this. Yes, Yergen Kopp is now the coach of Germany, and yes, every player would probably want to play for him. But Yergan Kopp isn't going to play a 20-year-old centerback who plays sometimes at Augsburg anytime soon. So I just don't see his German future Unless he takes a massive massive step forward Coming anytime soon So maybe he just kind of runs out of patience They've also got some like young centerbacks that are better ahead of him too

So I don't know I don't know what to think about this situation Yeah we can't have time until a goal cup right So hopefully he comes to some camps before that But you almost want to time it right to that When he comes in, he's in for sure. The ultimate FU here is that he is still like U21 eligible for Germany. And if he, I mean, he could do a one-time switch and go that route. And then it's Adios Amigo.

So I wouldn't put that past him. It'd be stupid, but who knows. Yeah, I mean, he didn't want to play the home World Cup. So who knows. Yeah. And which I mean, you know, if you look at how Germany performed in the World Cup, you look how we performed in the World Cup. you know,

it says maybe, maybe it's not as, as cut and dry as it seems. Yeah. On the outside, you know, but with all things being said, I mean,

this is our top centerback prospect, I guess I would say. I mean, he played at Oxford, put in a solid 700 minutes out of Oxford, playing in their back three. Now, we talked a lot about this.

Me and Bells, Marcus, Assange, like anybody that, talked about Noa Kau Banks and high perform last year. It was an up and down ride. This was his first season getting first team minutes. And with that, came some bumps along the road.

He's not the finished product necessarily. Really don't even know how much he would have played if he would have said yes to the U.S. Men's national team and would have been a part of that World Cup roster. It remains to be seen. But development is not linear, but you would expect. Noah Kaankeye Banks would make a decent step up in play from last season, which wasn't all bad to be

clear. It was a give and take thing. He was 19 years old playing in the Bundesliga. So all in all, it was good experience to get. But we shall see, I'm not giving up. I mean, you listed everything there, Marcus, and it's like, you know,

if he decides for Germany after, all those factors. And it's like, yo, we got, we got playing time for you right now.

Then I guess it just is what it is. But for me, a rational person speaking on this podcast, I would look at all those pros and cons and those factors and be like, you know what? Let's keep going. We talked about it. Let me go over here.

I'm tired talking. Honestly. I was so disappointed about the World Cup. Let's keep going. See, bro. And this is Mr. I don't like getting people's hopes up. Look at two.

Your hopes up. This man had. Sanjay's feelings are hurt. I understand it. Mine were too. But, yeah, I mean... Marcus, tell us why Roges' books hasn't left yet. Well, he almost left twice, and he got injured before the transfer window both times.

So I think a lot of it's bad luck. This is a player I'm maybe higher on than most. I think he does a ton of things well. I think he's kind of like a sneaky little Weston McKinney light. I'm not saying he's Weston McKinney. But he does a lot of similar things. He can play all over the place. He scores a lot of goals with his head.

He just does a lot of good things well. I think he will go. I'm surprised he hasn't moved already. There's been tons of rumors every transfer window about him going to Bundesliga, Syria, even Premier League. So I think he will get to a top five league before this season. season starts. I'm very hopeful. And I think once he does, I think he's going to perform well and people are going to get on the train. So I think he's a very plausible depth piece in the midfield for the next

cycle. Yeah, I've always been intrigued watching him with the youth national teams. And it's just like, you know, why isn't bro in the Bundesliga yet? Hopefully it is soon. And like you said earlier, I'm not worried about center midfield between the guys that weren't at the World Cup. Johnny, Musa, Tesman, Audrey coming up, Rokas. Like, there's plenty of a lot of. ticket's there, right, in terms of shoring up the squad for 2030. Yeah, I think, I think that box will very likely be checked. I'm confident there. That's why I'm not, I'm not too, like, I like Ben Ha as a player.

I'm not, you know, holding out a ton of hope for him, but he's another name, right? Yeah, I mean, he started to get a little traction at Parma before he got injured. I mean, they did. What's his name? Ben Ha Kramaski. you know I'll make sure we formally introduce them that's true that's true

so Ben Haugh Inter Miami Academy guy Parma bought out his loan which I think was a little bit surprising because he didn't play a whole lot until the end and then he got hurt but they must have saw something

they liked Ben Haas just a he's a workhorse you know he's a little rough technically but he's got an engine. He plays super hard. He's definitely got that kind of Argentinian work rate in the midfield. Maybe he becomes a depth piece that you bring in to just be a pain in the ass at the end of the game.

Maybe he doesn't. But he's going to get another chance to be a player for mid-level Syria A club. So let's see. Yeah. And the thing about his brief amount of playing time that he got with Parma, he started a match. I think he was making some appearances for a little bit. Started the match. He started the match and he was pretty good in that match.

Enough to earn a start in the next match that Parma played and then he got hurt like 15 minutes in. And all this was him playing at right wing back for Parma. And, you know, I mean, I was. impressed enough from that start that I was that you know parma kind of buying a mouth for cheap i mean it's probably like you know two mill something like that three mil something like it um i if i was in charge of parma's purse strings i would have went ahead and pulled it man it's like you got a you got a workhorse who can cut it athletically and syria ah and your parma you know it's one of those kind of thing like that's a type of dude that can uh that can help you out

in a potential relegation scrap or a mid-table scrap. I mean, any mid-table team is going to be threatened with relegation, basically. So, yeah, he's just one of those dudes that I think can help their cause. And like I said, his start that he got farmed, he was impressive. He's down for the scrap. He's not going to raise the ceiling of the USM&T, but we'll be talking about him if he's getting minutes. Let's talk about some wingers.

Yeah, so wingers is a big area of need. the biggest winger prospect in our pool. And so kind of when you talk about the top potential impact players in the youth system, it's kind of like 1ABC, Kevin, Audrey, and then Matisse Albert is kind of in the same conversation. He debuted Matisse Albert, formerly of L.A. Galaxy Academy, went to Borussia Dortman at 16. He has a French and German passport. He got his debut last year, debuted younger than Christian, debuted younger than Gio.

Dortmund, think the world of him. I don't think he's like a sure-bet winger. He's got some limitations. But again, this kid, elite mentality, attacks the game, great work rate, can go right, can go left, really good in the final third. I mean, yeah, he's the most exciting winger prospects we have. I think Gozo's a little bit, technically not where it Matisse is,

whereas Gozo's probably got a little bit more juice to him. But Matisse is super quick and tight spaces plays, like you guys talked about, you look for speed of thought. I think he's got great speed of thought. So, yeah, we'll see. I don't know if he's ready. I don't know if he's ready to be a true, like, contributor for Dortmund this year. But I think he might get a chance.

And the thing with young players, right, you got to come out hot. Like, you got to come out. You got to make a difference. If you don't, you kind of get set back six months, 12 months, maybe longer. So he's got to come in. And when he gets his chance, he's got to make things happen. And if he does, you just buy yourself more time. So that's what he's got to do this year.

But plenty of, plenty of reasons to be excited about Matisse. Yeah, we're hoping for the Christian-like impact on the wing there. But I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, maybe he needs like another semester and it's like the winter break where we're talking about him more or even next summer. But, you know, fingers crossed that the breakthrough happens sooner than that. All right, we got one more player. We got to get out of here, fellas. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right, last one. Malik Tillman's teammate at Baylor-Levarkozen, he did kind of break through last year a little bit. I don't know. I don't have the minutes on him, but I would guess he was like, I don't know, four or five hundred minutes. He's playing right-wing back. Montrell Colbris,

he's a winger. He was playing right-wing-back. Speed. Good technically. Final third stuff needs work. He has played for the U.S. in the youth system, is provisionally tied to Germany,

still playing for their youth national teams. But I think get a ball as well. I think he's going to be a player. It's going to be difficult for him to break through anytime soon in the Germany. So we could probably offer him opportunities sooner. We'll see what he does this year. I don't know if his playing time was more about injuries

than him really, like, forcing his way into the team. So I think we'll get that answer this season. But another promising player. Yeah, as you can tell, Well, by this point in the pod, recruiting is going to matter in this cycle, whoever the next coach is, whether it's Maricio, to his credit, did reach out to Noki, right? It's not like he's just totally letting players come to the decision on their own without a push. But there's some names that are probably going to boost the floor and or the ceiling of this team.

Marcus, can you tell us about – he's not a dual-knap, but can you tell us about – to my knowledge, Can you tell us about Benji Flowers in the news, but that move to Chelsea? I think he is a man. He is a dual nat. He's a Mexican-American. His mom's Mexican. Oh, wow. I realize that. That's black. Yeah, so he is. He's been, he's been, obviously, you know, Mexico has invited him. He is to this, to date only for the U.S., so it seems we've got a pretty strong advantage there. Brother plays defensive back for University of Oregon, so he's got good.

Good athletic projection. That's right, baby. He, yeah, so he just signed, I think, money. Transfer-wise, I don't think Cavins numbers to Manchester City. I don't think we're ever really released, but I've been informed that the money that would be going to Dallas is far greater than what Philly would get. I don't know what his salary numbers are.

Cavins are probably higher. but I mean this is probably as big of a as big and as early of a deal as cabins so Benjie is a winger for FC Dallas how old he's in 2011 so he he's just turned 15 okay um he's a top player in that class for me right now um he I think I think Matisse is a fair comparison with maybe be a little bit more physical upside. So Matisse kind of took off when he went to Dortmund. I think that environment really helped him. So we'll see what happens with Benji in the next couple of years.

There's a lot of incentive in the deal to play him. Dallas is going to get a lot more money in the deal if they play him early and often. So I would... There's an incentive for Dallas to play him. Yes, Dallas. Okay. Yep. Yep.

So, yeah, the sweeteners are all in him. opportunity with Dallas. So it's a good deal, I think. People worry about, you know, not a lot of our players have worked out going to Chelsea. I don't think, I don't like, I don't like the whole philosophy of like a club is bad for a country's youth. I think that doesn't make any sense. I think it's the player, right?

Also, with Chelsea, like, there's plenty of examples of guys who have gone there and not played for their first team, but gone somewhere else, right? it can be a good step. Yeah. Like our fans are, even the casual American sports fans here are know enough about the game to know when they see someone going to Chelsea, it's not like that means, you know,

they're going to have 50 appearances at the club. But, yeah, it's positive for sure. Yeah, it's a big deal. And, yeah, it's just a player to keep an eye on. I think he'll probably start to play for Dallas next season, maybe even get an appearance this year. His brother playing for Oregon doesn't matter that much, by the way, doesn't mean that much.

They never won a national championship, but let's keep going. Come on, bro. We don't have time for you at Pack 12B. Yeah, yeah. We're talking about physical projection here, Sonjay. We're talking about your USC hit list. There are no match for the USC receivers. I'll tell you that right now.

But, yeah, I mean, I think that just about, covers all the prospects. Let's shout out a few vets real quick. John Luca Bouscio named the captain of Inizia this year. Hopefully they can stay up in Saria. And shout out to Sebastian Burhalter on getting his move to Millsborough.

He's going to reunite with Aidan Morris in the championship. And yeah, there's been rumors about Max Arsson, too. We hope that that Seb and Aiden Morris can get promoted. So the whole universe can see their that TikTok video of them

that a lot of people have seen by now that love story remix that's electric that's pure American culture being unleashed on

on the English football league that's American culture and American culture no doubt about it Sebastian does have big shoes to feel

Hayden Hackney I think I bought by Everton I want to say left Middlesbrough that's Aiden Morris is a midfield partner

that's been a highly rated Englishman So they have a large hole in the midfield that Sebastian Burrhalter, I guess, needs to plug. Yeah, that's a good stuff for him. You know, I mean, if he's, if he was going to leave MLS like that, I think the championship is basically where he was primed to go.

I don't see any, like, top five league projection or anything like that. Well, not right now. I don't see any top five league projection or anything like that. So let's see how he can hack it in the English football. league and then we'll go forward from there. More power to... No, Sanja, you know, I'm going to cut you off, bro. We got to get out of here, bro.

No, I'll just say we've talked about... This is what happens when Bells isn't on the pod. We go. Now, we talked about the sexier center midfield options, but there are going to be guys that you're glad to have to get you through qualifying, and I think he could be one of them. All right. well that's it more american prospects on the rise in europe and in america alike

we will keep you abreast of the situation here on the scuff podcast obviously marcus sanjay thank you for joining us and we'll see you