Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - Episode 134: Return of the Future Draft, where we pick XIs of un-capped U23s

Episode Date: August 3, 2020

American heroes Sanjiv (@usmntvideos) and Chris (@watke_) join the pod for a draft of starting XIs from the ranks of un-capped male American soccer players. Sanjiv: https://twitter.com/usmntvideosWatke: https://twitter.com/watke_Here are the rules:Only U.S.-eligible players born in 1997 or later are allowed.We go youngest to oldest in the draft order, so Sanjiv first, then Watke, then Belz, and then the draft order snakes for the rest of the picks.Anyone already capped with the senior men’s national team is disqualified. That excludes, for instance, Pulisic, McKennie, Adams, Sargent, Weah and now Mark McKenzie, Uly Llanez, Sam Vines, Jesus Ferreira, Paxon Pomykal and Brenden Aaronson.We’re picking specifically with the goal of assembling the best possible team in 2026. This makes it fun and pretty much releases from any responsibility to be correct in our choices. Everything will change by 2026 in ways none of us foresee.We each need to come up with a starting XI, a total of 33 players.Dual nationals are fine as long as they're not cap-tied with another nation. 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 Scufft podcast. I'm Adam Bells in Minneapolis. With me is Greg Velasquez in Des Moines. We talk about U.S. men's soccer. Thanks for downloading this episode of Scuffed. Today we have two guests, both of them American heroes. Sanjeev, aka at USMNT Videos, and Chris, aka at Waki. If you're not following them, you're not a real fan of American soccer. We're also trying to do this on video as a sort of experiment, so it'll be on. on YouTube in addition to your preferred podcast platform. Hey guys, what's happening? You've been hustling. Yeah, I mean, listen, Adam, everyone else has spent four months on lockdown,

training for the Great British Bake Off while learning fluent Mandarin. I just wrote about soccer nerd stuff and I animated some tactics and PowerPoint. It's like the opposite of hustle. Yeah, it's pretty much the exact same type of stuff with me. I'm doing good and it's great to be here. Good, good, yeah. Great British Bakeoff, huh? A lot of people have been trained in for.

that oh yeah like the sourdough bread and all that as people are saying it's a good show all right so so just so everybody knows where are you guys chris where are you at i'm on the eastern shore virginia do you mean physically where i am yeah near the chesapeake bay well spiritually spiritually too if you're in a good place physically chesapeake bay getting out seeing the wildlife um had a did went to a crab boil the other day that was fun um other than um other than that, you know, relaxing. Sanjee, where are you at? I'm located in the Midwestern suburb, you know,

just an hour outside of Indianapolis. I'm locked up in my room, in my house. That's physically where I am. Spiritually, I'm also doing well. Good. Is Chris. Going back to school in a few weeks or a couple weeks, right? Yeah, I am.

All right. We'll see how it goes. All the best to you on that. I hope you fail in this endeavor we're about to do, though. So let me explain what it is real quick. We're doing a draft of uncapped U21 American players back in late 2018 when Sanjeeva was in eighth grade. Matt Hartman and I and Joey Antone did one of these. This will be similar.

In fact, it'll be the same age group since we're doing U23s, but several players have been capped since then. And instead of drafting a roster, we're each just drafting a starting 11, partly to make it a faster episode. So here are the rules for all you all listening. Only U.S. eligible players born in 1997 or later are allowed. We go youngest to oldest in the draft order, so Sanji first, then Waki, then Bells, and then the draft order snakes for the rest of the picks. Anyone already capped with the senior men's national team is disqualified. That excludes Pulisic, obviously, McKenny, Adams, Sergeant, Wea,

Mark McKenzie, Ullianez, Sam Vines, Jesus Ferreira. Anybody with a cap, even if it's two minutes against Costa Rica's D team. We're picking specifically with the goal of assembling the best possible team in 2026. This makes it fun and pretty much releases us from any responsibility to be accurate or correct in our choices, since everything will change by 2026 in ways nobody foresees. And finally, we each need to come up with the starting 11, like I said earlier, a total of 33 players. So, you guys ready? I do have a clarifying question.

So dual nationals like Balagon, is that off the table? Are we, for 2026, I mean, his one-time switch is up in the air. Yeah, well, it's on me that we haven't discussed this yet. Dual nationals are fine as long as they haven't been capped by another team. So as long as they're still in play, technically. So Balaghan, you can draft him. You did really tip your strategy there, though, which is a lot. mistake.

Yeah, you've been tipping your strategy a lot. Good luck anyway, you know. Also, real quick, for any new listeners, we were supposed to have Ty at Final third on the pod today, but he let Noreen cut his hair and it could have gone better. He's a little embarrassed to be on camera today, but he wanted us to tell the listeners that he would see y'all on the timeline. So with that out of the way, I think we can move into the selections, unless you have anything else to say, Adam.

no no it's uh it's like sort of disappointing that tie couldn't make it but not all that surprising when it's all seven times um yeah it's just tie being tie you know yeah yep well let's get this rolling you get to make the you get to make the case for your player when you make your selection with the first overall pick sanjiv so hi guys i'm sanjiv and this is my key draft pick I'm taking, it's pretty obvious, I'm taking Gio Raina first pick. I don't think there's too much that needs to be said. I mean, 17 years old, broke into the second best team in Germany, playing in champions against PSG,

playing every Bundes League, I think every Bundes League a game since he made his debut. Probably would be a starter already for our full team, even without all these uncapped players. So yeah, I don't know. Do you guys have anything else to add to Raina? Lucky. Well, I would say, Lucy and Farr really, really likes him, almost to the point that it seems a bit much. That's my one concern. If you could pump the brakes on that, I'm already going to be over-hiving the players.

It's a little creepy. Yeah, come on. Chill out, man. Also, Jaden Sancho, I mean, the United Links have really picked up, especially in the last day. August 10th is like a deadline. So I don't know if they're planning on bringing in a different attacker to, you know, supplement those minutes or if they're really thrusting Raina into a key role, but that's also something to follow.

Yeah, I mean, they'll bring in somebody, right? They always bring in somebody, but, yeah, this is shaping up to be Raina's year to become like a, you know, at least an occasional starter. Yeah, I mean, they'll probably find some 15-year. role with playing in like Estonia U-17 reserve side or something like that he'll just turn out to be the next next big player but the next MRA more yeah the next MRA more for now I think I think I think rain is in a really good spot right now yeah fits I mean we've talked about this on this podcast a little bit he fits really well as a tucked in winger in the burrhalter system

and he's clearly the most accomplished player in this uncappedy category Kind of a lame choice, but, you know, understandable. I mean. Yeah, I really was. I'll go ahead and do the number two pick now. Yeah. It's Chris Richards, the 20-year-old centerback at Bayern Munich. He's really a natural defender who he reads the game.

He can be proactive and cutting stuff out. See a pass. You combine that with his size, speed, and quickness. And I think he's a solid number two pick for me. Good pick. Final take. I just want to add this, like, the first. first time we ever heard a walkie give a take on anything you know like he's pretty pretty non-committal on

the timeline so this is this is definitely something new to see well i'm gonna give exactly 11 takes today i'm ready to go all right like all of your editorial judgment goes into deciding who to do a video about right yeah there's basically i like that yeah some value it's a really sophisticated process that's like a whole other discussion we can get into that on another podcast okay All right, so pick number three. Everybody knows Richards, right? I think you explained him well. Yeah.

With the third overall pick, I'm going to take Owen O'Dosoe, the Wolverhampton centerback slash defensive midfielder. I believe he's 19, 18 or 19? He's 18 right now. Is he 18? Okay. Big, rangy, pretty comfortable on the ball. and strong in the air reads the game pretty well, I think.

He can close down space pretty fast and break something up or intercept a pass. I'm definitely hoping that he pans out as a player and that he comes in place for the U.S. But if those two things happen, he's going to be one of our top center facts. Pretty sure. He's very, I noticed, very confident on the ball,

just the way he handles it. I think that's a positive. He's got a lot of drip too. He's like top five drip in the whole pool. Yeah, both ball carrying and passing. He's very competent. I believe he actually moonlights as a fashion model professionally. So that's per Chuck Meade 92 soccer reporting.

I haven't verified that independently. But I believe that's true potentially for Burberry. Yeah, I think that is true. Wow. He's pretty big. Yeah, his Instagram. is very fashiony. Okay, we're snaking the, we're snaking the draft, so I get to go with the fourth pick. And oh man, let's see. Give me a second here. Just say Richie, Adam. No, no, no, no, no. This is, I'm,

I'm going to break all convention here. I'm going with James Sands with my second pick. Oh, okay. I need, so the way I'm, the way my team is going to play, I'm going to need a cleaner upper in the middle of the field. Sands has convinced me that he is as a destroyer, extremely valuable player. That doesn't fit Burrhalter's system, but I'm not Greg Burrhalter. I'm Adam Bells. I have my own ideas about soccer. So James Sands is my second pick. So is this pick as a centerback or as a defensive mid? Okay. I mean, I don't have much ad. He was really good against Toronto. I mean, he wasn't as good. He was a little shaky against who they just play Portland.

Yeah, they just got crushed, right? Yeah, he's definitely a little bit more shaky, but still, I mean, it's not too much to really worry about. I mean, he just destroys plays. He, great tackler, reads the game really well. Obviously, as you mentioned, his passing is a little, little indecisive, not indecisive, little conservative. Conservatives, a lot of back passes, sideways passes.

but yeah he's got a little bit of an kind of an edge to him sometimes when he goes into a tackle I've noticed yeah he's gonna get some red cards he's gonna get some red cards in his career Waki you ready with the fifth overall pick yes fifth pick I'm going to go Tanner Tessman 18 year old defensive mid for FC Dallas he's really big and he can pass short passes long passes all that sort of stuff almost became a place

place kicker for Clemson, which a lot of people are really excited about, but he did go with soccer. Obviously, that's good for us. And I'm feeling pretty good. He hasn't had a ton of MLS minutes because he just signed in the spring, but he's looked positive. And obviously, FC Dallas was not in MLS's back. So we'll just assume he continued developing in the void that we've been living. I mean, he couldn't even participate in the scuff dubbed Tanner Testament games. So it was kind of lacking, wasn't it, Adam? Yeah, the Tanner Testament games lost a little of their shine without Tanner Testament. But, yeah, I agree with you, Waki.

You know, there's some, like a little axe that I've been grinding lately is players who can win battles with other players in, like, a little three-by-three-yard box in the cage. and Testman does that, I think. So does Gio Raina, by the way. So does Gio Raina. It's amazing how often he comes away with the ball. We've picked a lot of fighters so far. I would say in general. Classic American soccer pundits, we are.

Sanjeev, you get two picks here, man. I don't know. Not many centerbacks left, but I think I'm going to take a right back. I think I'll take Julian Arroho here. he didn't have the best MLS's back tournament he was played out of position

as a right winger once can't remember if he played in the third game or not but yeah I mean his stock is definitely taken a little bit of a dip over the past year but I would also attribute that to some mismanagement by LA Galaxy themselves but as a right back or a centerback I'm not sure exactly

he's a little undersized for a centerback but his passing and his defending, it's really strong. So I think for a lockdown player in the defensive backline, I think he's pretty important for my team. And he'll, I don't know, with Rayna on the right wing as I'm planning, maybe his lesser attacking ability won't be as detrimental as it could have been. so yeah and then

I've noticed he's been playing a good amount on the wing which obviously is an ideal hopefully they stop doing that that would be nice they're going to have to change something up in L.A. because it's not like they're having a lot of success right now yeah

okay that was the sixth overall pick seventh overall pick Sanjeev yeah take your time we're making good time here so take your time so it's a tough one there's a there's a lot of yeah i think i think i'll take a i'll take another wing here i'll take i'll take conrad de lafonte here really loading up the attack right here but um you know there's some some mumblings some rumors that he may be on the bench for a barcelona's champions league game they've got a lot of players injured some

not showing up in Brazil. They've got ineligible players. And I think they only have me got like 13 or 14 players right now. He's been training a lot with the first team. He's been doing well for Bars a B. I think he's got like, what was it, three goals and an assist in five matches, which is pretty good for an 18 year old playing in the third tier of the Spanish League. Didn't have the best U-20 World Cup, but was playing up in age group. And I I think he has taken a step forward this season. I don't know if he'll ever truly be a Barsa. Actually, I don't think he will ever be a Barcelona regular,

but I think he'll carve out a nice career in a top five league. Certainly the way he's performed lately has been encouraging, right? Yep. Yeah. And just the fact that Barcelona has invested in him in terms of an extension. I know they have a lot of money. I don't know how much that really means. means, but it's something.

So he's probably pretty good. And he's looked, I think, pretty good the past few games. He'd be, so he'd be on your left. Well, just real quick, would he be on your left wing and rain on the right wing or vice versa? Yeah, he's been playing some left, he's been playing left wing for B these last few games. So I'll just put him on the left wing and then rain on the right wing for now. Word. Waki.

I'm going to stick with my F. Dallas theme I have going and pick Ricardo Pepe, the 16-year-old striker for FC Dallas. He's a, I'd say, a relentless runner up top. He combines well. He has an intuition for movement. Well, that's coming back to the ball or finding an approach going toward goal. His work rate is always really good. And he also has that edge to him, kind of a little bit of an attitude that you like to see from a nine.

We love to see it. Yeah. His work rate especially is very good for a, you know, for a striker. He's especially I, especially in the U-17 qualifying concave, it was, he was just running his socks off. It was, it was, it was awesome to see. Yeah, he doesn't stop. Yeah. It's good to see that from a young striker too because, you know, that's so much of the job pressing and moving off the ball relentlessly is the last thing a center back wants to come up against.

and that he's already doing that at like he was already doing it at 16 yeah he's doing it at such a young age is a mooey good sign i think my turn yes i get to make two picks here um i'm going to go with abubikar keta to round out my centerbacks now i know a lot of people have bad memories of him from the u20 world cup i think it's a little bit unfair because he was, you know, he probably wasn't ready for that tournament, but he got called in by necessity because Mark McKenzie wasn't fit, and we didn't have a lot of centerbacks who were ready for that kind of situation. And he did not, you know, he had some very rough moments in that tournament. But he also does a lot of good things. You know, he's left-footed. He's a pretty, he's interested in making progressive passes, and he can do it, and he's reasonably athletic. He's not, you

know, he was, he got destroyed by Musa Diabi a few times in that, in that game against France. I mean, everybody, Bundes League offenders get destroyed by Musa Diabes. He can't hold that too much against him. Right. So I think, you know, I think he's going to turn, he's going to round out into a pretty solid centerback. And in a pool with not a ton of centerback options, I'm going to, I'm happy to have Odissui-Keda pairing.

I mean, I was laughing. when you made that pick because now I don't even I don't think there's one really good centerback that I can take at this point because you're kind of hoarding them all. Even with James Sands, you can play centerback too. Everybody's gone. Yeah, you really did some damage to our options on centerback.

We're in big trouble here. I have to take some like 12-year-olds right now. This is guerrilla warfare, you know? Yeah. I think I'll take, I'll take Richie Ledesma. There we go. There it is. I'm going to do more of,

double pivot midfield and so sort of a four two three one and Ledezma's going to be my number ten okay my enganchet so I don't need everybody who's ever seen this podcast or listen to this podcast has heard me talk about Ledesma a lot I try to limit how much I talk about him so let's go back I think yeah I am gonna get serious here now and pick. It's like kind of been on cruise control so far, but now I'm really ready

to kind of stamp my impression on this draft by picking Jonathan Gomez, the 16-year-old left back for Louisville City. He's very clean with the ball and can start the attack in a lot of different ways

from the left-back position, whether it's just really basic combination play to gradually build out, or playing it inside, running up the line, kind of in one motion. That's kind of his signature. And then the counter he has on that is cutting in with his right foot, playing a center mid-teammate quickly or carrying himself upfield

and looking for a through ball or a big switch. He has some defensive mistakes right now, but he's 16, and that's how it goes. Yeah, I'm super excited about Gomez. Go ahead, Sanjee, sorry. Yeah, I mean, from talking to his coach, former club analysts and journal, who know him, you know, reading everything on him in Spanish and English, uh, watching all available footage, reviewing his stats and then watching 11 minutes, I can tell you that he is a very special left back for the U.S.

What's his G plus though? Like, like, like what's his G plus? I mean, he's a pretty, he's got some, some drips and swag. So I mean, it's probably like negative like point 20 or something. They don't like, you know, players who are who are fun to watch. They like the boring, boring, uh, simple pass. Don't do anything flash. You know, roulette, and of that stuff. I'm worried. They're so stuck in the spreadsheet.

At the end of the day, they're stuck in the spreadsheet. They need to get in there and watch the game. Yeah, they're watching. They just pulled their Microsoft Excel. That's how they watch their games. I watched them. You know, I actually watch the footage. Big advantage for you.

Big advantage for you over ASA on that. Yeah, especially, I just want to single out John Mueller. He's definitely the worst at it. Oh, and I wanted to mention we picked James Sands. I didn't get a chance to mention that John made this James Sands video of him rotating very simply and then nothing else happening as a result. And it was, that was just really one of the most boring things I have ever seen. I wouldn't say my life, but certainly on Twitter. And I just want to draw attention to that. Hey, boring. Boring is good for a, sometimes it's good for a centerback. For the centerback that John likes, it's, it's, It's definitely good. Yeah. Just truly, truly boring, though.

All right, I think it's my pick now, right? Yeah, you get two, two in a row. Okay, so I think I'll, now that a left back is taken off the board, I think I'll take the other can't miss left back. I'll take Kobe Hernandez Foster here. Just moved to Wolfsburg. I think he played in a U-19, like, friendly yesterday. Actually, yeah, I mean, he was playing centerback a lot

for the U-17s out of position under size, but he was still, I think, pretty clearly one of the best, if not the best player, for the U-7 teams. He's, I don't even know how to describe him as a left-back anymore, because I think it's been like two years since I've actually seen him play there, but I don't know, how would you,

I'll let one of you take this, because I'm definitely a little. My main takeaway with him is watching him pass with his left foot is one of the nicer things to look at, really in American soccer. It's one of the least boring things to watch on Twitter, I would say. For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

The concern with him is, of course, that he hasn't played for a while, you know, since that really, really poor 2017, I'm sorry, 2019 U-17 World Cup, in which he was playing centerback, which is clearly not his position. But, yeah, high hopes. For sure. Kobe and Gomez are like, you know, if we're going to have a sort of transcendent left back someday, it's going to be one of those two. I know you really wanted to say if we're going to have the American Marcello there, but I'm glad you refrained. Yeah, the American Marcello, the first American Marcello didn't come good, I would say.

Yeah, there's still time. There's still time. Yeah. Real quick for all the new listeners, that's George Bello, that's. that Adam is talking about. He wants to compare to him. Well, we don't need to get into that. If we're going to be really clear,

I said he's a Marcello type. That's true. And that's been unfairly twisted. And I'm glad you mentioned that. It's the only thing that's been unfairly twisted in the last. Yeah, that's the problem with doing this draft. We're probably going to say some things here that in a few years are going to pretty dumb.

I'm, that's fine though. That's fine. Yeah, I embrace that. It's the cross we'll have to bury. Bear, bear. Okay. I think you're up against, Sonja. Yeah, yeah, I got one more pick.

I think, I think I'll just go all in on my attack here, and I'll take, I'll take Jose Gallegos here. He's a 18-year-old. I think he's still 18. I don't even know anymore, but he's, he, he was playing high school. soccer just a year ago but he was also doing really well with san antonio fc in u s l he's a he's a he's a really saucy that's a it's a really the only way you can describe him he's a very skillful tons of flare um he also he's pretty hard in the tackle he works he's a good presser too i would

say but um this year i think it's pretty clear that he's a scratch or he's a bit above of San Antonio's level. So personally, I would hope for a move, I don't know if this is possible, but to MLS or to Europe in the not so distant future just to make sure that he's continually developing at a level that's good for him. My one concern with Gallegos is that we don't really know what his ambitions are. And it might be that he just stays in San Antonio at San Antonio FC forever. Like that could be his goal.

we just have no idea and try to become like their all-time leader minutes goals assist key passes all that i mean that's kind of a ridiculous i'm just my point is we don't know what what we're trying to do yeah i'm just hedging the head i'm just hoping that he'll have more ambition you know than being usel championship leading minutes or or whatever i'm hoping i'm hoping my my 2026 right I hope my 2026 roster doesn't have a player in USL in it, but I mean, you never know. Yeah. He's good. Yeah, he is good.

All right. Waki. All right. By the way, Asanji team is far as strong than mine right now. I feel like I'm playing catch-up and just getting more speculative. I mean, mine just has the flashy, flashy attack. Yeah. I don't know if I agree, Waki.

I think Saanji's cruising for a bruising here. Well, win games like 7.6. We'll take the Chelsea approach if they're signing average next season. Okay. Yeah, that's my plan. I am. I should take a center back. I'm not going to.

Instead, I'm going to take something, someone also very flashy, who is. Kevin Peretti, the 17-year-old winger for DC United, smooth dribbling, left-footed winger who plays mostly on the right, good technically on the ball. I work great both sides of the ball, and he has, and this is why I'm picking him. He has lots of tricks, and he does them frequently, and I like that sauce, as Sanjiv, I apologize, mentioned with him. Sanjiv.

Sanjiv. Yeah. I apologize again. No worries, Waki. But he has sauce and also Moxie, which I think are two separate things, but he has. Are they two separate things? Sauce and Moxie? Yes, they are.

They are on a basic level. They are. Moxie is kind of the life force that begets sauce. So they're closely related. But you're going to want to look for both of those attributes. I think I'm tracking with you. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, I really like Pritha's like when he's facing up defenders and you know he's just going to blow right past them, he actually kind of reminds me of Gideon when he's chasing squirrels. The similarity, you know, in the pursuit, the straight line speed, the acceleration, it's pretty uncanny, if I have to be honest. Just for everyone who doesn't know what Sanji was talking about, Gideon is my son, my five-year-old son. He had an incident where he was chasing some squirrels the other morning and chased them a little too far, I think.

All is well, though, I should say. Everything's been resolved on that. That was good to hear. Yeah. That was good to hear. That is very good to hear. Thanks, guys. So my turn, right?

I think, let me consult my little three by five card here. I think I'm going to switch up my formation as the ranks of the wingers continue to diminish. I'm going to turn my midfield from a double pivot and a 10 to a sort of a a different setup. We'll talk about that more later. But I think I'm going to take Moses Nyman, as my next pick,

a true sort of box-to-box midfielder to sit in front of Sands. And then my other pick is going to be Dante Sili, I think. I'll take Dante Sili. So Nyman and Sili.

Seeley will be my right wing. He's a left-footed, athletic, pretty good passer and can finish very effectively with his left foot. I'd say the weakness in his game is just that he's young. He's got a ways to go and understanding his plays on the field and how to maximize his impact. Nyman is short of stature, but really tough in the tackle, like tough in 1-V-1 duels, even at the USL level for somebody his age. Is he's 17 yet or is he still 16? I believe he is still 16.

He's 16. Okay. And so he's at Loudoun United or D.C. United. I guess he's more with D.C. United right now. But they're not, he hasn't played. Did he play in the MLS's back tournament? Like he got a little cameo. Okay.

No, he didn't. Much to the displeasure of Twitter, he did not play. But he's... He's very good at reading pressure and plying out of that quickly and in rhythm. Yeah. He's less of a guy who's going to turn and hit it 40, 50 yards, but... He does remind one of Darlington Nagby a little bit in that way. He's ball secure, but not...

Doesn't have a lot of cutting edge yet. But he keeps the... I think he also does a really good job, you know, because he's definitely probably... always the smallest player on the field. So he's done a good job of, you know, leveraging his size to match up against bigger defenders who would usually overpower them,

you know, throwing his body, using his body effectively, stuff like that, which will probably be really important. I don't see him, you know, becoming like a 6-4-280 type anytime soon. So definitely things he'll have to continue doing, which is good to see at such a young age already.

You got a great center of balance and all that stuff. Watching him knockover a much bigger man is, I would say, also one of my favorite things to watch, along with Kobe Hernadas Foster's left-footed passing. I think those are the two. Someling quite a list here. Those two would definitely be in the top five for me. Okay.

Yeah, I mean, undoubtedly, top five things to watch on Twitter. Nyman bundling down a big man. Kobe finding a pass. It doesn't even look like the player should fall down, but the way he gets his body, right, it's like a little fulcrum. They just like kind of flips him over him. It's fantastic.

Yeah. Just fantastic. What this reveals to me is we need more wrestlers who also play soccer. So we need to, I mean, USSF needs to make the four-hour drive west to Iowa and start, you know, putting down roots. That's what I'm saying.

Is Iowa the hotbed of wrestling or something? Historically, yeah. Like, it was like the Duke of wrestling. I believe Matt, Matt Co, and obviously this is a different thing, but I believe Matko Milgevich does Taekwondo or did Taekwondo at a pretty high level. Obviously, yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Are you signaling what your next pick is going to be?

No, I'm going to go, I'm going to go Taylor Booth, the 19-year-old center mid for Byron Munich. He thinks quickly, he moves well, plays pretty simply, does it in rhythm, makes the right pass most of the time. Defensively, he's generally in the right spots. He's not a really flashy player other than that, I would say. Okay. I mean, we expect to move up. Is he aged out of Byron Unit 19s? Is he going to Byron 2 next season?

He played, I think he had two or three appearances with Byron 2 this season. They didn't honestly go. They were fine. they weren't great and i think that's where he'll be next year yeah yeah i mean hopefully he makes um uh gets alone to a decent two bundus league a club sometime in the next two years or so yeah i don't necessarily see him as becoming a bairn first team player but what do i know and he doesn't need to be to to be an effective cog in in this team i building okay well I think it's me now.

So I'll take my defensive midfielder. I'll take Johnny Cardoso. So while your guys' players have been chugging beer, eating hot dogs in USL, Johnny has been playing in Copa Libertadores. He's only played like a few minutes but still breaking through to, you know, I'm pretty sure the team he's playing for Internationale is a pretty big Brazilian side. So even breaking through and playing minutes

for their in Coppola Libidadores and also he's playing in some, I'm not exactly sure the, you know, all the details behind it, but he's also getting first two minutes in the lower level, like state run leagues that Brazil that Brazil has.

So, yeah, so I think it's pretty impressive at 18 that he's able to do it. I haven't really watched too much of him, but for one I can tell, he's pretty similar to Taylor Booth, actually. a similar type of players, similar, similar build, good passer, nothing too flashy, comfortable on the ball, and yeah. Okay. I mean, that's my thing with Cardoso is it is really hard to find much footage of him,

particularly playing at the six. There's like what, like three games where he did or something like that? Yeah, I mean, he drops, like he'll play as a six and he'll drop down as a centerback a lot for for his club. That's mostly what I've seen him do. He'll drop in between the centerbacks. Part of the reason there's not much tape on him is he played as a winger and I think sometimes a striker for

the better part of last year. And this group is pretty recent. And even I'd say the tape that is available, it's, he doesn't, he hasn't been, there's not enough minutes where he's getting really tested in terms of what he can do defensively. So we kind of have to guess.

Yeah, this is a projection pick, not a shirt fire. Yeah. He does seem good. And in articles about what camp was he in? I guess the U-20 camp. I think it was the U-23s actually. U-23. Everyone was saying very nice things about him

and calling him all-winner and that sort of thing. I heard some stuff privately that was very positive as well. But, you know, just because you're good at soccer doesn't mean you can assess whether other people are good at it. Yeah. That's what I always wonder when a player says the player was good. I don't know how much stock to put in it. Are they just being nice or what's going on?

It doesn't matter. There could be all kinds of things going on. Who knows? We are the only ones who have the pure motivation to tell the truth. Exactly. I'm just kidding, everybody. That's not true. We're not the only one.

All right. I think I've got one more pick. I think I'll finish off the defense. or the attack here, take a Fowleran Balagon. I'm probably completely butchered,

at least his first name, but he played for Arsenal U23s this season. He was putting up, like, ridiculous numbers, like, I don't know, like 50 goals.

It's probably an over, overestimate, but I think I saw something he's putting up something, like he's top of the Premier League 2, which is where Arsenal plays. He's,

I think his contract expired. is the year after this one. So, you know, there's been some talks of Brentford, a potential primary league side next year, buying him for like 10 million euros, stuff like that. He is provisionally cap tied to England right now. He played in the U-17, I think a euros qualifiers for them, like three years ago.

But he has been in the U-18 camp for the U.S. And with England's attacking depth, I just don't see him, unless he turns out to be a really good player, I don't see him really ever breaking through in that. So by 2026, I'm kind of hoping, but I'm also expecting a little bit that he'll either make the switch to the U.S. or to Nigeria. And with his current links, you know, being in a U.S. camp ready, I'm hoping the U.S. is where he'll go.

There's certainly an argument for it, right, for him to come play for you. This is definitely, it's a, this could completely backfire. He might not even be a U.S. player in 2026, but I think if he is, he would be one of our better striker options, especially for this uncapped pool. So you, in theory, could end up with 10 players on your team. I mean, and I hope that's something everyone considers. It is a possibility, but I could also end up with a starting primary league striker. I guess Pepe, I guess anybody could. be that, but I think he's on a, he's on a good path to that right now.

I think it's a good, I think it's a good risk to take. Yeah, you gotta take some risk. You can't be conservative. I mean, G-plus might like that, but it's not for me. There's no downside. There's no downside here. Waki, who you got for your seventh pick? I, I've got a gap at the attacking midfield role,

and I'm going to pick a player who can play there, or on the wing. I've mentioned him earlier, Matt Komiljavich, Javik, 19-year-old winger and attacking mid for Argentinos Jr. He can have some really good moments on the dribble going by guys

with some panache. He's pretty strong, like I mentioned. He did Taekwondo, which is a big plus that we discussed earlier. Also, I noticed, by the way, the Argentine League is pretty brutal. He'd get fouled constantly, but that's a side note.

his passing doesn't really break the game open so i do have some liabilities there um but he's i think he's my best option right now to fill in that role i might i might flex him out to the left wing later depending on uh what happens next maco's right-footed right yes okay yeah i think he tends to play on the left thing and cut in but he can also beat guys down the line a little bit he's not he's not as exciting of a player as I think some people originally thought based on the games I've seen of him but I think he's solid yeah okay he also as you mentioned knows taekwondo yes does uh I believe he was a successful taekwondo uh competitor actually when he was younger I think he set that aside now and focused on soccer which I think is

is a good call for him yeah well you know When you're walking the mean streets of San Pedro Sula in World Cup qualifying, can't hurt to have a Croatian, Argentinian, American with taekwondo skills. It can only help. And is he cap tied to Argentina or is he? No, I think he. Only friendlies or something? I actually don't know.

I know he did a camp with their U-20s and maybe their U-23s, but they have so many camps. They have these massive camps, so I don't even know. He's not, I don't think he's really likely to become a player. Okay. Okay. I'm really, I'm really struggling here on who to take as my next midfielder. But I think I'm going to go with Frankie Amaya,

because we're just going to be a high-pressing win battles in the midfield kind of team. and Branky can do that. He can also pull out the odd left-footed Galazzo. Okay. So is he playing besides Sands? Yeah, it's going to be, you know, Sands, Maya and Nyman sort of in that order, 6, 8, 10, if you will, I guess. I'm moving Ladezma out to the wing.

So are you still playing like a 433 of sorts as a different formation? After everything I said, going more towards like a Burrhalter type situation, except Sands isn't the, Sands isn't the Jackson-Ewell type distributor, but that's okay. Because a goal is in the modern game are scored in transition, folks.

You know what I'm talking about? Okay. So, yeah, Amaya, he plays at FC Cincinnati and had a pretty good MLS's back tournament. Skord of Golazzo. Right. it's kind of a Galazzo, right? I mean, I think Guzon was a little bit out of position,

so maybe it takes away some of the shine, but outside of the box, nice curler. Yeah. I mean, it may not like a galo, but a very good goal. Small G. Say it quietly. You know. And then I'm going to take Nico Guilachini.

Okay. as my striker. He plays for SM Kahn in France, in the second division in France, and he's just an active physical ex-G merchant. You know, he's just getting in good spots all the time. The finishing hasn't quite been there, but, you know, as anyone at American Soccer analysis

will tell you, finishing doesn't matter. It's about getting spots. Yeah, I mean, he's blown a few, pretty high XG chances, but I mean, I'm sure he'll, I'm sure he'll finish those in due time. You know, as you said, I'm way more happy with him being in the position for those tapins. And I think he's had, I mean, these are just rumors, of course, but he's had interest from Sam Thoria in Syria. And also his manager, I think he said like three or four times that it's going to be hard

to keep him at the club for any longer than a year. So hopefully he'll move up from, was he a little? league two right now yeah the french second tier yeah there was one clip of his i i really liked it was it turned into kind of a two v one on the break where uh his guy goes out a little bit wide and he's running kind of shapes his run around the one defender and gets this really good run to arrive in the box which which you did a great episode about um and if he hits it with his left it goes in he lets it run across the defender puts it off and he chanks a little bit wide but the point is what i liked about is then he got down on this knee and kind of this like ponderous stance and just stared straight

ahead and then we cut to the goal line camera that's just straight on him and he's just staring in and he's got his hand up on his chin and he holds it for like five seconds so long that even once we cut out of the close-up we're in the long view we still see him down a long view on the field ponderously looking to his camera and I just thought that was great I don't in terms of a soccer soccer I don't know how important that is but just that's theatrics of it, I really appreciated. That's something that ASA would not get at all. That's not showing up in their spreadsheets.

No, man. Yeah, I mean, along, I mean, before the- They would dismiss that whole anecdote, I would say. Yeah, before the anecdote, I mean, the movement that Chris was talking about, I think that's also something he's pretty good at, you know, fine, as we mentioned earlier, but like these, these bending runs, these late-ariving runs to get into space.

I think he's, like, he scored, like, two goals from really good movement this season so far. And his hold-up play, too, is something that I think is pretty good. How old is he, is he 18 or 19? I think he's 19. Yeah, especially for a 19-year-old striker playing for, you know, for his first team. His hold-up play is definitely, I would say, above adequate for the level he's playing at. Yeah, you can knock it off to a guy and then turn really quickly into space.

And he seems pretty fast. Like, it looks like the defenders really have a problem with him. at least at the Yeah, I don't think he's had any major injuries. So, you know, as some people would say, athleticism, uh, it ties directly into your injury probability rate,

you know, as, uh, I don't want to, I don't want to call him out here, but that's just what some people would say. It's, by the way,

it's, I said Goachini. It's Joe Aquini. Sorry. Okay, that is very important, the pronunciation. I don't want to,

yeah. Yeah. Thanks for out. Thanks for all the, encouragement, guys, for me picking the best striker after... Did we finalize how to pronounce that the name of the team? I know you talked about at one point. I was researching.

That's really why I didn't pick him because I was scared how to say it. It looks like there might be a light R. It's like Karn. It's Kahn. Kahn. I'm sure of you are at this. I get a lot of messages about pronunciation. And people send me YouTube links, and they love to jump on me.

I'll take your judgment. I'm pretty sure it's a con. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Waki, I believe it's your pick, your eighth pick overall. Oh, so did you take before, Nico again, I can't even remember anymore. Frankia.

Frankia, that's right, that's right. I'm just going to have a bulldog midfield. Okay, I am frantically switching tactics here because I'm having trouble filling out my team. I was originally planned. So I'm going to play two forwards. I'm going to a classic 4-4-2. I think there's going to be a tactical revolution in the game of soccer by 2026,

and this will make a lot of sense then. And I'm going to pick I.O. Akinola, the 20-year-old striker for Toronto FC. He stands out mostly for his movement, which is really smart. He's also strong and fast. He can receive the ball, guy on his back, play it off. Same type of thing we talked about with Nico. Technically, he's decent every now and then. He'll have a surprisingly good touch.

But he kind of plays contained. There's not much flashy about what he does. But when he makes mistakes, it doesn't really look panicky. Seems like kind of a calm dude, which I want that in my locker room. that's my pick it's just a pure lack of technique when he makes a mistake right it's not it's not lack of composure yeah it's just it's yeah listen he's not outstanding technically but he's got time to work on that i don't is that even the type of thing you get better at i don't know we'll see yeah he's been impressive man the the i know gregg velasquez my co-host was not that impressed

when he dove into the tape, but, you know, Greg and I don't always agree on stuff. And, you know, you play a through ball to Iowa Aconola, and you feel like there's a good chance he's going to get there first and send the centerback sprawling and then have, like, a clear 1-B-1 with the goalkeeper. That's not a confidence you have in any of the other strikers that we've talked about. Maybe ball again. I haven't watched a ton of him, but...

Yeah. So, can I also ask your reaction to him picking that, was that, was that a pain reaction in that you were planning on picking him as well as a double striker position? No, no, no, I actually wasn't. It just was surprised me and I like the idea of a two-striker set up with I-O in it. Yeah. I'm going to hire a manager to handle the tactics of that, but I can see it working out. Well, the problem is if you hire a manager that it's strictly opposed to a two forward position. You have a big problem on our hands.

Yeah, yeah. You're going to get a bunch of y'all hiring DMs, Waki. Yeah. That's great. My DMs are open to anyone who wants to manage this team. Yeah, Wachie is quite busy with his soil, his soil gravonf duties currently. I've seen, I've seen a few people get some exes thrown at them. Two of us are right here.

That we only two us actually. Yeah, let's take a little break and talk about Soil Garanf. So how's it going, Wachie, as your senior editor, right? I'm senior editor. It's just to back up a little bit for people who aren't familiar with it. It's a new publication founded by Jordan Donovan at Jordan Dunnethin on Twitter. He's an analyst, UAFAB licensed coach. And we're not really sure what is.

Let me just break in. Let me break in and say, I've always pronounced Jordan's name as Duneathan, which has a little more sauce than Donathan. But I guess we'll have to ask him which one it is. Anyway, he's the founder and editor-in-chief. It's a website that writes about soccer, probably. We'll figure it out. There's not much soccer on it right now. No, there's not a lot of soccer.

Lobster talks in the sort. But stay tuned. Okay. Yeah, we'll be tuned. breakover let's go to who's my pick now or did walk even he picked back in all

I think it's my pick now then um I think I'll think I'll have to finish off my midfield here and take brian Kio so I'll take the other other player who's moved

to Wolfsburg recently I think I read he'll start with Wolfsburg the reserve side unlike Kobe, who I think is started with the U-19 squad. He played in USL for Loudoun.

He's a really, I don't even know who, like who to compare him to because he's just a downhill go-at-you player. Like he carries the ball pretty well. He can clean up, you know, his, his touch is like his first touch. You know, he'll sometimes knock the ball

a little too far ahead, but when he gets going, you know, pushing the ball forwards, I think he's pretty good in combination, especially that the one goal, I don't know if any of you remember it, but the one goal he scored for Loudoun, or maybe no, the one goal he assisted for Loudoun was, it was a really nice goal. He picked up the ball, drove forward, quick one, two, and then laid it off for a good finish. I think he's a pretty high upside player, but there's also a lot of risk, especially in the way that he plays.

but I'm excited to see how he progresses at Wolfsburg now that he's officially moved there and yeah I think he would play he would round out my midfield play just a maybe just ahead of box to box of Cardo so so yeah he's one thing about Keo is when he's on the field you always notice he's there because things are happening he's sort of just an instigator of events.

I remember one of his USL games last year, there was a 15-second span where he did two separate, what were basically two-footed slide tackles really quickly, and I just thought it was really fantastic. They weren't dirty or anything, and one of them actually was successful. So I think if you're having that kind of hit rate

and being aggressive, that's great. Actually, it was probably not good defending. I just want to be clear about what was happening on those places. It's a good point, though. He is often at the center of the action. Another thing about him is he seems to be really well regarded by coaches. You know, he got a chance with the senior men's national team in camp. He was slotted immediately into Wolfsburg's first team training, wasn't he?

Or Wolfsburg, too? I think so. while Kobe is training with the U-19s. So something about him pops out for, you know, coaches. And did I, I don't think I took a player before that, right? No, I think it's... No, you got another pick coming your way right now. All right, I think I might just, I guess I really don't have anything else to do.

I have to take a centerback finally here. I think I'll take Leo Sapulveda left center. back. I don't even this is a complete shot in the dark here because I don't I don't really know any of the the remaining centerbacks on the board. I don't even know what club does he put some club in like the Spanish third tier something Salmonaca. Salmonaca. There is like no tape on him.

Yeah, there's I haven't I don't think I've ever watched him. I know he played DA and I think USL like a couple years ago but I never saw that. I mean it's just a shot in the dark. I know he's a pretty sure is a left-footed center back decent passer maybe I mean, if Bells if you know more Waukee if you know more I don't know, Brian Clibbon's high on him

and as a former player of his and I think Anthony Hudson spoke very highly of him in an interview with Brian Shoretta I believe so that means something you know and also he's had some this is obviously very very silly season, but there's been some interest reportedly from Real Madrid, stuff like that.

I'm not sure how much of it is completely fabricated, but I don't know. Just one talking point, I guess, because I don't have anything else really to go off. Watch you back, Sergio Ramos. Watch you back. Yeah, he's left-footed. That's another thing. Did you mention that? Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I mean, the fact is. it gets real thin after essentially after Richards you know at centerback

because Mark McKenzie would be a great pick in this draft except he got that like 20 minute round against Costa Rica it's probably my pick isn't it

and I need a right back but instead I'm going to pick a centerback because I also need a center back. No, I'm picking your right back. I don't know. What am I going to do with the centerback situation? I'm just going to pick Mauritio O'Quivas.

A right back for 17-year-old right back for LA Galaxy 2 right now. He's not the most exciting, but he's a good passer and knows what he wants to do with the ball and doesn't get flustered. Decent athlete, not an outstanding athlete. I really like Quavis. He is a good passer of the ball, as you said. And we need our fullbacks to be able to possess the ball and find feet between the lines and not get rattled.

He's been playing some left back for Los Dose, right, this season? Yeah, I don't know what's going on with that. Do they do that to develop some comfort there? or why do they have like another another good right back that's playing for usel or is is this because i haven't watched not that good of a prospect i don't think if i am wrong i apologize whoever that is but i don't i'm not sure i bet it's just uh like just bald necessity you know yeah they don't have a left back and because they squandered their opportunity to sign Kobe Hernandez Foster.

Clowns. Is it my turn? I believe it is. And I need a right back, a left back, and a goalkeeper. I'm going to go with David Ocella,

a goalkeeper. Okay. I believe he is the best prospect in this group. If anybody's seen him or heard from him in the last few months, let me know.

I have no idea where he is. He's not on RASL rosters. He's not on Royal Monarchs rosters. You don't know either? Nobody knows. Do you know, Sanjee? I have no idea. I thought he was, wasn't he with

MLS's, like, the team in the bubble? I thought I thought he had, like, injured or something. He probably was with them. Did he get it, if he got injured than that explains. I don't know. That's what I, it's what I think I read like two tweets on that on Twitter. So it's very far from the truth. I mean, the confirmed truth, but I mean, that's

just what I saw. I haven't really been. He's not playing for, you said he's not even on Monarchs or anything. Yeah, he hasn't been. Who knows? He's good with his feet.

He has a lot of confidence. He plays, he has a personality that I think would really resonate with fans if they got to know him. And yeah, I think he's in a not-so-crouted goalkeeper pool. He definitely sticks out.

I'm going to also take, with my 10th pick, Chris Gloucester at leftback. He's training with the PSV-First team. And while he doesn't, he isn't likely to be that sort of attacking threat that we talked about with Jonathan Gomez and Kobe Hernandez-Foster. He is already a more accomplished defender than either of them. And he's not a liability in the attack. He's just kind of steady. And he had a great U-20 woke up.

Yeah, his assist against Nigeria shows that he can definitely be proficient in the tech. You know, he was the assist to Soto for the second goal. Yeah. Yeah, very nice play. So he's my left back. Waki Europe. I mean, yeah, Waukeh Europe. All right.

I'm going to pick a goalkeeper. And this is a guy whose stock is down a bit from where it was. But I'm going Damien Loss. 18 year old goalkeeper with Fulham. He's a very good shot stopper, instinctive shot stopper. He isn't bad playing out of the back. He's fine.

He did make some mistakes at the U-17 World Cup. And there's not a ton of, I haven't seen a ton of him at Fulham U-18s, but the reports are actually I think it was on this podcast that he was doing pretty well there. So next year, he'll be competing, hopefully, for a job, starting job with the U-20s. I don't have much to add to that unless I'm sure it's loved those actually two years ago

I mean he was he was viewed as like an absolutely can't miss prospect and yeah he does have a lot of you know he's got a lot of panache and confidence we'll see you know if sometimes it feels like when a player goes to England and starts playing for a u18 side we're like never going to hear from them again until they show up at RSL we may not but But, yeah, loss is right up there. All right. I'll take my goalkeeper. I'll take probably the oldest player.

I'll take Matt Turner here. I don't think he hasn't been capped, right? I probably should have made sure before. Let me check. If he has been, this is a penalty, a significant penalty. You lose five spots if he's been capped. All right. He has not been capped.

So I will take Matt Turner. It's 26 right now. he'll be 30. I'm not sure when his birthday. He'll be either 31 or 32. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're doing U-2. Oh, is this something of U-23s?

Penalty. Oh, man, well, that, I don't even have another goalkeeper list, dude. I don't even, um, I'm trying to think. Just take J.T. Marsikowski. Yeah, Marcytkowski. Isn't he like, isn't he like, is he? Actually, no, no, no.

What's that, what's his name? The U-17. I'll take Chituro, I'll take Chituro Oduenze. Okay, duneze. Um, I don't know, like. he's like a 6-8 keeper he's like he looks really imposing in his box I'm not I'm not the Greg to really comment on the the keeping aspect but I don't know I just didn't really want to take March and Kowski here no disrespect to him of course but

I don't say it's just the most most appealing option well I wanted to take Matt Turner I think he's I wouldn't be surprised if he's I don't want to say I don't want to make a prediction like that actually. I mean, you actually, I'd say disrespecting him at least three times because first you took an illegal player. Then I suggested you take him, which would have been so easy to do.

He said, no, no. And then you took a 17 year old. Well, where is he, is he even like, has he ever played an MLS? Like, I don't know what, is he on he's on San Jose, right? Yeah. He's their backup keeper right now. Yeah, he's spent most of his time at Reno. Reno 1885 or whatever it is.

Is Adunzee? He's at like Lester or something right? Yeah. I'm really, I think O'Donzi is a great pick. I'd say he's at least pulled even with loss, you know, in the very small public consciousness that we consistently refer to. He was like, I sometimes forget how few people. Yeah, it's very few people that are really, as in. Yeah, it's like three people said that O'Donzi is as good as lost on Twitter.

so the whole landscape has changed. Didn't he start over the loss or something like that at the U-17 World Cup or start a few games over him? I lost lost the job basically. I honestly, I was so disgust that I didn't watch the third game. Full disclosure. I stopped watching after the Busio goal. It was all downhill after that.

That was the one in like the second minute of the first match. Yep. Yeah. I think Odunze is a great pick. He's huge. and still very young. Just so everybody knows, Jonathan Clemsman, C.J. Dos Santos,

Brady Scott, J.T. Marsenkowski and T.Mews are the other goalkeepers that are sort of in this category that I can tell. Possibly Matt Freeze as well. Just because he was called into some camp. Is Freeze? Oh, yeah, Freezes on there. It's 23. I don't know anything about goalkeeper.

I can't understand it. If a guy can pass with his feet, then he's good for me. All right, well, I'll have to take my last pick, take another centerback here. Options are very thin, but I think I'll take Nico Carrera, FC Dallas centerback, just moved to Holston-Kale. Pronunciation, might be wrong here, but two Bundesliga team. I assume he'll start off with their U-19s, but I mean, I'm not completely sure. I think the way I've seen him is he wants to progress the ball.

He wants to carry the ball forward. That could, like, it does hurt him sometimes because he will turn the ball over or make a mistake there. Which is something obviously you don't want to do at the back. He played for the U.S. and the U-17 World Cup. I don't even know if he switched over from Mexico, but it was a little bit of a of a fight there for him. He's definitely keeping his options open, right? Yeah, I mean, as most dual nationals are,

but defensively, I'll have to hand that, delegate that to you guys if you're having any strong opinions on his, I don't know, positioning or however you want to describe it. He's very assertive getting, trying to break up a play for the field, which he often does pretty well. And then I guess the knock is occasionally that will lead to him, being out of position. But that's kind of the style he plays. That's what I see, too, with Carrera.

Just a little bit messy right now, but still young. And I like, I like, you know, the aggressiveness, you know, wants to play out of the back, wants to break up plays before but obviously if he doesn't completely clean up some of these you know sloppiness it could be a pretty big problem in the future okay that's your team uh hopefully we can very very attack heavy hopefully we can get gregg velasquez to um to make some lineup graphics for us yeah walkie what do you get who is this is my last pick Yeah. I feel like I only like seven.

Okay. Before I make the pick, is Justin Glad good or bad? He's okay. Take, what's that guy? The Chicago Fire. Let's just say he's better than, he's better than Nico Carrera and Leo Sepulveda right now. I completely forgot about Justin Glad. I thought he was.

Okay. I'm going to take Justin Glad. I'll take Justin Glad. 23-year-old centerback for Real Salt Lake, which I've never said this before. I think that's a. really bad name for a soccer team. So, like, there's something about it I don't like. Yeah.

But just let me get that in there. Veteran leadership. He's going to be 29 at the time. Seems like a good age for World Cup center back. And Adam, you just told me he was better than Sepulveda and Nico Carrera, so I feel pretty comfortable. At this very moment, yeah. At this very moment.

I know he's been inconsistent in the past few years. but he seemed okay in this past tournament right and we don't have a lot to go on right now with these guys so i'm i'm taking just and glad has he has he really never been capped before i feel like he would be one of those one-cap players that i don't know a sarikin would throw out or something yeah pretty sure he hasn't it's surprising he hasn't been he's been in like two january camps and both times he's been sent home tail between his legs admittedly it's not a great signal for my team there but that's fine I think he's just, you know, he's just figuring out his place in the world and how to respect authority. Okay.

Is this speculation or is this like your take? It was just me joking around, but I do think there was like some, there was some noise, some static after like the first January, the Syracan January camp. He and Danny Acosta, who was at RSL at the time. They both got sent home early. rumors were flying everywhere. I mean, it was all over ESPN. Colin Calhirt was talking about it. Huh.

Growing, a growth opportunity. An important, teachable moment. And I'm glad it happened. Yeah. Oh, I prefer it didn't happen. But. Well, I got to take a right back. And so I think I'm going to take...

Joe Scully has to be the pick here, right? Kyle Duncan. Okay. Oh. Snub Scali, huh? Yeah. Scali can jump in a lake. These are not my thoughts just to be clear with everybody.

No, Scali, I have high hopes for Joe Scali. All right. Now that you've cleared your name from your initial comments, you can talk about Kyle Duncan? Yeah, he's the cousin of Tim Wea, which is neither here nor there, really. But he's a pretty good attacking right back. fairly solid defensively for a pretty bad Red Bull New York team.

You know, for me it's down to Duncan, Aaron Herrera, Scali, or Ian Hoffman for the right backs that are left. And it's close between Duncan and Herrera and Scali, but I just prefer Duncan. And sometimes those preferences have to do with like which game did I watch of his and how good did he look in that game. so I'm not saying that there's any science to it it's just Duncan's my guy so we have our teams do you guys want to do uh nah

are we are we one 100% sure I have 11 players for you I have just done a terrible notekeeping job I have um glad and Richards as your centerback pairing very like considering what's available is very strong uh Quavis and Gomez as your outside backs.

Loss as your keeper. Booth. Testman. Yeah, Booth, Tesman. Madko Milchavich. As your midfield. And then. I got Pepey and Iowa.

I can all. I guess we're going over my team now. That's what we're doing. Yeah, we're just trying to make sure you have a level. The podcast. Wait, so I'm a little confused. We're viewing my team and assessing it. So is Matka your left wing then?

If you're playing a 4-4-2? yeah let's get into this here yes so macos your left wing paredes is your right wing oh that's what it is yes okay and then you back go on the left peritis on the right two up top acanola and peppy booth and testament holding it down in the middle yep okay classic 442 set up there yeah and then sanjiv you got um Carrera and Sepulveda at centerback. That's not strong. I am fully expecting a very good development for both of them.

I think they'll be the best centerback pairing out of all three of our teams by 2026. And you guys can mark that down, come back to me in 2026. All right. If we're all still alive by then, let's do that. And then you got Dunezay and Goal, Kobe, at a lot. left back, Arajo at right back, Cardoso, Keo and Gallego says your midfield. Is that right? Yep.

And then Raina and De La Fuente on the wings and Baligan at Stryker. I mean, I like a lot of the play. I think my attack is definitely the strong suit to say the least of my team. Yeah, you got fullbacks you can get up and down too. And then I've got Otisoui and Keda has my center back pairing.

Goalkeeper is, obviously, David Ochoa. And then I've got Kyle Duncan at right back, Chris Gloucester at left back, Sands Nyman and LeDadez, Sands Amaya and Nyman as my midfield. Ledzumet left wing, Dante Celia at right wing. I wish I could have that one back.

And then Joe Aquini at Stryker. That's pretty, actually probably pretty strong. I will say I don't think any of these teams is going to win the 26 World Cup. I would agree with that. It's so hard to say who has the best team here. I think, like, which midfield would be dominant? I feel like it would be... I think it's Chris, is honest.

I mean, it's hard to tell because of the... I mean, I don't know. I'm not dominant. Are your left... Are you left midfields? Are they inside forwards? or are they like more like wingbacks or not winning backs, but are they more, you know, standard left, mid, right mid?

You got to keep in mind, I made this decision in about 15 seconds when I was concerned about some choices elsewhere on the field. I'm going to say they're going to read what's going out on the field. They're going to pinch in when necessary. It's going to be a very adapted for too. And really, do what's best. Formations are really more of a state of mind. Yeah, formation is just a social construct.

so I'm not sure really any of this is, yeah. I mean, I like the way Watkins could work is Quayvas and Gomez getting into the attack and combining with, you know, so you switch it into the 4-4-2 is your defensive shape, switch into a 4-24 with Paredes and Mako pushing up, and then you got the fullbacks coming into support and overlap. And I could see, you know, you might have a. do go in there. I'm just, I would just like, I think my attack is not to, you know,

toot my own horn, but I think it's pretty, pretty clearly the best out of all three. No doubt. Especially with Kobe. I think I'll probably play Araahos to stay at home, right, like, I don't want him. I don't want, like, our fullbacks. I don't want, like, eight people in attack and, like, two people defending. But, yeah, the spine of my team is definitely lacking, though, compared to you guys. If you get, I mean, you can't, you need a Raho to stay home because, like, if your centerbacks get caught in a, like, a 1v2, they're toast.

Maybe I'll, maybe I'll make it a three at the back or something and make a Raja play center back. I don't know. I will say it's kind of hard to build a balanced roster for six years in the future while remaining present in the conversation. So the more important thing is we did that. and you know and we should just be proud of these teams we put together yeah and who cares we're going to get some some critiques on the internet of them we may they're gonna people are gonna uh yeah

well i'm really surprised that that bofo didn't get picked by by someone i thought i thought he would definitely go maybe i don't know i thought he's been pretty good in mexico so far yeah i think bofo is a snub here so bring on you know bring on the critical I feel a little bad for not taking Alex Mendez. I had it in my mind, maybe I'd have a, like James Sands, Alex Mendez double pivot,

and you know, Mendez just handle all the distributional duties. I think that setup potentially has promise if Mendez can sort of take a step forward in his career. You know, a centerback that I think is flying under the radar. I only watch like 25 clips of him, but it was enough for me to say, me to say like he's he should have been picked in this draft is hayden sargis have you guys heard of this kid sacramento right yeah sacramento republic he's left-footed he's got a top not i completely forgot about him and um he's i think he's pretty good i really just picked

justin glad over him glad is better right now i mean glad plays in the first division and sargis plays in the second but who is sargis is he like a 15 year old or something i think I think he's 17 or something. Let me double check that. I mean, it's... Sacramento. If you remember... O one?

If you remember... Yeah, he's an O-1. If you remember, Sacramento had another young player. I forget his name. He was in... Yeah, Roberto Hadegan go to... I probably pronounce that.

Go to Nuremberg. And he never, like, he never got a chance, really. So for them to give... They also have another... Panagas. Mario Panagas. Yeah. Mario Panagas.

Isn't that Jerigwe, or I know between that, like Raphael, where he? Jergway. Cherokee. Doesn't he play there too? Is that a, yeah, he just got signed there. He was born in 2004. I don't know what month. So something good happening in Sacramento, I guess.

Well, I, yeah, I mean, I was going to say that Hodigan never really got a chance at Sacramento before he came for Germany. And for them to give Sargis starts at centerback, means they must have some confidence in him. And, you know, like I said, I watched a few clips. He looks, he looks decent. They haven't given up a lot of goals either. Let's see.

Is there any notable players? I mean, Danny Leva. Yeah. Otherwise, I mean, Sebastian Soda, but, I mean, his situation is so, I mean, it's clear right now what he's going to do next season, but past that. There's a lot of questions as to what he's going to be doing. I think the main one is Alex Mendez.

I have some regrets about my Aconola pick. And if I could... You can't go back on that now. I don't know. I know. It's final. It's final. All right.

You just got to inspire the conference. What I'm saying is, if I could go back in time and choose differently, I might have probably would have put Mendez in there and played a normal formation. How is the 414 out of normal formation? It's always move forward. Dude, 442 is so 2005, you know? Yeah, but it's, yeah. It's coming back.

You're saying it's coming back. It's cyclical. It'll be the formation. It's 442 is cyclical and it's going to come back stronger. I don't actually think that. I mean, as this, you know, like you said earlier, it's formation, formation, you know, it's all about player responsibilities in relation to other players on the field and in relation to the opponent.

Game models, guys. Game models. Absolutely. Ask any UAFA B licensed coach. Like, come on. Yeah. So do we want to, does anybody feel strongly that their team would be the best? Because I got to say I don't really.

I think my team would be in every game. But, you know, I don't know. I think if I get battle again, I think my team would be the best. I know, I know my defense is not, especially my centerbacks aren't anywhere near as strong as you guys, but I think Raina is so far ahead of any other attacker on these teams that, I mean, who else? Who else? I mean, Rayna has.

For the listeners, Adam was making a head gesture. It was kind of like, I don't buy that. I mean, Rayna's very ball secure. That's why he plays for Dortmund. He doesn't play for Dortmund because he's been like a game breaker. he has one assist and one goal. Granted, they were both really nice. I've actually been looking into this a little bit,

and obviously his sample size is way lower than any other player within the pool right now, or within the Bundes League right now, but his shot creating actions per 90 and his goal creating actions per 90. I don't know if you can see my screen, but this is him right here. I can't pull up a chart.

You can't hear. my screen real quick. No, I can see it. Oh, you can see it. Okay, yeah. So this is him, and like, he's pretty far in a way. He's creating 1.01 per 90 goal at creating actions, 4.0 for something shot creating action. So obviously this will, this, I would be very surprised if this didn't drop down with increased sample size, but he, I would say that he does create pretty well. Like, this is, I mean, this, this is an outlier, I would say. but obviously the sample size is a big you really pulled a real ASA move here pulling out a graph on us make this chart yourself Sanjif I did make I made this last

night just uh did you really yeah just was it wasn't in preparation for this podcast don't worry but um well I'm excited about this development in your career that you're making charts now what whatever I just I just needed I just had I just needed some some you know real stats instead of just conjecture. Well, that's cool. I mean, so that makes some sense to me. I think I'm not going to pull up the clip, but that, you know, Richie Ledesma roulette and his roulette and like very tidy finish early in the young

PSV season last year. Oh, like his turn? Yeah. I mean, that kind of thing I think is special and we don't, you know, we don't see a lot of that from other people. granted the level of competition is low but I just hope this is his year I just hope that he can

you know really start getting some some good minutes for PSP's first team that's my hope at least yeah well he just got extended right just to be clear his contract he got extended earlier in the year I think in the spring yeah I do feel like you're a little bit like a kid in a candy store

Sanjeev where you waited until the last three picks to pick your centerbacks and goalkeeper? Well, my thinking was you stole everybody that I had on my list, so I figured at this point, no one else is going to take a centerback, so I might as well just wait until the end.

I mean, I think Chris took, I don't even remember. No, Chris took a centerback after me even, so. Yeah. So yeah, that was my thinking process behind it. I think we can agree it was pretty irresponsible what you did. I don't think I'll ever be able to recover from that. I just think that we shouldn't focus so much on my centerbacks.

It's definitely going to sway some opinion. I think we should more focus on this 4-4-2 that Chris is rocking here, this double-striker formation. I'm just a little unsure. I just want people to keep in mind it's fluid. Oh, of course. Yeah. My centerbacks plan to be fluid too.

Peppy can probably play the 10. You know what? Call it whatever we want. Just have Peppy drop back and play the time. He's fine. He's good. like Josie. No, he's not like

Josie. You can play him. You can play him like Josie. I thought you said peppy. Yeah. Well, I'm just saying like, like,

you play him as a shadow straight. I think we're just going to have to punt this over to the listeners, to the viewers. We'll put up. I don't have any more memes to get off before we.

Yeah, any more really funny jokes? I, let me check. Let me make sure I exhausted everything I had on my list. No, I said all the jokes. I don't know if you, people might not have noticed. Yeah, I mean, some people will.

Like, if you know, you know, people will notice. Yeah. It's definitely in an if you know, you know, situation. Hey, guys, thank you so much for doing this. It's good to see your faces in the middle of this quarantine. And, you know, be well. let's I'm going to put this on Twitter eventually and I'll put a poll we'll try to get the lineups out there put a poll see who see who people think has the best team

Sanjee's going to win just because everybody like likes him the best yeah um but you know we can live with that not a real ball yeah it's not scientific it doesn't count I mean that's that's I would be very happy to win I mean you my dominance over at It means absolutely nothing. It means something to me. Yeah. Okay. That's, and that means something to me, so.

Yeah. All right. Peace, guys. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you.