SoccerWise - CONCACAF Victory & Agony w/Vince La Rosa & USMNT Post-Agyemang Injury w/Matt Doyle

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Its the most wonderful time of year. As Concac-champions sees its quarterfinals kickoff with four MLS vs Liga MX ties. David recaps the results and then talks to Vince La Rosa (Happy Foot Sad Foot Podcast) out in LA off the back of LAFC's massive 3-0 win over Cruz Azul. They talk about it all with the Black & Gold from their historic shutout streak to start the year, riding high in the shield, the epic night vs Los Cementos & how many minutes can any player last! Then Matt Doyle rejoins to lament the crushing injury to Patrick Ageymang and talk about where Mauricio Pochettino will have to turn to next.2:28 Vince La Rosa On LAFC's Historic Defensive Start13:10 David Martinez Star Turn18:56 Marc Dos Santos' Pushing Minutes32:05 USMNT Roster Planning After Agyemang Injury44:55 Thoughts On Turkey Joining The USA Group

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Sacro-Wise, David Goss here with you in a big week for this show, as we love our Conccaf Champions League for MLS, first league. MX matches across the four different quarterfinals. And they went kind of how you would expect. Everything down in Mexico is hard and difficult and slightly disappointing. And the two teams that played at home had better results for Nashville, not as strong as. for L.AFC. For L.A.F.C. A huge moment. Beating a Higante in Cruz Azul at home 3-0 in front of a stadium that was slightly split. So I wanted to dig into L.AFC's hot start. They lead the supporter shield race. They've got the best defensive record, the best goal difference in MLS. And now there's 3-0 lead coming out of the first leg against Cruz Azul. So we're going to have Vince L. Rosa on in a moment from the Happy Foot, Sadfoot, Sadfoot podcast out in L.A. to talk about what's on right for this LAFC team where they stand up against some of the other teams in their history and how big a moment this Concaf run could be. Then, as we do every Thursday, we've got Matt Doyle with us.

We're going to be talk a little USM&T. Sadly, we're going to be talking depth chart at the center forward position because of Patrick Oshamong's injury. But I do think it sparks an interesting debate, which is as injuries occur, what is Portitino looking to do? Is it like for like replacements? Is it the next best player up who gets pushed in? Or is there optionality and openness? there maybe for some players who were off the radar to get an opportunity to get on to the roster. So we'll talk about that and some of the performances from the weekend for some USMNT players. Well, obviously my favorite time of year is Concaf, as we call it on the show, Champions League. And to talk a little bit more about it while watching the Seattle Tegris game right now.

So still waiting to see what happens for Toluca against another MLS team. We're going to talk about LAFC. and to do so we have one of the hosts of Happy Foot Sadfoot, one of our favorites in Vince LaRose. Vince, thanks for being here. Great to be back. You probably were not shocked, right? When I messaged you saying, let's talk a little LAFC,

you guys are a bit of the bell of the ball to start this season. And I can say from following along on the Happy Foot, Sadfoot side of things, you guys seem to be in a good vibe. Yeah, things are nice. I will say it's very interesting to be where we're at and be a team that, is undefeated. Literally has given up three goals in all competitions. And I can tell you confidently that three weeks ago, there were people ready to riot.

That's just the nature of, I guess, what LFC's built and what their expectations are. And also the nature of a certain worldwide superstar and a fan base that expects the absolute world of them. Look, they're not wrong. Like, the dude is who he is for a reason. But it is hard to cut through some of that noise when people are so certain of what should happen in games. It's almost like, I don't know, it's the FIFA fiefification of soccer, of sports, of everything, right? Like people just expect either you're winning or you're losing and there's nothing in between. There's no nuance.

And that drives me a little bit wild. But yeah, I mean, we're doing well right now, but honestly, you would ask me three weeks ago. And I would have told you like, some people think we suck. Yeah. I was on one of your post games. I think it was the Olohole-Wenze second leg where we kind of had just gotten through Mark Dos Santos is not rotating as much as we thought

and it was not a struggle in that game exactly because it's a way, Conca Calf, but it's a tough game. It's a tough matchup. It's a tough moment. And they probably didn't put enough distance in the first leg as people expected. And it feels like all of these moments sort of come together.

But let's talk about what's going right. Like you mentioned the defensive number. obviously smoking Orlando City helps increase everyone's offensive numbers. Davy Martinez, there's a lot to like so far. What have you sort of keyed in on as the top line of what has made this team special? You know, for me, they're just really a complete team. And I think Mark Dos Santos came in here and that was that was the directive. It was like from John Thornton, hey, look, I'm going to give you the guys.

But we feel like we need, there's like another. gear. There's another level we need to go up to. And I think he started to, like, they're not there yet, clearly. Like, even as good as they've been, all the statistics that we've run off, they're still figuring some things out. But in terms of like, you look at them, like, they defend well. Great goalkeeping. They can possess the ball when they want to. They can play without the ball when they want to. One thing that I really love about Mark Dos Santos said he's brought back to LFCs, the counterpress. Like, they, when they lose the ball, they, they they go to get it back.

So even when they're, you know, kind of a in a deep lying shape, like they're still aggressive off the ball. They're active. And that was something that like lacked a little bit. And I think that a lot of LFC fans were like, well, I can, I can find, fine, fine. We can play on the back foot. We can play counter attacking football. I know that, like, for a lot of people, is a badge of an inferior team.

Yeah. But when you have Sunny and Bawanga, it's like, well, hey, come on, right? But they just, it was, and for me, too, it was even like hard to be like, oh, they just sit for so long and just don't really, it's literally the meme, like with the stick, like do something. Do something. And that got frustrating. And now this team is very much like, again, they can write out game states.

And I think maybe their tactical acumen has raised a level two in that regard. But they want to be the controllers of the game in all aspects of the game. And that's really cool. We're going to talk about the attack because we have to. Let's start on the backline, though. Louris, as you said, having a big season, I think probably a surprise, and we did the preseason together

and we didn't key on this as much, but Eddie Segura, legitimately the starting left back, Porteus, the amount of minutes he has played. I think those are the two names that pop out to me that have been a really big part of what's happened that maybe I wouldn't have expected coming into this season. Yeah, Eddie Seguer, this kind of like hybrid left back, basically he's Denny's,

emotional support blanket, right? Like, he's just, he's there. And look, let's be honest, in some games, like, I don't know if it's worked because he hasn't needed to be there. Like, Mark has been overly pragmatic, but I really think that he is looking at this, and look, he's a student of Bob Bradley,

and Bob Bradley always kind of broke things down. It was like, the MLS season is four to five seasons when you break it down. And you don't prepare, it's impossible to say, like, we're prepared for the whole season. Right. You prepare for chunks of it at a time. time. And I think that he looked at this and was like, look, the first chunk is Concaf Champions League.

I'm going to call it Concaf Champions League too, because I like that name so much better as well. I'm sticking with it. The first chunk is ConcordaF Champions League. Who are the type of teams that I'm going to come up against and what am I going to want to do with my squad? And I think he immediately assessed his squad and was like, look, I can use Eddie Seguera in this kind of hybrid role. I don't really need an extra attacking thrust from the area. What I need is some solidity. because he's thinking I'm going to play with a midfield too. I'm not really going to do anything too crazy out of ordinary. I'm just going to be very solid defensively.

He kept that from Steve Trondola. It was like, we're going to be good in both boxes. How can I do that, but also free up my guys to not have to do as much work? And yeah, that's been a surprise me. Porteus, I think it's surprising in the fact that he's just new to the league and you never know what to expect from that, especially as a centerback. Like we don't, you know, I don't think there's a lot of centerbacks in this league in which you've brought them from the continent or anywhere else and just been like, oh, you plug them in, they'll be good. They usually take a little bit of time.

Like centerbacks is not something that most teams invest in. And normally LAAFC signs a new free agent one in June and another one in August. And then everyone's back in Brazil all of a sudden. Well, and what's crazy is like Aaron Long is just now returning the training. Yeah. Like so you have. Which I thought was an under- part of the off season, which I think was sort of my thing with Porteus was he had to be big

and he has elevate. And I have, I always had expectations for Enkosito Fari. I'm obsessed with his game. So I want him to work. And he has. But I thought that to me was one of the hinges, which was if you are going to be a team that sits for a decent amount of time, you have to be solid up the spine. And he has been a huge part of it so far. Right. And they, in last year, they played mostly in a three centerbacks, you know, three centerbacks. And yes, they kind of are still, right, with Eddie Seguera. But still, there was, you know, and Kosi is an incredible talent, but like, you don't know quite what to expect from him.

And then, and now you look at them, I don't worry about them at all. And they, they play the game. It's weird to say Porteus plays the game in an elegant way because he also is the same guy that, like, will fly 10 feet in the air to, like, head the ball, head a shot out. But the way that they shift and cover for their, uh, their, teammates is something that like if you let if you actually want to learn a little bit more about defensive football and like the way centerback should play the game in like a higher line or like in a hybrid line they they're nailing it like they're killing it the whole offseason conversation

was around stevenustakia about how he would progress the game and what he would bring in all these things and an injury and he just has not been around and it hasn't slowed the team so what have you seen in that part of the field of what maybe he would have brought but also what has happened now with schwanier and delgado and tillman and everyone else who has stepped in well you know you're out there you know who you are you the the the schwanier haters um you now i think have to eat i know i know i know it's not you i know but i was the swanier for all-star i think weeby still blames me for the fact that he was a commissioner's pick for all-star the year he got a mLS all-star from Montreal i mean i will say i will say this to give them a little bit of credit or people

out there a little bit of credit. L.A. F.C. is like the most maddening midfield because like they can play in a game and you're like, I hate what they're doing. I hate what they're doing. And then Matthew Schwannier steps up and he steps up and he he starts the play that leads to the assist for Sonny. Right. So like they can't have moments where you're like, I just don't know what he does. And I think it, I was trying to figure this out with someone because it actually the genesis of this is Tim Tillman. Tim Tillman is a player that a lot of LFC fans just do not. rate at all, do not like. But I guarantee you.

I think that might be bigger than just L.A.FC fans, but yes, continue. Yes, the, him going to the U.S. national team is not something that people like. But I guarantee you, there are probably 29 teams in this league that would love to have him, right? Mm-hmm. I think what it is, though, is there a functional midfield. Yeah. So you look at, it's easy for a lot of people to look at a team and go, oh, Ryan Porteus, you stop goals. Great.

I can get behind that. Sonny, you score goals. Okay, I can get behind that. Gavin Martinez, you either score or create goals. Midfielders, okay, what do you do? Well, I don't score goals. Okay, do you assist them? No, I don't really assist them.

At least not the direct primary assist. Like, okay, well, then you guys must be like bulldog, you're Diego Charra. You guys are all out there. You're like heat seeking missiles. No, actually we're kind of lighten the tackle. Okay, I don't know what you do. And I think that that's the problem. A lot of people, because like the midfield is, and I'm stealing this from somebody,

I can't remember who it was, but there was a long time ago. it's the valley of meh. Like, their job is to just link the teams together. And a lot of people just like, that's not sexy. It's not fun. And so when they see Tim Tillman, and yeah, he might break out, you know, between two guys and then switch play. Some people might go, ooh, like I look at that and go, ooh, that's kind of nice. But for most people, I understand when you're just like, well, all he did was just pass the ball to an open player.

I go, that's kind of, there, you did it. That's his job. That's kind of his job. I mean, there's so few segments of a game where Tin Tillman's taking three touches, right? Like most of what he does is win the ball back or it's first touch, second touch stuff, which if he does it right is great. But it's not he dictates play. He controls the game. It's, you know, it's dominated by him.

But this is the give and take of this team is you have the three guys up front who in many games are the three best players on the field. and so you're looking for just solid work behind them because you're trying to set the stage. So let's talk about the three in front. Let's start with Davian Martinez. I mean, Nathan Ordas having a great year too, so we probably have to discuss him. But what he did against Cruz Azul is special.

You've watched him for a while. I think for many of us, we felt like it just never happened and maybe started to tune out. What do you make of now his development this season? That's a game, just another example of a game in which I would have done. doubted that he would show up in that game because for the first 20 minutes, and this was a lot of the team, but you, I kind of have, you know, I have enough evidence from the rest of the team that like, even if in the first 20 minutes, it's not going well, they'll put it together. David Martinez is this season only is now proving to me like, okay, I'm going to figure out a way to be impactful in this game. And that's, that's like the biggest thing we've been asking from them, right, is like, we know you have all the talent in the world. How can you stay switched on? for 90 minutes.

How can you influence the game when the game is not necessarily set on a platter for you? And that first goal is exactly what we would have asked of a player that is taking another step, going to another level. Like to score a goal like that, to fight through that. And it's not just the goals, if I'm being honest. Like one of the things that I think a lot of people misunderstood with the talent was like, they're like, yeah, he's so talented. Who cares if he doesn't play defense?

It's like, no, this was like active anti-defense that he would do at points. Like he would walk, he would sulk. He just seems to be like he's embracing everything and he's embracing adversity. Like he's like, I'm going to step up now. That's why I kind of love the celebrations. They're very muted because he's like, yeah, I did that. And it's like, you did, dude. Like good.

Like you get it. Like this is the feeling that you want. This is the level that is expected. This is the level that everyone has said you can reach. but we can't do it for you. You're the only one that can get there. And I think he's really piecing together. And he's really understanding that like with his talent, it just got to show up, man.

And for a while there, he wasn't, he wasn't showing up because he was for whatever reason. I don't know. You know, I mean, he's still a kid. That's fair to him, right? Yeah, 20 years old. But he's showing up. And then he's just, I think we're learning a lot more of like just how physically gifted he is. He's a lot faster than I think people think.

And we're also learning. I think he's a lot stronger than a lot of people think. Yeah, he was an NFL running back in the game against Cruz Azul. And it's all different than Sun and Buonga, right? It's a little bit of touching guile that I don't think Buonga really uses as often. It is a level of physicality that maybe you don't notice with Sun even though it's there. And to me, the other part of the celebrations was like the second on that goal against Cruz Azul, Bwanga's race.

reaction. Like he was so excited for him. He was just like hugging him and hugging him. I think Davy Marcien was trying to bring other guys into it. And Bluong was like, I'm right here with you. And that seems to be for a guy who's watched him now for two years and has also been kind of like waiting with us. It feels like there's real excitement in the team that Martinez has arrived. Well, shout out to LASC social media because today they had him sit and they had him hold a phone David Martinez and watch his goals back and just kind of like comment on them. And on the second goal he goes well one of the things that I was nervous about was bonga was wide open and I was like ah see you knew you knew that if you didn't finish that the way you did somebody would have had an

earful for you so I I noticed that as well like bonga really roots for him but he's still in the back of his head knows like okay there's an order it's sunny but I love it's me because he used buonga as a decoy and he opens his body up like he's going to pass it which there are so many moments of soccer where I feel like people just play the play that they should. Sure. And the whole way you break the game is by doing something different. And in that moment, it was, I think maybe some of the frustration for me from watching LASC from afar with guys like Tillman and Bunga is like a lot of it has been straight-line stuff,

but at an elite level. And there isn't really that guile it feels like in the team sometimes. And Martinez and Son, it feels like have brought it in a different way this year. Yeah, I mean, how much of a young player, young talented attacker, is decision making. It's always that thing where we're like, I can't quite figure it out, but what is it?

And you've just pinpointed it. It's like there's guys that they just do what they kind of have been coached and what has been preached to them. And then there's guys that have a little bit of magic and understand like I can do something a little bit different here. And then also not just think it through, but accomplish it. So Davin Martinez has put those two things together.

But yeah, decision making is we don't talk about it so often. I mean, obviously it's just you, and I, we're not on the field. It's hard to always talk about that. But like, and that's a decision also that like, to your point, like a coach probably would have said, like, just play to play it to Bawanga, run through that space. But he, he makes the right decision. He understands on a slightly higher level and again, executes. And the more he does that, I mean, a lot of people have been saying, like, he's not going to be here in the summer. I don't, I don't know. I think he's playing very well. If I'm a big team, though, I'm like, okay, you put three, four,

five months together. I'm thinking a big team's probably going to want to see him do it for an entire year. Not that there won't be calls, but for the number that I'm guessing LafC will give back, I'm thinking they're going to need to see him put a full season together. Because they paid, I mean, something like they're obviously, they're going to want to make the profit off of him. And we have seen LafC is open for business at the number,

if you want to hit it right, Bogush and all these other pieces that have come in and out of the team. but I think it would be frustrating because this feels like a team that's ready to compete. Let me ask you about minutes. Yeah. Mark Dos Santos likes his starting lineup. He likes his players. What have you made of this so far for anyone who's not fully paying attention?

Like they have started the full starters even with midweek games. I mean, the big one was Rial Espania. They were up 7-1 after the first leg and pretty much played the entire starting lineup to start that game, the second leg. the only thing I can posit is again he's looking at it in chunks and going there's going to be times in which are my team's tired and I want them to play together tired it's almost like I remember Jose Marino used to say like he would do the most complicated tactical work at the very end of the session he wants his players to be able to do stuff tired I don't know that for sure that's me honestly reaching for strong because I don't get it either

honestly why are you playing why are you playing these players the only thing I can't say Because they have, I mean, obviously, we already talked about Stokio. Long is just coming back. Schaffelberg's just coming back. I don't know if he was always, if it was always the case, or if he was just like, well, the pieces just don't quite fit together yet. And I want to continue like some kind of continuity knowing that like if I can get over this hump, and I'm not saying that he thinks this, but, you know, you take a little break after

the Concapped Champions League, right? Like they'll reel it back in just a little bit. And in that time knowing that like, no matter what happens, Shalfleberg's coming back, Long's coming back, Igor J-Zus is coming back. So like he knew that he was getting horses back, but kind of was just like, let's roll with this. Let's see what we can do. Again, this is me all just trying to put a brave face on it because otherwise, yeah, it seems like he's just literally, it's like the Tom Tibado of MLS. Talking about a Knicks fan. Yeah, let's just let's just grind him to the ground.

You know, he's like, it's garbage time, but hey, guys, you signed up for this. Got to stay on the floor. Yeah, I mean, in that context of like, yeah, okay, fine, post-Concaf, the other option is on weekends when you're playing Austin or Dallas at home, you could rotate a little. And like, then you could be fresh for Concaf. And I think that's the part that's been surprising. Well, that being said, you know, against Orlando, he said that that was a plan sub with Sunny and Buonga, with Cruz Azul looking forward. So as much as we're saying like, okay, looking backwards, played the guys really hard. But now in kind of the biggest moment, he did say, you know, I plan to take those guys out no matter the game state.

But he could have taken them out earlier. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, you're getting, you take them out, you know, you don't take them out before half. I mean, I guess at half would have been probably because then you don't lose a window. I mean, I think the big point is what happens this weekend at Portland. Yeah. Um, it's a, it's a afternoon game on turf, uh, really, I mean, no games are throwaway games, but kind of a throwaway game, right?

With, with everything that you've got on the line. So I think what happens in this game, I do think that they start because I think that sunny, Bwanga, like they want to play, they like to play, they like the rhythm. Um, but if he pulls them out, you know, again, 50, 60 minute or even half time, then I think he will have, we will have seen, okay, this is kind of his. mind frame in terms of giving guys rest. Now, if they play the full 90 minutes, everything that I throw everything that I just said out the window and he's crazy. But we also said that Sun's tired and then he comes back with four assists against Orlando

and the performance against Cruz Azul, right? So every time it feels like we think we have a data point to prove that MDS is wrong, it feels like these guys step up and perform again. Yeah. And Salma Sun was, he had no preseason. I think really with Sun a lot of like, hey you play every week is like this is your preseason yeah so so that when i get you to the cruis ules and it gets you the semifinals you're you're humming you're clicking uh bewango just he's bonga like he just doesn't never yeah he doesn't not play drops off and gabone on the way home and grabs right yeah and probably plays a pickup game on the way um and it was one of the first times that i've heard him actually say like oh i had a little bit of an injury um it seems like it's fine now

obviously scoring a hat trick in eight minutes um but he was he was he was never a little bit of something too. So interesting. Yeah, I would say like even though it's gone perfect, that's the one thing. And I know that you guys have kind of clued in on it is like, it's weird. It's got it. That's not, it's not weird. That's for sure. So I don't want to over extrapolate, but six games into the season conceding three goals, best goal difference in MLS, leading supporter shield, a three zero victory at home against Cruz Azul. I mean, of the time you've watched L-AFC. Does this feel like this is one of the teams that is one of the best they've ever had?

Yeah, because even in 2019 when they were so much fun to watch, there was still a defensive frailty. Like we all still cringed. The game was always, if we've got the first goal, we have to get the second. If we've got the second, we need to get the third. And if we don't, there might be trouble. This team, I feel like they can grind out 1-0 victories all day long. they really want to. And I also know that they can strike at any moment. Like if they're sitting back

grinding out a 1-0, it doesn't matter who it is, whether it's Miami, Cruz Azul, they can hit you on the counter. So this team just feels it's not the sexiest, but it just feels a little more complete. And if they really like start to click, like if Astokio comes back and let's say he even stays, you know, an extended stay and he starts to pull the strings from deeper again and they're able to start pulling teams apart that are going to sit back. Again, that's the thing. I always knew LafC could go up against kind of bigger teams just because they were built for it. Anytime you have Sun and Bawanga, you're kind of built to soak in some pressure.

It's when you get the teams that are like, well, we're not going to allow you to do that. We're not going to be open at all. I think LAPC's still learning that. They're still figuring it out. But again, I don't think it's going to be a problem for a little while because you play cruis-as-z-z-z-wil. if you get through, you probably play Toluca. I doubt they're going to sit back.

And then we'll see who you would get in the final. Like for right now, this is setting up for L.A.F.C. In terms of, like, their presence and their kind of game model and just what, like, has been built. Like, a lot of this is the foundation that Steve Tarundolo laid. And Mark Dos Santos is just adding on to it. What he's built, like, this seems like it's coming to fruition. Could still see Seattle in the final as Newhoo,

of course gave up a penalty kick just moments ago while doing this, and on El Craya skyed it over the crossbar. Now they're showing a Seattle Sounders fan in the crowd, which is a beautiful thing to see. I wanted to ask, we talked about this for a while with San Diego because it felt like a really big moment for them, the way they beat Pumas,

even with the loss, the way they went up against Toluca, because of their market and the, how prevalent League of Mexics is and the strength of Mexican-American fans and all of that. LFC has been in these spots, before they've had Leagues Cup, the win against Club America to get into the Club World Cup. So how big was the 3-0 against Cruz Azul if they go on a road that is Cruz Azul and Tuluka and let's say, an America or Tigris in a final and were to win Conccaf Champions Cup?

Like how big would it be for the club and what it would mean maybe to the fan base or to the market? I mean, it's huge and it's not just because it is the biggest competition you can win in this in this region, the biggest scar that LACC fans still have is that Leon home second leg final. Like it grinds on them. It's like everyone always points back to it. And it didn't matter.

Like you could win MLS cups. They were still going to go like, yeah, but that was the one. Like that was the one. And because before that you could go back and go, wait, we had Tigris. We had them. Yes, we would have been told that it didn't count and wouldn't have mattered because it would have been,

yeah, it was in the bus. but like they the team that they beat to get there like come on and that club america game in which they had the red card at half time like come on they would have deserved it but yeah the to they needed this they needed a little bit of legitimacy because you can go out and beat the orlando six-nill all you want like fans around here will go like i've seen that um and and like you said it's the proximity too because i guarantee you a lot of those people wearing blue cruce's wool shirts also come to our stadium on saturdays and wear black and gold right Right. And maybe they're already full in, but there was probably some of their friends that are like, you know what, I live here too.

And maybe I'll start showing up to games because, you know, they're a legit contender. And it's actually fun to know that like if my league MX team comes here, it'll be a good game. And it'll be heightened stakes. And the reality will be it's the closest thing to seeing an actual Champions League in in Europe. Right. Like that's what we want, right? We want to continue to kind of. to engineer this competition in which we say like sure maybe it's always LA and not LAC maybe it's always League MX teams versus MLS teams in the final moments but like we're actually giving it to them and the level is high right and the atmosphere is high and I think if you came to BMO you you could have dropped that in anywhere around the world and said like okay this is this is cool this is a cool

atmosphere I mean I hope we get more of the supporters on one side away supporters on the other. I love the kind of like half and half mix. I know I know when we talked about a little bit in our post game after yesterday's game was like I know that MLS the thing is you just shove them up near the top corner fine fine for domestic but I kind of love it for these league I'm X games. I know a lot of people try to clown on LFC and be like why can't you why is there so much blue in the stadium it's like you don't understand like our market but LFC fans still they still showed up. Like it was not as bad as people said it was. And it really honestly created an atmosphere that I bet you the players were like, this is awesome. Right. And that America game last year, I think,

was one of the best games I saw all year for the club World Cup playoff game. Like that felt like a championship. It was, and I know coming out of it, like you could see, you know, everyone that thought they were covering the Club World Cup was like, oh, it's going to be huge. And it's like, no, no, no, you don't understand. This is Club America playing L.A. F.C. in L. L.A. Like, this is not just people are excited about Club World Cup. People want to see these two teams play each other in this market. Concaf is a huge

huge thing, huge moment. I want to finish you off with an MLS question. LAFC first in the Western Conference, not unexpected. Vancouver 2nd, now over the last 14 months, not fully unexpected, but still a little new. And then San Jose and RSL

right below it. What do you make of the Western Conference and what sort of the battle will be? there and maybe compared to past years, it feels like a jump up from last year, but maybe that's just me in my own head. No, I think you're right. I think the, I think the floor of the Western Conference has raised, right? Because when you see a team like RSL with their youngsters making some noise, you're like, okay, I didn't expect that. There's, there's been plenty of like RSL-like teams that have rolled out some guys where you're like, those guys are fun and they might be good, but they're not

going to get results. And you're not, you know, you're going to kind of bully them a little bit. I would and then I would even add to like an FC Dallas who's a team that people are like we don't have to worry about FC Dallas no you got to worry about FC Dallas I don't think anybody wants to play like I'm not saying that that team is going to be top four but guaranteed no one wants to play that team because they make every inch of that field a battle and so I think that there's more of that in terms of like I said the floor has risen in the teams that you generally would say like this is going to be a pushover I don't I don't feel it's quite the same as it was in past years in the West

Yeah, it's been fun to watch. I think for sure it feels more last year. It was like there's a clear gap going into the playoffs, what Austin finished six or fifth or whatever it was. And it's like, yeah, they're not a real MLS Cup contender. And no one below them is. And I think you're right now on the flip side, what's happening to the Portland's and sums of the world.

But I still think that one through eight or nine in the West feels strong this year. And it's going to be fun to watch it go down. Well, if you want to follow LASC, follow Happy FootSadfoot, FootPod. If you don't already, follow them on all socials. You can watch their postgame shows live, no matter if they win or lose 10 minutes after every single game. I got that one locked stuck in my brain as well. Thank you for taking the time, Vince. Always fun and we'll do it again soon. I have a feeling we will because I think LASC is still going to be very good. We will see you for the Concaf Champions League Final. Well, that second leg for LAAFC will be Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

Eastern Time. Next week, we'll have your coverage with Tommy Scoops. on Monday as we get ready for the second legs of Concord Caft Champions Cup. But for now, let's talk USMETA as we head towards the 2026 World Cup with Matt Doyle. Oh, my God. So much. So much at this point. I will say that this ended up being one of the worst week or weekends in Connecticut sports history between the Yukon women crashing out in the final four and then Gino showing his ass.

and the the Yukon men losing actually honestly putting up a much better fight than I thought it was going to be i think the i think the sentence i read was the biggest six point blowout in basketball history was what someone wrote like it never felt like they were going to win but they barely lost yeah it never felt like they were going to win but it definitely didn't feel like a blowout but that was then capped off by connecticut zone pat ajima yeah um popping his Achilles which is the one that is i think more most relevant to our show here. Just devastating. I feel so bad for the kid who's one of the great success stories

in terms of his development and the path he took to get to a team, you know, a top team in the championship that was, I think they're going to go up or they're in the promotion hunt. And, you know, he was on the, to me, he was on the plane to the world. Even before he scored that goal, he was on the plane to. to the World Cup. And now that's gone and we'll see him in 12 months.

And that's just devastating. And then beyond that for the roster, Pat, we talked about it, Goss. Ajiman serves a very specific role. I think he could start if Fulner and Balagan was to miss a game. But most importantly, it's you bring him off the game for the final 20 minutes if you're chasing a goal

because he is such a presence in LaBocz. and looking at it, there's no like for like. There's no like you grab, you know, there's the next Pat Ajiman is right here. Like none of the next guys up in the roster can do what he does. He is a weapon in a unique way, I think, is the way I think about it. He can change the game by himself in a way that many people cannot. Let's talk about him first for a moment because you mentioned the story that he is raised in East Hartford, Connecticut, to immigrant parents from Ghana,

not exactly a soccer hotbed, came up playing the game himself, and then at Eastern Connecticut, where he played lower division, college soccer, and then ended up transferring to URI and makes his way into the MLS Super Draft. I've told this story before,

but my understanding is that the Columbus crew wanted to draft him. They told MLS that, and MLS said, well, if you're going to draft him, he has to come to this combine thing so we can get photos of him. And he scored in every game at the combine. And then Charlotte drafted him before Columbus's big came up.

And then you know this, right? I did next pro games where I'm texting you guys about Ajman. And it was the Open Cup where he finally got on the field for the first team. He scored in his first appearance. And then every time he got minutes, he proceeded to score. So he's an example of, I think, one of the like great American soccer stories, which is these immigrant communities that love the game

and have passion for the game that train players up, disconnected from the pro pathway. And so in some ways he's a model for some people of maybe what's wrong. And to me, he's still a model of what's right, which is at some point he did get caught in the net and he ends up a multi-million dollar athlete

in England, but he is very self-made. And I think that's one of those things that everyone roots for in athletes and he exemplified with a smile every time you saw him play. Yeah, well said. And it's, like I just, my thoughts immediately went to 2030. And I just hope he's fully fit.

And I hope he, you know, keeps improving because he's grown by leaps and bounds over the past 18 months. And I hope he's healthy in 2030. And I hope he gets to go to a World Cup represent in this country and represent in the great state of Connecticut. The okay state of Connecticut, let's not oversell it. And but for now, like, I mean, Maricio Pachitino has a problem to solve and there's not, there's not necessarily a clear answer, I don't think, because that specific thing we're talking about that Aegeman does, he wins the first ball. He is a, and he's much more than that, right?

To be clear, this is a very good soccer player. But with the way that man-oriented marking has really regrown and, you know, reemphasized itself on the international stage over the past couple years, you need a center forward option who can dominate in the air. You need to have that club to play. And Aji Man was it. And he played it really, really well. And without that, the U.S. are tactically nerfed a little bit.

Because even though Haji writes a big guy, he's not the aerial presence that Ajiman is. The next guy up after him is probably Ricardo Pepi. and Ricardo Pebbie doesn't do that. Brian, like, kind of does that, but not at the same level. Like, there's no obvious direction to go here, Dave. Yeah. And the, and then, AjaMong has the ability to be a game changer in the press. He has the ability to score and create chances on his own

because he can stretch his legs and get out on the run. And that's one of the things with Charlotte, right? Where it's like they scored a lot of goals where they had no possession, and it's just a transition moment purely for Ajamang. And that's where he's a weapon in a way that none of these. other guys are with the added bonus of what he does well and what he can bring. So you go down that list of guys that can be the knockdown center forward. Brian White seems like the obvious one in terms of like, okay, he could do that one thing for you.

He hasn't really scored at the international level. And he does not seem to be someone that Pocitino has leaned on as he's gotten more and more looks around the U.S. men's national team. I mean, he got looks against Turkey, which is relevant. and Switzerland in the lead-up to last year's Gold Cup, and he looked overwhelmed. He just didn't look up for it. And maybe that was unfair

because they were cameos and it was not a great U.S. team in the first place and the entire team looked overwhelmed. But that basically played Brian White out of the pool. Like he did not feature much at all in the subsequent Gold Cup, whereas Aegeman did. And even playing through an injury, I thought he was pretty effective at just moving the chains.

can White do that? Can you do that in a World Cup game? I have my doubts. And then I think to me the question becomes, okay, if Brian White's the closest to that, and you don't trust him, are you wasting a roster spot? And if there's not another center forward who does that, does the roster spot not just become the next talented player who can be in the mix? And in my mind, this sort of starts to solve the Giorana question,

which is like you've got an open roster spot now. So I had him out because I'm not obsessed with the flashiest talent, like some people in the world. And I still think Alex and Deaas has a spot on this team. I can't not watch a CCL game for Club America where he's capped it. Like he has that value. And we talk about what went wrong with this team over the international breaks, the last one and a year ago of effort and fighting all this stuff. And it's like that hasn't really been an issue for the guy who has scrapped his way through.

to being a leader in big games for the highest pressure team in North America. And to me, it falls to now put both those guys on the roster. And if Tim Wea becomes the fourth option at center forward because you have this crazy injury rash throughout the tournament, if Pulisic becomes a false nine for you, that you're just filling in the numbers around there so that you have more optionality to fill in that spot. Are you assuming then that Ricardo Pepe is,

in the squad now because of this yes yeah it feels like a safe assumption but and I know look he he helped create a goal via his pressure which is against against Belgium but he's such a bad defensive forward like he and they're like they're writing columns on this in the Netherlands they're like this is a this is not a talking point that's really made its way to the US yet but the the reason he's not an every minute player for PSV is because he's terrible defensively. And like all the numbers show it in league play.

And I think that's why he hasn't been able to earn Pocitino's trust. So I think even with this, Pepe has work to do to get into the final 26. Does this open the door a crack for Julian Hall? Yeah. So the hairbrained ones that I had, Julian Hall is one of them. Just Sergeant, I think has to get mentioned. Because he's closed on him. He got looks.

He hasn't scored in six years, man. But like, first of all, if another injury happens, where are you at this pool? And second of all, are you going to take a risk on a kid who has zero experience at this level versus a guy who maybe has some experience but has failed? And then my insane one, you ready for it? Oh, boy. Logan Farrington. I like that. Come on, baby.

I like that a lot of a big center forward, a guy you could play off of? And who's awesome defensively. Yeah, that's like he can win the ball in the air and he, he like he's a pressing monster. He might be the best defensive center forward in MLS. Wow. I didn't expect to be all aboard with you just like that. But I think there are right. There are two people on the planet who are going to talk about this soccer wise and people who work at FC Dallas and that's it.

Riso, if I asked him that question, he'd say who. And that's probably where that one ends. But all you need, all you need is to get him one game against intermillion. just get Logan Farrington one game against Messi. That is the fast track into Pocitino's plans. So those are my hairbrain ones that come in there. I think Pepe is obviously the big conversation. As you said, the holes in his game.

But the one thing that has always stood out, and we're talking to an extent probably about guys where you're going to come off the bench. In theory, Bolligan is the starter. At this point, you would assume Haji Wright is the backup if healthy. So we're probably talking about late game ads. And for all the mistakes Pepe has, at that point, game states are probably everyone's high. You're dumping balls in.

He is the best pure finisher in the pool. I've said it over and over again. If you put him in the box with the ball underneath his shoulders, he will put it away. And therefore, I think he makes the roster because he does all those things and he's been around it. And then I'm looking at at that point, as I'm saying, probably not another center forward coming in and having one of these other options. and then you have pieces that you can put at the center forward position. Maybe it gets Walker Zerman on the plane as your backup center forward late in games. Yeah.

Why not, right? If it's about winning the first ball, there's probably nobody better in the entire pool than Walker. We're not going to dig into Christian Pulisics, Love Life here. If you would like that, though, Susanna Fuller and Jordan Anger did it for us at the kickback committee. So go over and listen to that episode, whole segment about what's going on. Let me ask you this. Are either of us famous? enough to be on Raya.

Definitely not. Definitely. Really? Yeah. At what point, what point of fame does soccer wise need to hit? I don't know. I live in a building of influencers, so I'm the lowest of the totem pole. So yeah. I mean, if you live in the building of influencers, couldn't they influence, like use their influence to get you an invite? I'd have to talk to them, which would be part of the issue. Yeah, you're such a shy guy. You just hate talking.

people. Mainly once I see them on social media being like the reason that Jesus came down was for you to grow your consulting company 10% every single week. Then I'm kind of like, oh, I probably don't like that person. And then when I see them in the elevator, I probably won't talk to them with their $50,000 dog or whatever else they're doing. So if you would like more info on that, please go listen to the committee. Sue's killed it on that one. But before we get out of here, I just want to chat a little bit about Turkey because we haven't really talked since they qualified on this show about them being the third part of the U.S. men's national team group. So now it's Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey to start the World Cup for the U.S.

And the matchup that they bring. We obviously saw them play in Connecticut. Well, no, I was going to say the U.S. We've got a through line for the show now. And then they obviously beat Kosovo to get into. the World Cup 1-0. I watch both their games there. I've watched this team for a while now.

So I have some thoughts, but what do you make of sort of this being the last element in the group stage? They're definitely the most talented of the potential opponents the US could have faced. They will have, we were talking about it, either the best two or three players on the field

when the US play them, assuming that Yaldiz and Goulard and Kelenaglu, I never learned how to, pronounce his name. At least in the attack. Yeah. But they didn't look like it at any point in qualifying.

They looked, to be fair, they looked like it when they played the U.S. a year ago. But in qualifying, they didn't look like a team with overwhelming talent. Who knows, though? Things can change over the course of a couple of months. And certainly the U.S. didn't look like a team that was cohesive enough to overcome any sort of talent deficit in their last two outings. And so it's, I'm not, I don't think the U.S. should go into that one with the mindset that we're underdogs and blah, blah, but also they might be.

And maybe that mindset would help. Because it's based upon what we've seen from our best players, other than Foller and Balagan, like there's, there's nothing that suggests we're an elite attacking team, we're an elite all-around team. I guess, you know, Western McKinney as well has been playing at that level, but it's not a lot. It's interesting. It now creates a group where no one has a dominant style,

and the three teams the U.S. will face, pretty much all three prefer to be against the ball. Yeah. So it creates this weird scenario where the U.S. probably will end up being over 50% possession in all three group stage games, which wasn't a sure thing, but was most likely.

Kosovo, I thought, was really dangerous in the qualifiers and in the playoffs and would be the one. Romania would have been the same where they would have played against the ball. And so the US is going to have to find a balance now where they create chances, but like don't play into the hands of these opponents,

which is give them comfortable transition moments, overexpose themselves, push a little bit too hard. And Turkey then comes into this with the best talent to kill you in transition. John Loo can get you out on the run. Guler can eat anyone alive one if you want to me. We saw what Doku did. to the U.S. against Belgium, that's going to be the story with this Turkey game.

But in terms of, like, change the perception of how you play and all this stuff, the U.S. is going to be the dominant team through three games at the World Cup against three legitimate World Cup opponents. Now the fear is can they finish their chances and can they get over the top? I didn't, going into this, as we were asked about it over and over, coming out of the draw, like, who do you want to see? For me, it didn't really matter. I think one is you should be at a minimum four points going into this game.

game and with the best third place is going through, you should already basically be qualified. And then on top of that, like, if you get to dictate the game, then you should go out there and win a home world cup game. And Turkey's going to let you do that. So you should be good enough to go and do that. What's fascinating with them is they are a classic play up to opponents just enough and play down to opponents. So I don't know what their group stage looks like of like Australia and Paraguay very much have the Turkey of underwhelmed through two games and what we saw in qualifying,

which was underwhelming against Georgia and all these teams, and then two, two against Spain. Yeah. Like that has been their identity, and that's kind of how this group is set up for them to, like, finish with the U.S. as the hosts, which I think will be a really interesting dynamic. But we're going to continue to talking about all this stuff

as we head towards the World Cup. Plus, of course, we are watching all the games and covering all MLS and Open Cup and everything else like that. So thank you to all of you for joining us for this one. Doyle, as always, thanks for being here. always good to be here dude all right thank you so much to all of you for listening an awesome show thanks once again to vince and matt for being with me a programming note we're going to be a little bit late on the live show on monday because tommy scoops is back and he is of course

busy so we're going to be coming live to you around 3 15 p.m eastern time on monday and then the podcast might be coming out a few minutes later than normal but will be in your pod feeds on monday evening so thank you to all of you for listening to We'll talk to you again very, very soon.