SoccerWise - ConcaChampions Delivers, Gazdag Trade & RSL DP #9

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

Soccerwise is back on a glorious day to revel in the pure uncut CONCACAF-ing that was this week. Tom & David cannot wait to jump on and dig through all the incredible moments from LA Galaxy's attempted comeback in El Volcan to Miami-LAFC lovefest & of course world beaters Vancouver Whitecaps epic victory. Not to be outdone Tommy Scoops has been getting in the work too with a huge piece of news for Philly & Columbus + RSL finally landing on their Chicho replacement.10:00 Whitecaps Make More ConcaChampions History24:16 Inter Miami vs LAFC Fireworks40:50 Daniel Gazdag Traded To Columbus1:05:00 RSL Close In On New DP Striker1:11:50 Jonathan Bond Returns To MLS With Houston Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What is up everybody? David Gost and Tom Foger with you for a show I could not wait for. We started basically an hour early today because I have been waiting to do this show for like 36 hours. Now I feel like we got off the last show and all of a sudden, Discord's blowing up, the ice cream shop feed and you're like, okay, Tom's been in there a little bit recently, he's been throwing a couple ingredients together. I wouldn't say cooking is the phrase. Been throwing some stuff out there, then all of a sudden Tommy Scoops is back, Big Bill's on the floor. Then we've got Conka Calf.

We should have done three live shows in the last three days. We should have just kept them rolling. Just as a complete stream, like for 36 hours straight, just even like the Truman Show style. I will say too, the ice cream shop, one, I never went anywhere, so I reject that notion. Fair. And two, maybe it was like a reverse harbinger.

It was something that happened after the fact of me breaking some news yesterday of It's 41 degrees on a Wednesday night at 8 p.m In early April in New Jersey, and there's an ice cream person Circling the block like it was just like I could hear it going around and I was like brother There's there's other neighborhoods around here, dude Like did like maybe that there's a lot of you know kids around here that I don't quite know about that are that are good customers But my guy wouldn't give it a break and I was just like, you know 41 degrees I'm not not really ice cream shop weather not nothing more ice cream shop than ice cream truck weather

I'll be honest with you We have purchased an ice cream truck at soccer wise and we are driving it around the Jersey Shore region just to motivate you and keep you locked in at all times it's out the name of our ice cream truck driver is I have no idea but that would be a tie we should probably get there we should work on your weaving yeah should I work on a Haagen-Dazs sponsorship or yes? Jenny's Jenny's absolutely looks good. I Already threw my ice cream take out here, which is like I didn't know adults in ice cream So I'm not the biggest ice cream in it I'm also you know classically in Ashkenazi Jews and my stomach collapses whenever I'm near any form of dairy especially ice cream

So I'm not the best person to ask for but I like a little mint chip I like that little crunch in there It could it could be a good move for us financially as an organization to make sure to invest in the ice cream futures As you are the ice cream present so we've got some ice cream shop to hit on this show other to your horse are gonna talk Conca calf champions cup. We are extremely excited to talk about all of these things on the show. It was almost a perfect week. Like the games we had, what's been going on,

and you're sitting there thinking to yourself, like how could this week get any better? And then of course, this. I don't know who is the Tomboga. Okay. In that one, it's like an Apple on the logical border. Oh, okay. I don't know, I'm sorry. I didn't even know that you had the technological capability to do that.

It's completely caught off guard. Not only do I have that, for the rest of time I now have this. I don't know who is the tambourine. Just boom. I could run it on loop too. I could just have it. I don't know who is the tambourine. I don't know who is the tambourine.

I don't know who is the Tomboga. I don't know who is the Tomboga. I don't know who is the Tomboga. So if you don't know, that's Wilfred Nance, who is manager of the year officially now because he doesn't know who Tomboga is. And that was a answer to a question, I assume it was about Daniel Gosdag. You can't really hear the reporter.

She's asking the question off the microphone and his response was I don't know who Tom Bogart is. I don't know who that is. And then they said okay well it was a good way to answer a question that he knew he couldn't answer to folks and then I believe it was Brianna but I don't know that for certain. Then she goes oh well you know it was about you guys traded for Daniel Ghazi. I don't know who that is. Then he just smiles and he goes but I know who you are Now is it is so good Tom this show we build each other up

We love everyone Jordan Angeley a part of this as well Morgan our fathers at soccer wise So I don't want to leave it on that. So I did this Hey, don't be upset. I know you Know hey don't be upset. I know you I think he's talking about you in that class. I don't know I Will finesse he doesn't need to know I am like a thousand percent like Ferdowsi doesn't need to know who I am. That's fair. He's a thousand percent the legend. I do nothing but smiling and laughing.

That was funny. I asked somebody at the crew, because I started texting people because I thought it was hilarious. Someone was like, yeah, Wilf came back after his press conference and said he had a bit of fun. The guy was like, I didn't know what that meant. He first of all, his laugh is infectious. It's one of those where it's like he can just laugh about a thing, and then everyone laughs.

And it's like, you know, he could have been like, oh, that's actually the worst person on the planet. And everyone laugh, and everyone would be like, ha ha, classic. I would have been right alongside him, but like, that's so funny. Just like, hearing him laugh and smile is just, like you said, infectious. And I think in all of our deepest moments,

I think we all truly, in our court, we don't know who Tom Bogart is. We know who you are. I definitely don't know. We don't know really at its core. Yeah, you're probably first in line for that. So shout out to Wilfred Nansen for like opening that door and letting us all just think a little bit deeper.

You better believe though that I'm using that drop like whenever I need to and whenever I disagree with you It's just gonna be a quick one. I don't know who is the tumble go Let me tell you this second that this Daniel Gosling move goes official It's hasn't been announced that time recording at 1 o 6 p.m. Eastern here I'm requesting an interview with You gotta get in the press conference you gotta come out in public and be like, hi. Hi, Tom Boger, talker wise.

Yeah, I'm Tom Boger. And then he would be like, oh, whoa, capital J in a press conference. Didn't know he was a big deal. So while I feel, again, we had two incredible games last night, a big story to talk about, and we're talking about Mates. This is uncomfortable. One more thing that I find funny, again, this was all definitely like smiling, winking, like there was nothing like negative men here. So there's another story that there's another coach that I saw

either preseason or some point last season. And I know that he knows who I am because we've both been around him for as long as I've seen screenshots of text of him saying to people, don't effing tell Tom Bogart. He's used my name in a text and then I was like, hey, what's up? And then like I did I was like, hey, he goes. Hey, we're sorry. We're sorry. What's your name? Oh, oh, okay Where do you work for? I know you know who I am. I've seen you text about it. Yeah And that is not this is what it is my whole point. Yeah, that moment is like, you know too small basically, that's what You can't guard me you're not in the scene And I'm not I'm not in the same league as any of these guys

But I love Wilford on say that was that was very very funny and well done by Morgan We do have confirmation in the chat It was Briana McKay who does a great job for the Columbus dispatch Asking the question Amber in the chat says doing a personal data analysis project on active MLS rosters just scraped the data from MLS site only for more bogart bombs to drop so you got to stop messing with people's projects I like Seth in the chat saying he knows Tom Boogert not Tom Boogair which is a very good name which is a good good one. And Rupe, who's a part of our Discord,

shouting out my Tampa Bay Rowdies jersey, which thank you to the Rowdies for sending this to me. It is epic. I've got one back there, but this is the throwback jersey with the collar, the original hoops. The Charlie too. I've got it.

That's good. Oh, did you pick your number? Who did it? It's 2025. 2025, yeah. Yeah, Tom. We both got there together at the same time. We will have an interview with their team president that's probably going to come out tomorrow, early tomorrow to help preview their home opener.

They have been away from Alang Stadium for over 200 days because of Hurricane Helene. So they were forced out of their home stadium to finish last year, including the postseason, and then have started this year on a road trip. It is also the Jersey is commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the first ever rowdy season. They haven't played continuously all the way through. But the interview was super fun. We talked about rowdy's history. We talked about what it means.

And then we talked a bit about, you know, Pro-Rel, Division One, MLS expansion, all the other things that are affecting every club in the region. And I think Tampa is one of those where they are a key piece in whatever ends up happening. And they're a fun soccer team to watch. I've never been to Alleydink Stadium. It looks unreal, like it sits right on the water, which is part of why it got so terribly flooded after their game. But it looks like a classic American space of like it's an old baseball stadium that sits in a marina and you sit there and you look

out and you are on the water it's kind of like Pittsburgh as well where you're like these are crazy places to put a jersey so I am very excited about that one and thank you once again to the Rowdies for all of that somehow Somehow I have made it over nine minutes without saying the Vancouver fucking white caps caps baby Larry inevitable Inevitable it was a conker calf week I want to say week because I want to include the LA Galaxy T gris game Which was also a fever drink. Loki Wild, yeah.

In its own experience. Compared to what last night was, like, it's going to get swept under the rug. That was a fun game. But last night was one of the great nights in North American soccer history. And it was why we like to do this show. The Discord was churning.

Oh my god. My phone was heating up. I went to a bar to watch Inter Miami game, cause I'm like, ah, I'm in Miami, they'll put it on. And it was also classic, cause I'm pretty sure there was a group of Australians who play rugby together sitting next to me. I put the game on and as the game goes along,

they start watching. And they're so, you kind of, I don't know, I kind of forget all the little things. So it's like, you know, they see Messi, they see Bousquets on the sideline, they talk about it. And then they're like, is that Hugo Larice? And you're like, all right. And then they cut to Beckham.

Then they cut to Javier Mascherano screaming at the ref. They're like, is Mascherano there? And you're like, oh, there's a lot of weird stuff going on right now. That doesn't even include the game, the way the game played out. LAFC Miami was off the rails and that was only the second best game of the night. Vancouver Whitecaps go down to Mexico. It is where they own their real estate. They are Mexico's team.

They are the gigantes of Mexico at this point. The Vancouver Whitecaps knock off Pumas. I read this stat last show. I'm gonna read it again. Since 2008, there have been three MLS teams that have gone to Mexico and won a CONCACAF Champions League or Cup, whatever you wanna call it series,

without winning the first leg at home outright. So either tying or losing that first leg. Two of the three are the 2025 Vancouver Whitecaps. This is where the beat baby, Tristan Blackman in the 93rd minute after giving up the 88th minute goal, Tom, I am juiced right now. Unbelievable, the Vancouver Whitecaps are inevitable.

What a fun story. I texted you guys immediately after the lineups came out. Just for sorenson committing to the bit by still not starting Brian White quarterfinal. Daniel Rios starts you know it's already a victory. I'm I have to I have to get a Daniel Rios capture. It has to be mine. We even like they do it against Monterey thought it was weird but it's like all right like semi final place in the line like maybe now is when Brian White starts a couple games or then like or maybe rests on the weekend and it's like no We've done this. This is work. Let's keep doing this and they won. It's just it's so beautiful. It's so I

Met a loss for words at some points again, like this Pumas team isn't the Club America who have won You know three straight league titles in a row whatever right that that doesn't take anything away from it what an incredible performance an incredible game incredible drama to get that you know to to one one what would go to extra time or whatever yeah then puma scoring world the eighteenth minute yep and to come back

and still score the game winning goal after that is just unbelievable it was the final fifteen or 20 minutes of this game was sort of what you talked about in the last show of like, it felt like the gas had run out of the tank, that they had exhausted all their energy to not also have the sort of diamond on the top of Ryan Gault to sort of bail them out.

Like it felt like they had reached their limits and it was like, okay, this is super respectable. good but they were you know they were dragging Pumas is finding more space they were slower to 50 50s they were losing a ton of the crosses that were that were coming in to the defensive box and you're like this is what happens false yes for sorenson's on the sideline a sweater looking like he's ready to do a photo shoot about a tea company. Bigelow Tea, get in this guy's DMs. Like he looked ready to write a children's book out in the Swedish forest or something

in the middle of this game and he's just standing there and not even worried. Not even stressed. He's throwing, let's just throw on more kids. Let's just see if we can throw some teenagers in there and see what they will do. Obviously a ton of that confidence comes from the fact that 2025 Ballon d'Or winner, Sebastian Berhalter plays in Central Midfield for this team and his scoring world is,

when he didn't score on that free kick, it was more shocking than if he had scored on that free kick because he is on a heater right now. His opening goal, a back heel. This is a player who got eightish games for Austin and Vancouver picked him up for 50,000 games because they're like, oh, this could be a guy. And he's like, we talked about this last week and it's still hitting another level.

Yeah. He is an absolute star on this team, a difference maker, a key player on a team that's top of the Western Conference and into the Concord Champions Cup semifinals It's insane it is insane the soccer he's playing chasing the gondo as well Maybe not his best game. You still see like he's so clean in possession he's impossible to get the ball off of in Central midfield Kubas was a to get the ball off of in central midfield. Kubas was a monster in this game. Hoovering up the ball, being on the edge of the box

for attacking moments. Berhalter gets the opening goal. Pumas scores pretty quickly right after, so then you're in one, one, one, one. You're thinking, okay, this thing probably won't finish in the 90 minutes. Vancouver had flashes. They bring Brian White in at halftime.

And then they try and push for the goal a little bit. And then as I said, the last 15 or 20 minutes feels like they're hanging on. They concede in the 88th minute. And then Tristan Blackman in the 93rd minute gets the goal and it was an electric celebration. The entire team is running to the corner flag. Like the context has to be there of, yeah, it's soccer. celebration the entire team is running to the corner flag like so cool the

context has to be there of yeah it's soccer anything can happen nothing has happened for 15 to 17 years this has not occurred even the best teams that we talked about we talked about TFC's run we've talked about LAFC in 2020 even doing it in the bubble slightly different because there were single games, you didn't have to go to Mexico. But for Vancouver to go and do this twice and be in first place in the Western Conference is absolutely absurd.

And it was the most ridiculous way for this to finish. And now you're like, Inter Miami, can they go to Vancouver and get a result? I don't know. I don't know if they can do it. That's gonna be the biggest test that Lino Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jorri Alba could possibly face.

Going on the road in a semi-final for content of a cup competition to the Vancouver Whitecaps. I don't know if they're prepared for this. I don't know if they're ready for whatever's gonna happen here because they haven't lived this experience in their life that's all I gotta say they're gonna be shook by Vancouver Whitecaps and BC Place and everything else that comes with it long travel Messi and then they deducted

Vancouver Whitecaps on the road last year they took a rest can't talk this one I would also throw out in the middle of this game it hit me that I don't know that most people would have put their money on Greg Burrhalter's kid being the best player in the pros for the children of the 2002 World Cup veteran roster. You can go and look at that roster if you'd like and see what Americans played on that team and where their kids are playing professionally now. Although, I want to have a pretty good season once again, Tyler Wolf having pretty good season. Maybe on Tyler Wolf having a pretty good season. Maybe on mass numbers, that one pushes it.

There's two kids there, the free kids. Gavin's on his way. So that's tough, because Sebastian Berhalter out here alone. But where we sit right now, it is Sebastian Berhalter. He's a huge difference maker for this team. He is incredible. You can play through him in possession. His service is super clean right now.

We saw a little bit last year Sartini try and play him at right wing back and it didn't really make sense because he doesn't attack from that spot, but you saw the deep crosses and like his ability to shape a ball. Eddie Rokompo is unreal. Like he is- So good, man.

At this point he's best 11 because he is the most dominant force coming down a wing in Major League Soccer and you could argue in CONCACAF as well. And like Vite fits so perfectly. He comes inside, creates the lane for Alcampo. Vite's finding runners. He's able to create for his team all over the field. I wrote down on the rundown I would donate both my lungs if Ali Admed asked for them. You cannot live if you donate both your lungs. I don't even care. I'll admin can have anything he wants with the way he plays

Just so many positive stories in this team like and again I know I keep coming back to it but like well and truly the macro is what's The best about this if they had four points in the Western Conference and had just gotten to the semifinals in the CCC We would still be talking about this as a rousing success to the start of the Jesper Sorensen era. And they're doing both. That's unheard of. Let alone for a new coach coming to a team

that was a little bit in flux in terms of, uh, on the roster. Like, again, with Stuart Armstrong leaving, like, that was a big deal. The ownership situation is a very big deal, where they announced their intention to sell the club. Sorensen, I'm pretty sure, was officially hired, like, the day preseason started. Obviously he had an idea that he was going to be the coach who he started

preparing, but like it was, okay, you're hired, go lead your first training session and oh, by the way, out of nowhere, one of our three DPs is going to leave. Um, and oh, by the way, a couple of weeks into the season, Ryan Gould is going to be out. Good luck. And they've, they've passed every test. It's almost mind boggling, but that would suggest that it's like luck

or something like that. Like this has been so incredibly impressive. This is the best story of the 2025 season so far. Juan Garcia says Vancouver only won because I called them dead after the Pumas goal, which I think is what I did in the Discord where I was like, all right, it's been a fun run. I mean, 88th minute, they were dragging at that point.

It didn't feel like the goal was gonna come. And so yeah, I was one of them. We've got, I believe it's up the loons in the chat says, can we start calling it C3 for CONCACAF Champions Cup? Triple C would fit in with our Triple G, which is what we do for Greg Berhalter. I just called it CCL. I just call it CCL. I just

Don't know if you notice now, but every time I like right Yeah, that's just smashing bural to is the bural turn out every time I write it in anywhere or like whatever I'm just like conca calf. I don't say like conca calf Series like it's just the word at this point and I don't really care The answer is conca champions, which is how they like locally say it in Spanish like here Geo several a say say conquer champions And you would never want to say concrete champions come every night We do have a gateway tailgate says yes spurs about to become a very popular baby name in British Please We need we do this every once a while and this was a huge conversation for Vancouver.

Like, how much does a head coach matter? How much does it change? Apparently a lot. And apparently it matters a lot. John Mueller down bed, our good, my good friend John Mueller, who famously says managers don't matter. Jasper Sorensen matters. I have been in some conversations recently with people of like, I wouldn't have a head coach of a team if I ran a team You'd have like the board picks the lineup and then you just like such eners heck, bro Who like just got into sports was like I'm a disruptor. I'm gonna change things up. Why do you need a head coach?

I you know when I started my startup where I you know, actually took somebody else's idea And then made it my own. I'm a disruptor. That's what that sounds like. You sound like that. I swim now in the mornings because I'm like the exercise guy. And when I swim, you have to shower before to get in and then after. And the shower is not heated but the pool is heated and the shower is freezing cold. And every time I feel like the ice bath guy where I'm waking up at 3.47 a.m. and I'm like ah ready to defeat the world cuz it's like listen dude as long as you're just if I take my 2% I turn in 37% now I'm making 35% and once I move that over into an extra fund now

I'm making 40% and that's you guys live in the same building and that's what yeah, maybe there's actually a possibility of that God start your day at 3 a.m. Is what Paulo says in this one Amber says I swear burhulters goatee is some kind of magic It is really funny that he's got the goatee. It's I agree with the sentiment. I'm all the way there. You need to grow a little extra on the bottom No, I'm saying like I'm not I'm not I'm not growing a goatee myself But the idea of the super you might need to add the goatee I'm not growing a goatee myself, but the idea of the soup you might need to add the goatee We're getting towards summer city do a soul patch

You could do a soul patch if you wanted to but I'm more in think I would have to pick up the bass guitar If I add it so that's all this I'm more in support of you going full for it. This was unreal. This was one of the best games I've watched it was an incredible result and the Vancouver Whitecaps are into the semi-finals of the best games I've watched. It was an incredible result. And the Vancouver Whitecaps are into the semifinals of the CONCAC champions, sorry, the CONCAC champions for the second time in the club's history. Last time they went, they didn't play a Mexican team until they got to that semifinal. And at that point it was like,

I think their whole hopes hinged on Brex Shea playing left wing back and hoping he could break in on goal and create chances now You've got a team where everyone is dangerous and everything they do is dangerous So for the Vancouver Whitecaps, they will go into the semi-final against Inter Miami That is still two legs. The final reminder is one game Homesite decided by results going into, and then there is no two legs. So for all of these teams coming into the semifinal, something to watch besides just

trying to get through is a goal differential result and all of that. I have written down Vancouver is last right now in those power rankings. They would need to win both their games by a plus five goal differential and hope the Mexican teams on the other side because it is MLS against MLS League of X against League of X to reach the final Draw both their games so just would win on aggregate but not be able to win outright I'm not saying it's impossible because it is the Vancouver White nothing is impossible Shout out to Tate Johnson as well former Rowdy's player who is getting a really good look at that left back spot for this team.

Takayoka, even on the offside goal or the offside save he made one, and even on the goal, this has been the best he's played since he got to Vancouver. He had Baubles last year, he's been locked in as well. That's a huge part of this team being able to make this run. They will face off against Inter Miami. I don't know that we would have said that.

10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 maybe minutes into this game in which LAFC comes in up one zero. They score in the ninth minute from this Aaron Long goal on this bizarre recycled free kick. Ustari punches it, probably shouldn't have had to. Then it comes back in. Belonga's off sides, Ordaz is on side. He takes this weird clean touch somehow

that lands for long to strike it. LAFC's up two zero on aggregate. They've got the away goal. You're thinking Inter-Miami's up against it. You know they're gonna create chances. You know they're gonna get out and play, but it felt like it would probably be a little bit too hard. Then you get into Miami flowing.

They score the first goal off the unreal finish from Messi, where I think for LAFC you're like, we did 97% of things right, and a deflected pass lands for Messi to put it past us. Then you get the goal call back from Suarez. Rodondo rescues the team with a barely touched goal that ends up going in and then all chaos ensues, including the handball for Marlon, which is a handball because Loris and Aaron Long pushed him and he was trying to balance himself

and the ball comes straight down on his arm in the box. That leads to a penalty. Messi and Loris face off. It is purely just a face off. If Loris never moves, I assume Messi still chips that and Loris is able to save it pretty simply. But it was a stare down that Messi won and then the entire game exploded.

I guess it kind of exploded after the messy free kick goal that was taken quickly, and then there was a debate whether or not the whistle had blown. That was probably the moment this game disintegrated into chaos. Three things. One, pure, uncut, CONCACAF. That's just about the entire 90 minutes.

I could list 17 things off the top of my head, probably the most profound of which was seven dudes getting into shoving matches and Falcone literally tackled, I think it was Eddie Segura. So, to start us one, he was playing Falcone in that moment. Second of all, that's the other jersey I need. I need the Daniel Rios jersey and I need the Falcone jersey. He tackled Eddie Segura and they get up

and Eddie Segura is like, oh yeah, no, I'm not mad at you. No one is mad at him, ever. Falcone has this ability. Except for Nathan Ordaz. Except for Nathan Ordaz. Falcone has this ability. Except for Nathan Ordaz. Except for Nathan Ordaz. Falcone has this ability to get in every physical altercation and end better friends with people than he was when it started.

Bro, if one of those nine things happened in England or in an MLS game, there would have been a 17-minute VAR review to figure out what happened. Nine of them happened at once, and it was like the 89th minute. I was like, all right, cool. We're headed for 14 minutes of stoppage time here once they go through the wreckage of this. And then the, the, the, again, and this isn't a Foxing because this was the global feed for Conquistive. A lot of, there was a play where I think Ordaz and Falcone came together again off the ball in the first half. Yeah.

And then it goes, oh, I hope we got to replay that. And then we never did. So I don't even know all of which what happened and then all of a sudden the game Goes to the referee who's saying like yeah good play ball And I'm like in the age of VAR in the age of where we'd like there was nine different things to look at here And it was just like whatever they all cancel each other out What went like do they play but so that was again the biggest example pure and concave to Into Miami What like do they play but so so that was again the biggest example pure to um Into miami That also felt like oh boy like when that second goal went in

And and even before the when you saw the first replay like the handball I think was absolutely the correct call Um, but off the first replay it's like that's 100 of handball. It's a penalty they're gonna score and that's gonna be it. This is crazy three look, man the gonna score and that's gonna be it is is crazy three look man it's i've been the one defending l a f c defend each run a lot of any one uh... i think about that i think about

buonga shocking in a couple of moments in the one-on-one he had at the in stoppage time which is pretty inexplicable for Miami to let that happen I'm they do like how was their space behind your line? What else? Did anyone doing for Danny brought in 37 center backs? What else are you doing? It's almost obvious was like defensive midfield absurd And and look dude like it's so easy for us to sit here and be like well actually you know what I would have done

On that player or like in NFL when you're doing film and it's just like you take a screenshot and it's like oh that dude was open It's like yeah, well there's four three house Allen There's only four guys blitzing you in the last seven seconds of an NFL game. What are you doing? Just so being careful that I'm doing that I feel like this is a fair criticism Why did he try to beat who sorry at the near post? Yeah, who star is not good? He was not having a good game he was not out of position just close your eyes and and say hey I'm gonna hit as hard as I can to the four post and if he saves it he saves it but like my best is gonna beat his best yeah and he tried to like overthink it play

them and it's just like what why um LFC did really poor job of dictating how the game went after the Aaron Longle it was completely played on Miami's pace in Miami's urgency in Miami's chaos in everything else they did do they did nothing to slow the game down to kill the game off to do any of the dark arts or even just keep the ball which has been a big criticism of the scene and at the end of the day, it's another big game. And you can say, yeah, it was on the road like all that. But this is an aggregate series. They had home and away. It's not good enough.

Inexplicable to at that stage. Again, I know it's Miami. I know it's messy. All that LFC have to be kicking themselves. And for all the defense that I've had of LFC of like yeah They lost to the Wilford Nines states Columbus crew on the road a couple times in finals. That's okay. Like that happens This is too many times and too many instances for Denny Blanc as well in these situations Um, I hope they get another chance, but like I got no defenses for this and and again The trade-off with this style of play is

You better be picking up trophies and they're making they're making a deep run here, but it's been so frustrating in MLS play and If you can't see out a two nil advantage in which a tie gets you through With this playing style you've ruined Olivia Giroud signing because he doesn't play this style in any way Chang has under just looks like an average dude because he doesn't really fit this because he's not to belong Oh, this style. No, that's how I have sees fault by the way I mean, I think you better in a possession based system if they sign Griezmann He's not gonna look good in the system great in the system either

so for all that being said if you're gonna play like this and and and take away those Talented players and a possession bay and trade aesthetics for points and results, this has to be a win. This has to be an advancement, whatever you wanna call it. Yeah. Yeah, there is, I think on top of all of that,

if one of the lessons from the MLS Cups and Leagues Cup finals against Columbus is like we can't absorb 85 minutes of pressure because they couldn't in those games that this is the next step. So it's like I Think one of the fun things about soccer is like we all have different styles. We believe in right? This is there are many managers who are like it's not soccer if we don't play this way And I think to me that's one of the things that attracted me to the game is like there's debates about the wrong

and right way to play where in other sports it's just like what wins and what doesn't there's not like um there's no ethos behind that so you can have that conversation but like you said you need to win whatever you choose also needs to have the results and if you choose this way you need to win. Whatever you choose also needs to have the results. And if you choose this way, you have to have the results. And the issue with this is it's not leading to those results because you're trying to sustain too much pressure defensively. And you put yourself in a hole where any mistake becomes this. If you're defending in your box a lot, slide tackles, balls that pop up on your hands, they become PKs, they become free kicks around the goal. At some point you will make mistakes. That's the nature of the sport.

If you create all of those moments in your own defensive third, then those mistakes become goals against you. The Buonga stuff I find tough. Because if you watch that game, he is the best player on the field from box to box, especially in the first 75 minutes of that game. I find it fascinating that he didn't go down on the play early on when he gets into the box, destroys, I think it's Weingart or Falcone,

I don't remember which one, he's Falcone in that moment, not being Falcone. But he like fakes that he's gonna open up to shoot, cut back to his left. It's leg on leg. He fights through that and then tries to square the ball across the box. And I think Noah Allen,

shout out to Noah Allen, Greek international. Clears it away, scores a goal in this one as well, gets the post-game interview. Like, Conker Calf picked him for the post-game interview. You're like, hell yeah, Noah Allen, stamping his That's what happened. Do you think that's what happened? No, I don't think that's what happened Tom, but let us live in these moments Let's pretend that that's Ian Suarez and everyone else didn't turn it down and no Alan has to do it messy He's putting his hand up like I'll talk no

I don't know how and shout out to no Alan for wanting it stepping up like after the penalty Shout out to Noah Allen for wanting it stepping up. It's like asking for the penalty. Shout out to Noah Allen for wanting He clears it away But it and there's and then there's the play where? Bwonga gets himself inside and curls his shot and starry has to make a really good save and it's like Oh my god, like this guy and we said it we talked about it Like if like if he is himself at his best in 2023 playoffs They were gonna win this game and that was true

If he had finished any of those chances they win this game if they go up to zero in this game three zero on Aggregate with two away goals this thing's over So all of those breakout chances he had and it's not like oh it fell to him like he creates those chances They don't they are not there if he's not there and that's a little bit of my Those chances they don't they are not there if he's not there and that's a little bit of my Pushback I would say or of like there's also things being out on him. He is a difference maker He's a game. I got of course. Oh my god, of course Could the team support him a little more that's probably the question mark and then it becomes well if Giroud doesn't fit this system I would disagree on Griezmann cuz like I'd let it go Madrid plays against the ball. They play in transition Griezmann is elite

fit for sure But in his career what he's done has been that first move into transition He's a lead at and then finishing against numbers all the time and like all of what he can do Doesn't really seem to matter though because there's not enough possession in central midfield to like change the game in any other way. And I think it should be frustrating for LAFC fans that this is the way it ended and this is the way it fell, even though like you started with losing it into Miami is not a shame losing to this team is there's nothing wrong with that. Like you played arguably, you know, they set the points record last year, arguably the best team in the league in a quarterfinal and you lost by a goal.

Like that by itself would be acceptable, except you're so close and you've been so close so often. For right now, LAFC, I think they're like 20 something in expected goals on the season. It's really early on, but that sort of shows the story of like what direction this is going in. And we didn't think that would be the case. Under looks, he bewilders me.

I was talking to you about this before we got on. Everything about him is, oh, this guy's going to eat in MLS. In his prime Turkish international starter, I would call him a Champions League starter. Like he's not on a Champions League team right now. He's not, maybe not quarterfinal, semifinal, but like he is a starter for one of the 35 best teams in Europe at his position. And he is not even a factor in these games. He doesn't break out.

He doesn't create chances. A few balls over the top every once in a while. I'm like, that's it. And it is bizarre to watch. Again, I just think that he would fit a possession-based or at least even if even if you have counter-attacking pillars to like not be so 100% this is our fastball and this is our only pitch if you can hit it you can hit it, right? Again again, maybe that's giving him too much credit and giving the coaching staff too much of the blame here because the other day It is on the players to perform

I just see a world in which you're playing like a four two three one ish where the one is the one vertical you have an overlapping fullback coming around the right Jenga Zunders kind of talking to a half space and you're playing with the ball and he's looking much better but again maybe that could be happening and we'd be asking like hey why doesn't he make a difference so it's all hypothetical it's all I don't know and know. And this is a difficult one where, like, and we were talking about this last night, he's got, what, 16-ish games left?

Like, I still love this move. I love the spirit of the move. I love, like, worst-case scenario is, we're having this conversation of like, oh, is he really a DP level? And then he leaves it, it was like him or nobody. Yeah, yeah. Really well done. Really well done.

But the other side of that is it takes time to adapt and going from Turkey to LA is about as far as you can Do from Europe to MLS? It's not easy to immediately adapt but for him he's got there's like a total of 25 games He's available for and there's probably 15 or 16 left. It would give or take, right? So, like, now what? Yeah. I think for LAFC, that's gonna be a question as well. I'm not a rings culture person. I think that's pretty clear by the fact

that I don't work for sports teams that win things. I think I expressed it yesterday on the show talking to US Women's National Team where I'm like, losing this game's fine, it's okay, it's part of the process, like it all fits. So I wouldn't say LAFC should be in that conversation of like what happens or ultimatums or anything like that, but it will start to become something as it goes along.

They won the US Open Cup last year, right? So like they wanted- He didn't beat Kansas City, who could do that? They won the US Open Cup. It's a trophy, it's what they played for. They're allowed to win it. It's allowed to be a big deal. They won Emma Last Cup in 2022, right? Yes. Yes.

So they've won two trophies in the last three years. And gotten to a ton of finals. It's a winning team for having so many deep runs. Whether or not, like at the end of the day, it is about trophies, but like there's only so much you can do to, like there's gonna be an element of luck,

there's gonna be an element of, oh, if Buonga finish or oh, if Cucho finish, right? Or you go either way. But for them to get to so deep in every competition they play in, pretty much all the time, it's a winning club. And that will be one of the questions that they'll have to ask internally, which is,

is the floor so high on this that like we're just going to play the odds, which is if we're in this many semis and finals, some will fall for us or is there a belief, desire, whatever to do something a little bit more? And you would assume based on what we've seen in Major League Soccer, the reasoning would be you can't fire all the players. You can't move all the players There's a lot of talent in this team Like it will fall on Steve Turandolo and we just got through saying how much of a difference Jesper Sorenson is We've seen it with Ben Olsen. We've seen it so far with Bradley Cardinal Montreal are hoping we'll see it for the 37th time last two years for them. We see it with Wilfred Nance.

But I don't know, there's not an obvious name to go there, right? And I don't know where that would end. LAFC are top of the food chain. So they could go shopping in Major League Soccer, but it would be tough to do. And then of course we get back to probably like a Jim Curtin convo.

I'm not Doyle out yet. I think that that they were put where your dole house you're just not dole out. No we should have had Anders like just record something or just read his text. I don't know who is it, Dumboga. Just felt like a good time to use it. I think that'd be a good transition to Gaslog. Let's talk Daniel Goslog. So as I mentioned, by the way, Vancouver last potential to host right now, Miami are first. So if Miami win, I don't really know exactly how it will finish because I don't know all the results. But if Miami win the two legs or win one in Taiwan and have a decent goal differential, they will most likely host the 2025 Conquer Champions final and it would be a huge trophy for them.

Noah Allen said after the game, because he's locked in, he's a fully pro, that it was like a stated goal for them to win this at the beginning of this season. So it's something that they're focusing on. We didn't really talk about the LA Galaxy game. They went down 2-0 in 10 minutes at T-Grace. Payne still scores to make it 2-1. They concede and you're like, ah, this is over. Then they score again. Garces on this weird far post goal off of a set piece.

And then the Galaxy poured some pressure on the rest of that game and had some half chances, but so much of it falls like Diego Fugunde is creating out of nothing, and Ricky Pooj is better at soccer than Diego Fugunde. And so it's gonna be really hard for them to be great in this setup, but I think we saw the outline of them being good

with Payne still back in this one, which wasn't what you wanted. Like we said, this could be a lifeline. You get to a semi-final. This is a huge deal. It wasn't there, but it was still a better day for the LA Galaxy than what it could have been. Nahu is absurd. You saw this play.

Christian Ramirez tries to chip him from behind half field. Nahu sees it. He chests it up instead of saving it. Then he juggles it and then catches it behind his own back. It is why Nahu Guzman is one of the most absurd characters in the world and continues to win stuff with T-Gray. So we have a Cruisers-Ul T-Gray semifinal. We've got the Vancouver Whitecaps against Inter Miami.

I do appreciate that after I said I root for all bad teams, Akira in the chat put in all caps, Vancouver and Whitecaps. I'm assuming that's saying, because I'm now the foremost Whitecaps fan and Whitecaps wins stuff. Or Akira is and Whitecaps. I'm assuming that's saying, because I'm now the foremost Whitecaps fan and Whitecaps wins stuff. Or Akira is the Whitecaps fan. Or Akira is, one way or the other, I will take that. Let's move into our next conversation

and let's talk a little ice cream shop. You've got a bunch of scoops that you hit this week, but the biggest one was of course, the cash for Daniel Gosdag that you chose to break like 30 seconds after we got off this show. I broke this on Wednesday. We didn't have a show Wednesday. It was 30 seconds. Most.

Yes, the Columbus crew are acquiring Daniel God's dog from the Philadelphia Union in a cash trade a cash for in a blockbuster move for the Columbus crew to get a new DP attacker. What a huge, huge deal. Felt like it came out of nowhere. I'll tell you behind the scenes, Gazdog's camp wanted a new contract. His contract is done at the end of the season, but there's an option for 26.

So essentially he was a year and a half left of team control and he wanted a new deal. And Philly have done this numerous times over the years and they cash in and trade him to Columbus and I think he's gonna thrive there There are so many angles to go with this There's obviously Philadelphia, which is its own conversation and there's what it's almost pretty there's God's dog But what it means for Columbus is the biggest part. They lose Cucho pretty late in the window. They tried to work some deals in South America for maybe more of a clean number nine. Now they end up getting Daniel Gazdag inside the league to come into a team that is undefeated.

So lost Cucho and has yet to lose a game this season. And I think that's where this move makes the most sense of like, what is the quickest way to get continuity for yourself? And it's a player who already knows the league, who already knows the challenges that you're identifying that can fit into your team. He is not a replacement for Cucho Hernandez.

They play the game differently. They're at different stages in their career slightly. It is just a talent play on someone who already has shown that they can carry the load, I think in MLS is how I read it. Absolutely, and like Jason Russereau has been phenomenal this season. They still need another center forward. If they think Chase Adams could handle a short to medium term run if something happened to Russell Rowe or if he's gone on an international day or whatever, then that's fine. And that's the answer. And I love this play because now you have a front three of Russell Rowe, Rosie

and Gosdok. Gosdok as this box crashing 10 in a pressing system scored a billion goals. Again, a lot of it was from the penalty spot as well. So whether he takes pens or a Rocio like that remains to be seen but the way that these two players I think are gonna interact and adapt in the space that comes from a Wilford Nance team is gonna be really really positive we haven't seen him like again one of the reasons he was identified by Philly was he we think he's gonna thrive in a pressing system. Columbus do have some of those tendencies, like they counter press when they lose the ball, they want to get a better, but they are a possession based team at its core. They want brave, courageous players at its core.

I think he fits a lot of this and I think he's going to be very, very good. I get the wall. The only lingering question is what does he look like in a, in a, in a non true like Eagan pressing type system? Again, I think it's going to be very, very good, but that's probably the only unknown. And when you're making a big, big signing, there are often several unknowns. And I think right now that's the only one. He's 29, so several years left in his prime.

Not just has he been incredibly productive with I think at least 14 goals each of the last three seasons. He's played at least 30 of 34 regular season games all these years. Dude always plays, he's super durable. He's super consistent in on the field getting goals. And what more can you ask for from a DP attacker? Yeah, I kind of, the moment you broke this, I was like, in my head it was he's going to score a zillion goals and I'm not sure he's the right signing. And I think both those things will end up being true. Because Cucho sets a tone for you. Cucho's a leader, and not just a leader off the field

and all the locker room stuff, but the way a game flow happens, happened through Cucho, and it's set a lot, I think, for other players to gain confidence in tough moments, to sort of weather storms in games. Gazdag is none of that. And yet my guess will be he will score 15 goals in all comps this season from the moment he gets

to Columbus and starts playing. And that can also be okay because you can then find maybe a big piece later on in the season or next year or as you rotate things around where like this this gives you I think one that durability is huge because Nansi doesn't like to use a really deep group he likes to have his core 16 17 players so God's not rolling out there and rolling out there I also don't know that I've seen a ton from Shambow so far. And so I think there's space to move him and A.Z. Jackson. Yeah, he can play the eight, but if you choose not to,

I think you're getting more goal scoring out of Gauzdog as a 10, that you can maybe be a little safer centrally and have, you know, Zawadzki and Nagby behind him or whatever it ends up being. And you take some of the responsibility of the attack off those central midfields because Gosdog is gonna make the runs out of that spot. I think Rossi has gotten really good at dropping in and helping you know play players through and so Gosdog will be one of those

players. It is fascinating because as you said there's unknowns in all situations. The other unknowns were will this player settle in MLS? How long will it take? Gosdog doesn't have that. It's does he fit our system? And I don't have the answer to that. And I think that's where it's really interesting. But if you looked around and said, okay, we don't know that the overseas move is going to happen right now. What are our options inside of Major League Soccer? This is probably as just from the base level of good or bad players. This is probably the best player you could get inside of MLS right now if you're the crew. No, yeah, it's super interesting. And again, I do think it was very important for them to bring in

a designated player attacker before the primary transfer window closed. Again, their top of these are conference, they're undefeated. They are thin in the attack. And I still think that they're kind of like just because they're going back to the center forward thing of if Jason Russell row is out for, you know, six or eight weeks, like kind of look what happened. It's not going to be the same thing with the galaxy a lot of other problems. But it's just like, when paint so what down was like, oh, boy, like that was maybe one injury too many, like, oh, we could we could survive Ricky Pooch, or we could survive having to lose Daniel Vl or this or that, but it's like, oh crap, now this is the one that kind of broke it. Again, I don't think that that's a like for like thing with Columbus, but again, I'll still hold that as like the only slight worry in terms of like the

Kucho point was a great one, like not just his goals, not just as a sis, it was just like, he typified the Wilford Nazi system, the eth ethos He was the extension of everything the Nazi wanted to do everything ran through him everything flowed through him His unselfish running on top of everything else as well as motor like again I think I was like can can do that. Nobody is going to do that What all of what Kuto did yeah, the goals is just the style the bravery everything right? Rosie I Know that they're gonna put more on his shoulder. They have obviously put more on his shoulders

to start the season. I still think this is his attack, and God's Dog is the 1B to Diego Rossi's 1A. But between the two of them, I think that there's enough there, and that's the money ball meme of recreating the aggregate, but like they're both gonna need to share that load of the stylistic, the creative, the goal scoringoring, a little bit of everything while Rossi is going

to be, look, if this team has a bad game or bad attack, or if they had kind of what happened to LAFC in the CONCAP Champions Cup, Rossi is the guy we're going to point at now. It's like, okay, like you, everything falls on your shoulders. If there's a loss, if the attack doesn't do enough, we're looking at you because you're one of the best players in the league. And Godzdogg is going to shoulder that burden, but I'm looking more at Rossi and he's been really good this season. And I think that this is going to help him even more because of the spacing and his intelligence

of when to go vertical or when to come short. And I think Godzdogg is going to fit in pretty quickly. The other thing with Nan saying what he's been able to do is like, he can move a ton of pieces around so just adding Gazda, I guess, another talented player, gives him another step of, okay, if someone gets hurt, Rossi pushes higher, Arfsten pushes higher, you know, I mentioned Zawadzki, he can play center back, he can play in central midfield, like, AZ Jackson can be moved around so it's just another piece to play for him where you lessen the load or or the worry on some of those positions even though Daniel Gosdott

doesn't play any of the positions that you're naming it just gives you another person to move things around we are getting a lot of like good luck St. Louis this weekend because Columbus is playing St. Louis. Of like Gazza coming out quickly. We have seen the pictures of him in training. It has not been officially announced. Has it been officially announced yet? No, I've, you're welcome to Columbus Crew's digital team of how many times I've hit refresh on this thing.

I have a very good idea of what the fee is. Yes, but it's gonna be announced So if I'm 95% certain and I say a number that ends up being off, I'm gonna feel really stupid about it It's not it's not nothing but it's it's more than a glen But less than a Vander and I know that's a wide range I think it's gonna be closer to McGlynn than a Vander and probably much more so but Again, these a good part of this rule is that teams have to announce the finances Yes, so we're gonna get the transparency So I don't want to come out here and say something stupid even if I'm five hundred thousand dollars off

I'll feel dumb be like I could have waited seven minutes until it's announced So do you want me to start throwing numbers out there? What what what do you think it is? I think it's actually it. So Lucho was five million or six million? Yeah, five million plus one. And McGlynn was 2.1. I would say, yeah, I would say my guess

when it was announced was like four million. That I think is the ballpark. Yeah, because he's younger. I feel pretty strongly that's where the ballpark. Yeah, because he's younger. I feel pretty strongly that's where the ballpark is. Yeah, he's younger than Lucho. Philly can say it's a worse time of the window. I mean, obviously Lucho's an MVP. Lucho was an MVP.

For sure, but also we are as focused. Cincinnati wanted to get a Vander in the door, so there was weird timing with that as well that they didn't have an advantage. Philly would say we're kind of stuck now in the the season although we'll talk about Philly in a moment. And I think it's fair also to look at a team and say like look at what you just sold Kucho for and like you've sold Aiden Morris and all of this. We know there's money there. This is a player who will be a DP for you in a big time piece. And then now they have to sign Daniel Gazdaq to a new contract.

That's my that's my heavy assumption. Again I don't have that confirmed, but I will tell you I Know that he was being like his agents were Trying to get offers like they wanted a new contract from Philly. Obviously that wasn't happening I don't know if there was contract talks or if it was a straight-up no or if they were just too far apart I don't know those details, but I do know I've talked to other people around the league It was like oh, yeah God's dog was shopped by they like we would get texts or calls from his agents, hey, would you

be interested in making an offer for God's Dog? So this started with, I want a new contract. So I assume pretty safely that if there's not one already done, that there's an understanding of, yeah, here's a new deal, right? So we don't know that for sure. Maybe that'll be in the release too, who knows? But I know that was the driving force. It wasn't like screw Philly, I want out. It was, hey, I think I deserve a new contract. He's on like 1.8. 1.75 million is what we have him listed as. He obviously deserves a pay raise.

He also- Again, he's 18 months left on his contract. Yeah. And there is the option there next year, which just gives Columbus a little safety of like, if we can't get it done ASAP, it's not like we're in danger of losing him for nothing at the end of this year which ensures then I think your ability to make a move like this. Yeah but again I still think that the agents are probably like are saying okay let's talk contract and then let's talk about how much he wants like that's just my

assumption on this. Yeah Darlington Agbee is the other designated player on this team. He can be bought down at 1.5 million So it is fair for people to continue to think then that like a South American number nine or a big piece Could still come in in the summer, right? Yeah, absolutely And and I think that they're good on they have about a million in gam right now 975 K Yeah, so and but then like some other things to keep in mind,

I'm trying to find Russell Rowe, because I'm pretty sure, yeah, Russell Rowe has a contract option for 26, again, he's on 97,000. Again, I know that his, there was a transfer offer from Hibbs last summer that he was ready to go to or would have been open to, and this was kind of obviously behind Cucho

that he wasn't playing at some. So that's something to watch. They did get that new deal for Schulte done which was great but that those they got the new deal for Arfsten already right correct could just don't remember and then AZ Jackson is done at the end of the season and I know that there's European interest in him I don't I would assume that that he'd be if they can't pay everybody and I don't know if his mind is like I want it I know that he wants to go to Europe at some point. So this would make sense It's just how I'm laying on that all out

What we got in the chat was the guesses on the number RG laws 3.75 Jason Hoover says two and a half to three million Side quest says four point two five Jared says four million I'm okay with but we need a replacement ASAP in this ownership group. It's not shown a willingness to replace. I think that's from the Philly point of view. I can guess that. Yeah. So let's move over to that Philadelphia point of view. The Philadelphia Union have sold their leading goal scorer once again, right? Because William Carranza was their leading goal scorer for a time. Daniel Gosdok has been their most consistent piece as you mentioned since 2022 when he arrived,

scored 22 goals his first year. Does score a lot of penalties but still scores a ton of goals. They are off to an unbelievable start this year. They have moved out some major pieces from last year. They obviously moved on from their coach in Jim Curtin. It's been a really bright start. There is a lot of confidence behind that. We mentioned Earth Stanner's quotes to Joe Lowry last week about, you know, we've made the right moves. We've pushed the right young players into the team that have created a difference. Frankie Westfield, of course, the top of them because he's Frankie Westfield. But they've been able to make good moves in central midfield at center back. Tye Ty Boribo off to an unbelievable start.

Where does this team go from here after making a move like this? I think Indiana Vasilev is the replacement. I think he was acquired to be a starter and he makes sense at this attacking mid in the 4-triple-2. Him and Quinn Sullivan, then obviously Boribo and Uwe are up top. It's just now that you're a little bit thinner in that spot And I am actually a little bit curious who takes penalties now I got wonder if you know like Bree bone over like I wonder if they're like fighting each other for no

No, no, like let me get the first try like let me get the first try This seems drawn a lot of penalties guys. I got a whole lot of penalties. So I think that's where they go with this Again, they could always surprise you and bring in somebody. I will say both things are true. One, as a Union fan, not thrilled. I got texts from just friends of mine who are Union fans who are, hello, I'd like to shoot the messenger. What the F? A lot of curses, a lot of unhappiness.

I get that. Not only fans, never. Come on. That is completely fair. Like, he's 29 years old I own spam right like he's been so great for the steam so consistent everything else fits like just keep them right just pay him The odd and like for him to go to Columbus who are sitting first in the Eastern Conference who have been this power in Eastern Conference for the last few years That hurts a little bit more. But again, the money is the money and the deal is the deal. The other side of this that's also true is almost every big decision that

they've made under Ernst Tanner that has been unpopular has worked out. The first one was Harris Madunian. He was the one who drove, like, I don't want to resign and Like the way the story was told to me in preseason there's a lot of angry angry words Exchanged about I can't believe you're doing this But you know who is this guy that you're signing and then Jose Martinez got his first start in that crazy pre-covid game against LFC and nobody has questions anymore. Yeah, you kind of you can go on down the list like again I'm so partial to Jim Curtin I still don't I wouldn't have gotten rid of him, but you can't argue like they've been fine this year They haven't completely sunk. They haven't been as bad as I think people feared or fans feared at the beginning of the season

Jack Elliott letting him go McConaughey's been really good Gluvinovich has been really good. He's injured now. He'll be out for a few months. That's all confirmed. But so again the the anger or upset and particularly where the trade is going to, all totally, totally fair. But the other side of this is still all these big decisions that have been unpopular or like Kai Wagner, you know, him wanting a new contract. Then he did his, oh, this is the last ride. I'm out. I'm leaving. I'm gone and so you say yeah, go ahead Go find an offer. Go ahead your free agent and then he resigned right like so they've Demonstrated time and time again

When they do unpopular things It the bottom doesn't fall out things work out the huy on karan's I still think they mishandled that but bang tiber ribos in the starting lineup and now he's a golden boot leader in m1 So I think that they should get the benefit of the doubt of that while still holding plenty of space for if I was a Union fan I'd be pissed too. Yeah If the numbers close to what we just rumored and talked about which will be confirmed probably by the time anyone listens to this as a podcast So I'm gonna waste a little more time here that you can skip through if you want to it's also a good number for them, which is they can turn around and go and spend.

And as good as Gazdog's been this year, I think we've seen the decline in his numbers and you probably weren't going to hit at this rate in the future. So it was probably now or never to sell him for this type of return. I think the Philadelphia fan point of view is like, why don't we add?

Why do we have to take away to add? Like, let's just stay where we are and add to it. I think that's completely fair complaint. But as you said, like I think you have to disconnect those. The moves being set because of budget and constrictions and all of that, they are done well. I think the fan question would be, why do we have to operate inside of these constrictions?

And I think those are two different conversations. Obviously, one of the pushes this year has been to push younger players into the team. And that's where you mentioned Indy Vasilev, is it Kevin Sullivan? We have those questions in the chat. Is it CJ Olney? They believe in the young players in their team and

want to continue to push them through and so opening space for those players is always a key for them. I wonder if there's a way that Micaela Ura, Boribu and Damiani all fit into the team now. Interesting. Yeah. It's just it's a lot of money on those players. It's a lot of talent and if you have a little less there might be space for them to get. But I don't know the shape. I don't know who would play underneath if it's a 4-2-2-2, who would play alongside Quinn Sullivan. But I think Quinn Sullivan's play this year has shown that if there's belief in the talent that's there and it gets the opportunity, can elevate to those moments and elevate to those performances and you're hoping that there's some other pieces in there for the scene. Do you think there is a replacement outside of MLS that comes into the squad this year?

If you had to guess. Firing from the hip. I'd say again, I haven't spoken to anybody about the plans, but I'd probably say yes. Again, Damiani was, Ibrebo was signed before Karanza left. I know Vaslav was signed before Gazdag. Usually they're pretty proactive about this. But again, with the open DP spot, I think that they'll do something. Probably not, maybe not over the next few weeks. CJ Only will be probably the first person up, if not Kevin Sullivan. I think those two players will have the chance to be like alright

We can trust you for a thousand minutes each or whatever if you prove that maybe we don't need to or like you said gosh Maybe there's a way I don't know if I see it for Damiani Briba and Uri to be all in the field at the same time, but maybe there is one So I would lean a slight yes, but I don't feel strongly about that at all. Yeah, I would agree I think I think your expectation would be it is sort of a young play signing and whenever it gets done, it gets done. It's probably not as a difference maker in 2025. It's like for the club to help develop that next guys down and whatever it

ends up being. Although guys, that was a little bit older when he came into the league. And I think that was one where they saw talent that was Underrated and it was an opportunity to bring the player in and now you flip it around and make a little bit of a profit Can you do something like that? Once again? Cash-faire is a super fascinating part of all of this would Philly have gotten the option to make this move if that wasn't available because The windows are closed outside of MLS. when would they have sold him into what team I So I would I'm looking at for God's dogs point of view

This is again a player who wants a new contract and I think empirically deserves a new contract It could have just been like well if somebody gives us four million dollars in game like, you know So a number that that will never have or hasn't happened, right? Like and then would he be stuck and just be unhappy and be like, man, like I deserve I should be getting more But like I know that another MLS team would give me a new contract But there's not enough out like so I think that's all important and for me I'm thinking more of the player than the club in this situation because again, it's not like Philly We're desperate to push them out

And if they were able to say we can't give you a new contract and there's not gonna be, hey, if somebody matches our valuation, and like you said, the European windows close, all that stuff, and around MLS, you can only come up with so much allocation money to trade. So it would have been like, well, nothing we can do here.

Right. When you broke this news yesterday, I was like, should I text Tom? Should we go live right now and just start talking? Because right on the back of this, you also broke a story When you broke this news yesterday, I was like, should I text Tom? Should we go live right now and just start talking? Because right on the back of this, you also broke a story that Real Salt Lake may have finally found their answer to the center forward position. Robert Bozenek, Slovenian, Slovakian International, by the way, went to trivia on Tuesday night. The theme was flags, and the Slovakian flag came up and I got it right,

and that is normally one of the ones that I look at and say, I know where we're talking about, but I don't know which one, and I got all of the answers of all the flags right. It was Belize, Nigeria, Slovakia, and then Australia and something else. So, locked in, ready to go. If anyone needs a Sporkkel teammate, let me know.

I can be there pretty quickly. He's a 25 year old with 48 caps for Slovakia, 19 goals, four assists over the last three seasons with Boa Vista in the Portuguese top flight, otherwise known as the broke team. And this season he's got four goals and one assist in 2300 minutes. He's played at Feyenoord and Dusseldorf before.

Tom, give us the latest. Yeah, so advanced talks. This is a deal that's been dragging along slowly. The club are hopeful to get it done, but I was told there are several targets that if this doesn't happen, they're working on it simultaneously. The plan is to get a forward in before the deadline. It's a tightrope to walk as ownership change is happening. What I was told is that is imminent and everything is going ahead there with an ownership change that could happen. It could be official at some point in the next few weeks, but I was also told this deal

is not contingent on anything with ownership, which I think is super positive rather than like... Because that's a really difficult one. Who pays the transfer fee? Who pays the installment who does what right? So I think that's encouraging for real Salt Lake fans because I think my fear was if you can't get it done within the league Would that would you be able to pay a transfer fee for somebody and clearly they can Yeah, so this is a guy that they've had on on the radar for a while and now it makes sense It is there's final details still to be sorted. There's no guarantee that this happens, but everybody's pushing for it. Bovista eternally needs money. It feels like they're always on the verge of something

bad financially or transfer fee need to be paid or a cast case going to court a Reggie Cannon FC Dallas whoever. So that's good for them. And again, it's one that makes sense. His profile, like the numbers don't jump off the page in Portugal. Again, the four goals, whatever it was, four goals and one assist in 2300 minutes this season. That's not great. But like, again, that doesn't mean he won't score goals here.

It doesn't mean he won't be better in this Real Salt Lake system in this league in a team that, you know know with creative players around him I don't not an expert on Bo Vista's current attack and what they look like with the players are But just pointing at like I've seen a couple a couple like comments of like oh man Like we can't be signing him to a DP deal He's not good. He hasn't scored enough goals. I'll tell you what if he scored 15 goals of Bo Vista He's out of real salt lakes budget. So there these are the trade-offs when it comes to MLS signings. And again, it's so interesting of Liverpool, City, Madrid,

Barcelona, there are 40 players, 30 players in the world that you can sign to make your team better. So you know who they are. MLS clubs, there's literally thousands, just because the level isn't the top, top, top of the game. And there's so many different ways signings can go. So that's why I'm usually benefited out in general. But again, this is a guy with almost 50 caps for his country, 25 years old. I really like the profile. If he scores four goals, he would be the best center forward on the arsenal roster this year. The bar is pretty low. Also true. Yeah, to get a 25 year old,

one of the things we talk about often is to get a 25 year old who's moved countries a couple of times, so has that experience, has played for clubs that speak different languages, so has a little bit of that experience. I think that helps my assumption on part of why this won't get held up by ownership, this is me making stuff up, but where they fit is,

the belief is that the Blitzer group will still be involved in the sporting side of things when the sale happens. And that Blitzer group is a global football group. And so you probably have your data and you're scouting on him and you probably have what you think about him. You have decision makers in the room

who will remain the same, at least part of the conversation. It makes it all a little bit more fluid. You go to a team that we have said a couple times, a lot of teams won't sell you a player right now because they can't replace them. Boa Vista would sell anything if they need to. By the way, if Boa Vista's ever looking for anyone

to do anything, I'm there. I love Portugal. It's like one of my favorite places in the world. So as much as I'll knock you, if you pay me enough, I will be the biggest Boa Vista supporter. You better be careful because I'll tell you through the Reggie Cannon thing A lot of dudes with checkered flags in their in their bios speaking Portuguese cursing at me so just be careful Boavista has a has definitely a Good presence online and they will find you if you say that they're broke respect

I can be one of those Russian content farm creators, but I would like to be based in Portugal if I'm doing that. That would be the key. So yeah, that's the hope for all of this, is that you have a situation right now at RSL, and we see it, that there is enough creativity around the center forward position. If you have someone who can occupy center backs,

can finish on the end of the options, can play, will turn and make that run when Luna comes inside and wants to play that slip ball back to the left, or is able to get to the near post when you're getting those crosses driven in from the right side, they have right now a multitude of options of players

who can get to the end line on that right side and drive that cross in, connect with Goncalves a little if he's able to get into the team consistently. Like you don't need someone to come in and be Chicho and be an MVP. I think this team right now, it's like, can we stay afloat? Can we stay competitive and then figure out post ownership change where we truly are in this move, especially for a 25 year old who can be here for a little bit, hopefully, and then you can build into 26 and 27 and all of that after this that feels like a really big move

I'm not gonna lie when you first posted it. I thought it was Robert Barrett. I was like, oh, yeah No, obviously we all know that guy. It was like so close and I was like, yeah, that makes sense It's a pretty good move. So the fact that it wasn't that maybe is a good thing maybe it's a pretty good move. So the fact that it wasn't that maybe is a good thing. Maybe it's a bad thing. And so this RSL team, it felt like the answers to this question were getting very thin. Like you have reached a point where you're starting to look at summer window stuff, you don't have a lot of options, because as we said, teams won't sell. And

there didn't seem like there was an obvious in-league move outside of probably overpaying for an MLS player that isn't getting opportunities to start for their team and I think for RSL there's like best-case scenario to try and rescue this season but still hope that it grows and moves going forward. On top of all of that Jonathan Bond is coming back to Major League Soccer. He is doing the classic, yes I'm American, if anyone wants to give me a call let me know. Exactly. Houston Dynamo finalizing a deal to sign Jonathan Bond from Watford, the former LA Galaxy starting goalkeeper. He's coming

back to MLS, just needs a medical and I think that's the only thing that is preventing their waiting for this deal. And like you said, he has an American Coming back to MLS just needs a medical and I think that's the only thing that is preventing their waiting for this deal. Like you said, he has an American passport so he should be able to come immediately whenever and again, maybe not as quickly as God's Dog being in training already for a move that's not announced but not far behind. So Houston knew that they wanted to sign a goalkeeper. The big picture for Houston after this, like they had from off season,

some things that hadn't totally gotten done before the season started. DP10, center back, goalkeeper. Now all three have been signed and done and things are looking up for the Houston Dynamo. They also just got hit on the side by Andrew Tarbell being, having a torn ACL. Like Andrew Tarbell, I think they felt was probably

a top class backup keeper who could carry the role as a starter. I think people would debate that, but like it was a debatable thing at least. So for him to tear his ACL was really, really tough. Blake Gillingham has played well, but that doesn't mean you want to rely on that. And Jonathan Bond has been up and down.

He had his really good moments at the end for the LA Galaxy, but he really struggled to get there. How much of that is Galaxy related? I don't know. The LA Galaxy struggled as a team. Everything about their defending was poor, but he had some struggles and it felt like a confidence issue.

He started to make mistakes that he was better than. And then once he got himself back out of it, he was able to get, I think he made an all-star team in the end. He was in the running one year for a goalkeeper of the year. And so he's had his ups. And if you are looking for an available goalkeeper that you don't need to use an international roster spot on

and that you can get in the building now, he's probably top of the list. And so it works out pretty well for the Dynamo. And they've put together pretty well for the Dynamo. And they've put together pretty good defensive performances, even through all of this. Shutting out LA FC in insane weather as they go into champions, CONCAC champions,

probably not the best example. But overall, their defending has not been the issue this season. Yeah, exactly. And Jack McGuinn moving to number 10 role this weekend. Again, things are looking up, moving up. Gilliam has been good. He's been solid.

But again, no matter what, they needed to add another goalkeeper. Like he just needed more numbers. But like Gilliam's been good. I'm assuming Bond is here to start. But if they need, if it doesn't go perfectly or if Gilliam is just continues or like continues to look better or does long training, like this isn't one where it's like, oh, no matter what this dude's going to start for the next four months, like, so that's just kind of what I'd say.

And the Gilliam thing, I know that we've had that discussion a little bit in the discord for Houston fans who have been impressed by him, but you definitely needed another goalkeeper. If you want to get access to the discord to chat with us about soccer, to get access to our depth charts, which is what we're using right now. I know you updated them with the Gazdog news. So you shifted the players, you shifted the contracts, the positioning in the depth charts as well as then we've got the models for all the teams. Are you DP?

Are you U22 initiative side? You know, two DPs for you 22 is three and three whatever it is we've got all of that stuff updated in our depth chart so you can go in there if you want for the Houston Dynamo probably won't have Jonathan Bond yet but they face off against LA Galaxy this weekend they go on the road a resultable game I would say for the Galaxy coming off Champions League and for Houston they go back to back against the LA teams. Vancouver's hosting Austin. Two teams at the top of the Western Conference probably not what we would have expected coming into this one. I'm going to be fascinated to see I think Bucari's gotten better and better over the last few weeks is there space

for him to run into if you're getting Tate Johnson or whoever it is, attacking down that left wing, how much does Vancouver rotate? Does it even matter with how good this team is under Jesper Sorensen and the depth he's created? Shout out to Montreal. They have finally made it to the end of the road trip. They get their first home game. That one's 7.30 PM Eastern time at Stade Saputo, of course,

against Charlotte FC, which I think is gonna be one of the games to watch this weekend. Tom, does anything stand out to you that you're locked in for for this weekend? Atlanta, New England, and who did DC play this weekend? DC at Cincinnati. When we're talking about managerial changes, those two seats are very warm. And so those are those are two potentially really consequential April games. Douglas Reyes-Saron says,

if anyone gets word on a new owner holler if you hear me. And then in parentheses he said DC United fan here in the chat. So out there, not just for new coaches. The question in the chat, does St. Louis score a goal this weekend? They of course, as I said, are playing against Columbus that I believe

is the Sunday night soccer game. So I assume Andrew Weeby is gonna be wearing a cowboy hat on the Mississippi River and doing whatever else maybe a little St. Louis Cardinals game go go cards He'll probably see a statue of you from two weeks ago on this show there with your little mini bat in your mustache We have KC hosting Portland, which I think is like a, can KC show it's real type thing. It's a pretty good setup for them of like back to back games. Portland are a little bit open defensively still.

So there's an opportunity there. I think Jonathan Rodriguez is back in training. So that's pretty massive for this Portland team. It feels if he can come back and be a difference maker that they've probably managed this as well as you'd expect to still be relevant. Chicago hosts Miami, another one where you're sort of wondering what are the Champions League teams look like

this week and where do they end up? So, a lot going on this weekend. We will be back of course next week with all of our recap and all of our coverage. We have our interview coming out with the president of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. That one will drop I believe early tomorrow morning. We have a lot to talk about on this show.

You know why we're here. Who is the tambourine? What was that? Why are you looking at me? I don't know who is the tambourine. Ah, I don't know who is tambourine. I went in to go play the outro song and I realized that that was still there

and I was stoked about it. So thank you to all of you who were in the chat hanging out with us, watching live. Thank you to all of you listening via podcast. Thank you of course to Oregon, who does such a great job on their socials and it's roasting Tom right now on there. And thank you to you Tom for being here.

We appreciate all the support, all of the input so far this week. We'll talk to you all again very very soon.