SoccerWise - MLS CWC Recap, USMNT Win + MLS Midseason Superlatives

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

All three MLS teams have debuted in the Club World Cup they've had expereinces from Cairo to Rio and London without leaving our shores. Tom & Gass react to all we have seen so far, and what it means. Then they dive into a wild start to the Gold Cup & what we can take from the USMNT performances. With MLS season at its midway point the guys weigh in with their midseason awards and superlatives (but how does Gass win?!)3:30 CWC-MLS Experience23:45 USMNT & Gold Reactions36:20 MLS Traditional Awards COY, MVP, GKOY, DPOY54:10 MLS Midseason Superlatives54:30 Most Plesant Surprise So Far57:14 Least Plesant Surprise1:00:30 Most Fun Team To Watch1:03:30 Teams Having Second Thoughts1:04:45 Biggest Flex (In MLS or Soccerwise?!)1:06:45 Take You’re Wrong But Refuse To Give Up On1:09:40 Interesting Tactical Change1:11:10 Team You Are Buying Low On1:13:10 Team Who Stock You’re Taking The Loss On1:14:45 Gass Theorem Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

I thought it sounded a little weird. I played the outro song instead of the intro song. That's fine. It sounded a little bit weird. David Goss and Tommy Scoops live if you're watching on YouTube, video if you're watching on YouTube, if you're listening to podcast, thank you for being here. This is the show you've been waiting for. I'm playing the wrong songs.

I'm in some random hotel in the heart of America, in the heartbeat of America. And I'm excited to be here with the Grateful Dead's own Tommy Scoops. What's going on? Yeah, no, I defend New Jersey at every turn. I got nothing for Secaucus, bro. I'm sorry. It's not a real place. It's a fake place. When I see Steve Javvy come on an NBA broadcast to do rules, Steve Javvy looks like Secaucus, New Jersey. And that is such a deep cut. And that probably doesn't make sense to most people. But for the few people who get that, oh my

God, shout out to the Lebertard Show for that one. That's stuck in my brain. I think that they did that joke like 12 years ago. And every time I see him, it's like muscle memory. It's like Steve Javie, Secaucus. See when I think Secaucus, I think Frank R. Lautenberg, who is the person the train station is named after. I think he was a senator in the United States Congress. I'm unaware though of who that person is. I just know that if you Google Sykakis on Google Maps, it never actually sends you anywhere. So you always have to be super specific and dig into that.

And that is where I am located. I am living the dream right now. I will be bouncing around over the next few weeks. Did I accidentally dox you? Did you not say so? I didn't. I'm sorry. I just said the heartbeat of America.

Well, you started to go towards the armpit and I thought that that's where you were going. Jersey, man. What a vibe, what a place. But I'm gonna be bouncing all over the place. So if you are watching on video, you can see all of my changing backgrounds as I float through this world over the next three or four weeks. We will not have a show on Thursday.

It is my sister's bachelorette party, so I am out of commission and Tom is celebrating in my honor by also drinking the entire day. Oh no, I didn't say that. I said I'm going to Broadway. Broadway. I'm pretty proud of you for that. I'm actually excited about this. It doesn't feel like it counts

when it's Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, I'm going there to watch, you know, Bill Barrett and Bob Odenkirk and Kieran Colkin. Like, you know, I don't feel like it's Broadway if it's not a musical and I hate musicals. So like, I don't think I deserve full credit is what I'm trying to say you hate musicals. Yeah like actually like actually I Didn't know that Is that a surprising is that fall out of my character arc? No, but I thought you were a man of the world

I am a man of the world Like it like an adult don't sing to me like a child. Talk to me like an adult. The musical that I love is Hamilton. That was incredible. If all musicals are like that, I'd be down. Lion King, I like that. But just generally speaking, no.

Well, on that note, with all of the chaos that has just occurred, let's do our show and let's talk about the things we're going to talk about. So reminder, no show on Thursday. Myself and Jordan will be back tomorrow. We are going to talk in this show about, of course, the Club World Cup and especially the three MLS teams and the experiences they have had. It's been the full study abroad experience. Some has gone well, some has gone poorly. Everyone has learned a lot. Everyone's come back saying Barcelona, like it's the whole vibe fully, I think, for these MLS teams. We'll talk a little about the USMNT and then we're going to do our midseason awards. We are officially just past the midseason

point for the majority of MLS teams. So we're going to do our awards so that we can sort of get an idea of who's overperformed, who's underperformed. We have the regular awards and then we have the brick New Jersey awards that are fully penned by Tom, Bulgurt Scoops. I have already put in the request to get the full understanding of the rules to see how I win said competition. You didn't come up with one superlative. I sent it to you and was like, yeah, just, you know, feel free to add yours or take away the ones that I made that are dumb. I changed the wording on one.

And then you just didn't do anything. I changed the wording on one. Didn't do anything. I, what I did was I put my answers down where I'm going to win. And that's the whole point. Just wanted to get in the war room. Yeah. I wanted you to be wasting energy and time. I what I did was I put my answers down where I'm gonna win and that's the whole point Yeah, I wanted you to be wasting energy and time. It's tortoise in the hair stuff on this race So we're gonna go through those and then we that will wrap things up And I don't know. I guess the Club World Cup games are gonna keep coming back around so there'll be more

MLS to talk about no They do never stop but I actually didn't look at a schedule ever to see when they all play a second time. So in my head, it was like it at all at once and never at all. Yeah, actually is a few days away. So it looks like Seattle and Miami both play on Thursday. Miami plays at 3pm. Seattle plays at 6pm. That's a nice little Thursday afternoon for you. Some of us will be on Broadway. Sorry. I assume most of the actors in that show are going to be sort of looking to the crowd instead of saying line. They're going to be like score once every 30 to 40 minutes. This isn't a flex because it's a 2 p.m. Thursday showing but I'm sitting near the front.

Maybe that could be my role. Yeah. Bob Odenkirk noted MLS sicko doesn't root for a team full Rob Lowe just roots for the league. I think everyone's been talking about that the whole time with Bob Odenkirk. Okay. Let's dig into the Club World Cup. We saw Miami open up the whole tournament because they've got a guy named Lionel Messi

on their team at Hard Rock. It was a 0-0 draw on Saturday night penalty kick save what two clearances off the line. Then Seattle on Sunday ended up losing 2-1 to Botafogo went down 2-0 in the first half Christian Roldan with I guess the first ever MLS goal in a World Cup. Did Seattle not score? No I think they lost one zero to Ali in Morocco. Yeah, yeah. At the time it was single elimination. I know you in your mind are always like grow tournaments bigger faster. So you're thinking it was a full 64 team tour. No, in any way. it was Jackson Reagan's first career professional soccer

game. Yes, I remember. I do. Because I remember they're like, oh, sick. They're going to the club world cup. And just like right now, all their center backs are. And they did lose 1-0. Mohamed Magdi scored in the 88th minute. Seattle is a pretty similar team, actually. Alex Roldan, Rusnak, Josh Atenzio.

Shout out to Colorado Rapids own and Raul Rodriguez in the starting lineup. They brought Freddie Montero off the bench. They brought a bear off the bench. Remember they traded for a bear. I thought that was going to be the greatest trade in everybody. And quite honestly, this roster build in this way is not dissimilar to what they did this year of like a bear was the starter for NYC FC. He was not good enough to be a star and he was going to be depth for them. I don't know how many goals he ended up scoring. Not many. I would look them up. I would look up the stats, but you know, your internet. No, my internet's fine. It's the stats pages that don't work.

He scored two goals in 22 appearances, a thousand minutes, no assists for the Seattle Sounders in 2023. That's off the back of eight goals in 1000 minutes for NYCFC the year before. And in NYCFC, he had less start than he did for Seattle. So yeah, that one ended poorly and it kind of feels like some of the moves maybe Seattle has made this year have ended poorly. I thought his Ferrerra was kind of good in this game. I was a little surprised he was the one to come off when he did. They made like the wholesale changes to the attacking line. And knew who clearly

was the weak spot in this team. I said on the weekend recap essay box office. Yeah, I was talking to a friend and they're like, Oh, Seattle's gonna, you know, but a focus is going to find the weak spot and push on and push on it. And it was just straight up new. And that's how they created their goals. And that's what led to their goals. And I guess the Brian Schmitzer's credit, he recognized it, made the change at halftime. And Seattle were the dominant team in the second half.

No question about it. Unfortunate to not get the result in that. It would have been cool. Maybe I have a little more hope after the LAFC Chelsea game that there's like maybe one more result in this for Seattle, but not as much as I would like. I mean, they played PSG and now let it go Madrid. The PSG game is done.

The PSG game is, I mean, they just beat Atleti 4-0, and they beat Inter Milan in the final 5-0. So no one's touching that team This is where Like this was the high watermark for Seattle and I'm not I'm not saying that like facetiously or like as a dig Botafogo are a really really good team and this was Theoretically the only team they had a shot at like I don't know. Maybe I let it go Madrid They're just gonna be dead in the water. But like I doubt it Hey, I mean they perform. Well, this was Madrid are just gonna be dead in the water, but like, I doubt it. I mean, they perform well.

This was the game. Yeah. This was the game. Yeah. And one of the things that popped for me, which I said was LAFC. Well, I don't want to say this in the wrong way, because I actually thought LAFC played fine in like, that's who LAFC is, right? They sit in and counter against everyone. I thought they played really sloppy.

I didn't even mention LAFC loss to Chelsea two zero in Atlanta. Not bad. No, I thought LAFC had chances. Um, yes. Two, two blogger chances. One when it was one nil and one when it was, you know, he didn't score either. And like the MO on them going into this tournament is defend as well as you can get a little bit of luck. Like Chelsea missed a few chances that, you know, he didn't score either and like the MO on them going into this tournament is Defend as well as you can get a little bit of luck like Chelsea missed a few chances that you know It's not like LFC defended crazy well in every single one So you need a little bit of luck of the other team the better team missing chances and then your special player in transition Has to make his chances David Martinez as well. David Martinez had the full experience, which is the flash

He beats the man and then the open foot shot. That's 30 yards off from six yards away and like, not the right decision. He clipped one or two good balls in that I thought were the right call. What I was thinking though, while watching this, and this is now we're going to see maybe more of it in the club. The first few games were not the matchups that I think I expected to see. They were more European, European or like big South American European. It didn't feel like a World Cup when you're like

Mino versus big country, you know? And those- Auckland city versus- That's the outlier. But I'm talking about these MLS teams where you're like, oh, what Costa Rica looks like against Brazil at the World Cup. It's not how it felt in these games.

Like these MLS teams felt Kind of okay, but not better than their opponents Yeah, I mean again Like every team or most teams at this tournament are really really good teams But like it's all Ali and it was and like again Chelsea was was the big one of this first round, like Botafogo again, Botafogo, Ali, two very, very good teams. They're not PSG, they're not Bayern, they're not like it. And Chelsea isn't even at that top level either. So like, yeah, but like, let's not spike the football here because,

you know, Miami tied Ali at home in the first game because Ali had 75 chances and Oscar Ustori was the best player on the field, which I never thought I was going to say that sentence. And this is the difference between, and unfortunately, I think for Seattle in like the performances and everything is Seattle had two FOPMOP is saying Seattle had 2.2 XG to 0.91 and they had 60% possession. Miami had 0.87 XG and 55% possession against Al Ali. Now Al Ali's numbers are going to be thrown off because of the penalty. And yes, the game's not

played on a spreadsheet, but I think that goes to the eye test you saw, which was Seattle were the better team against a better team. And Miami struggled with Al Ali. And what I said on the show, are we sure Miami's better than Ali? So I said on the show yesterday, Tom, I'm curious your thoughts on this is, I think, inside of MLS, these are two teams that are built very differently. And I think what I saw on the field was Miami has top end talent that Ali doesn't because they have Messi and the range in their roster goes so much lower. And every player on Ali was within the third to sixth best player on Inter Miami. And I think you saw that play out in their ability to consistently control possession and consistently win tackles,

but didn't really have breakout moments. I mean, the penalty kick was not an emergency moment. It's Falcone being Falcone. And I throw the eye on there because that's a Falcone moment. E. Believe it be an E, but that's okay. It's your bet. I'll let you have that. No, but like, it's not just like for me, it wasn't just quality.

Yes, we know Lino Messi is still an unbelievable soccer player right now. And like what Busquets can do on the ball, even though he's clearly lost a step this season. There was no Alba and like, these players have more quality. But they're built in a way where like, you can't get away with the way that they defend in or lack of defense in MLS as you can like the club World Cup. The same way that like, like LAFC against Miami, I guess, yeah, Miami even against LAFC like that. They got through, like they were lucky to get through in the Cockatoo Champions Cup.

And then they got trounced by Vancouver just because of the different way they were playing. Like you cannot have multiple passengers against the ball and Ali should have won this game. They should have won this game. They should have won this game. And that's not saying that Miami don't have quality. It's just a different, it's like a different game. And that's why my whole analysis coming into this tournament

is that LEFC is the team with the best chance to get through for an MLS club or to perform well. Because what Miami and LEFC do are two very different but very successful styles in MLS LAFC style will translate to this kind of tournament or have a chance to more so than Miami's because LAFC don't have any passengers against the ball They don't have as many like piano players as they do as like Miami does but like what they need is is dogs and then Belonga and maybe Drew or whatever the thing that popped out to about LAFC, and I'm still trying to figure out the context.

I'm really excited to see them play Flamengo to figure this out is, I thought there was a lot of basic mistakes they made. Like there was so many poorly hit passes, whether it was behind the man, so they killed transition, or if it was a turnover. And I don't know if that was them being nervous and playing bad, or if it's, that and I don't know if that was them being nervous and playing bad or if it's

That's the pass they always hit and Chelsea is a half percent faster and quicker I don't think it was the second one because it was like so bad and Uncharacteristic like there's these moments where you know howlings had cuts inside decides. He's gonna spray it out wide to an open Palencia or Martinez and just mishits it and so I don't know where it fell in all of that. And I think that killed them at a lot of times. But the other thing is they have three guys in central midfield who are not really great passers. And so every time you try to get out and transition or play through pressure when they actually did

break that next pass is not there. And that's like one of the issues with this team. That's what holds them back. Because I agree with you, the structure of who they are fits in this matchup better. I'm glad Sharamdala made the halftime sub with with Abobese for Giroud. Abobese just was out of the game. He just wasn't himself again. And they could not afford to have that missing spot. And if Ordaz doesn't get hurt, I wonder if it's just Buonga at center forward at some point or Ordaz moved to center forward and Martinez on because the whole idea was you were going to try and stretch the field and they were not. I thought Giroud was good when he played. I don't think he was bad. I also think LAFC pushed their line a little bit higher and played more

aggressive so they were around the attacking third more for him to interchange and be a factor and try and get on the end of things. And overall, I thought they played fine. I wish Ryan Hong's head hadn't slid. I don't know what angle you're trying to cut there, but it is the game's happening really fast. Like that's sort of that pressure moment where you make a decision that maybe you wouldn't make when you're more comfortable with the speed of play,

the opponents you're playing against. And that wasn't the case. Overall, I think for a team that didn't know they were in this tournament, I think LAFC showed fine for themselves. I think Seattle did as well. I just yeah, Seattle very well. I haven't said enough about them. Sorry to cut you off. But like, while I'm like, it's not their fault that they got into this. Like, I would be saying LAFC in Miami have no chance of advancing. So like, this isn't a critique of the Seattle Sound Sounders when I'm like, yeah, well, their opening game

is the best it's going to be. Like I'd be saying I'd be saying it probably worse about Miami because I think they'd get shredded in that group. And I do think Seattle would have a chance to advance if they were in Miami's group. It's just luck of the draw. And I don't think that there's a ton of ton of value and spending a ton of time on it. Again, like getting to this stage is the win. Winning the the the Concap Champions League at the time was the win. And just because they don't really have a realistic chance to get out of this

group doesn't mean that there's anything negative. They are your goodwill hunting. It's not their fault, Tom. Just give them a hug and embrace them. I agree with you. I think Seattle would have the best shot to get out if they got one of the other two groups. They didn't. Our hopes now pinned on like L.A like LAFC never playing home game because of the way this thing's set up Trying to figure things out. I was up

Did you see their club Leon fans? Yeah, I did see that respect I think they called it they called it a mafia decision or something like that to let them out I do think the 3252 traveled for this one Yeah, our guy our guy Travis Hellwig at the happy foot, sad foot. Was he there? Yeah, I texted him on Saturday, like when the MLS games were wrapping up.

So it was like 1 a.m. our time. And so once in a while, like, I like just send Travis text to that guy, like this won't text somebody at 1 a.m. I get a text back from me. He's like, I'm at a bar in Atlanta. I was like, oh, you're there. It's really unfortunate that they couldn't figure this out early enough to find a way to get a game at BMO

because, and the classic part about this whole thing is that Club America game. Everyone's like, oh, the Club America means so much. It's gonna be fun. It's like, this is a good MLS home game. This was, you know, that was just a decently competitive LAFC game in which that fan base shows up and has that environment.

I've said it many times. It is like one of the best fan bases, one of the best environments. If you are in that stadium and you watch the 32 52, you could be anywhere in the world and it would be one of the coolest things you've experienced. And every, and then it's classic like,

oh, this is what we're gonna bottle and use. And it's like, no, this is what you literally avoided. You swam in the other direction on a whole of this. And Miami, I didn't realize doesn't even play all three games in Miami. They play in Atlanta in game two, they play Porto in Atlanta. Then they go back to Miami, of course, none of it at their home stadium. And then they play Palm Air. I was at the Porto Palm Air game in New Jersey. That's why I have to say Palmaras now because I'm like one of them. And the PA announcer to his credit

kept calling him Portu, Portu. Yeah. Palmaras was like 10 times better in that game. They will tear Inter Miami apart. Because again, now you're talking like no weak spots, but also like a ton of dangerous players and everyone, they were like trying to beg Porto to attack so that they could open up space to go attack on the other side.

Guess who's gonna take that bait, baby? Guess who loves a little red meat in the water is Inter Miami to just start floating into possession. Wine Ganon and if Alba's back. Exactly, so I think that one's gonna be a tough one for them. Yeah Can I just give a couple big picture club world? Yeah Ref cam is the chance. I think that's very cool. I was dubious of it. I know MLS use it in an all-star game I thought it was cool, but I was like, yeah, that's this is like a friendly thing

This is probably not something that will work in a competitive game. I thought it was really cool. That's been good. Um There's a like I'm watching like we're recording this at 1130 Eastern. There's a game that kicks off at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey at noon on a Tuesday. They're lucky that it's Fluminense and like they like I'm watching the pregame right now. The Fluminense section if they have one it's completely packed like behind the hole that they're warming up on. So if not for that this would look really really bad and it's still night we don't know what the attendance is gonna be for again noon on a Tuesday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey so I like it for TV but it's

gonna look dumb this should this feels like it should have been at like Red Bull Arena like I don't think that you're getting a hundred eighty five thousand more of this stupid air conditioner of a stadium hole. I said on in the discord because someone else was at the game on Sunday and that game was like 40, 45,000 so it's a bigger than what we're and that's on a Sunday. We're just calling it Red Bull Arena by the way like that's just a decision we've made. No no I'm in agreement. What I said in the Discord was if it had been there, it would have been a top five environment I've ever been to.

Cause the fans were so good that you like, in the building, you don't really notice that the upper deck is empty. Then you go into Ironbound right after that, get some literally, you know, Portuguese Brazilian food. You know, that's where the poor two in the Palm air spans arm in arm, let's eat our food together, have some fun.

Or you walk out of the air conditioner that is MetLife Stadium and just to highways. Oh, no, no, no. There's a really modern mall with a ski lift across a highway that has- You can't walk there. You can, there's a walkway now. They've built a walkway.

The signage- What does it take, 45 minutes? I walked it by accident because the sign said this way to the train and it wasn't that way to the train. And I got and the guy goes no you got to go that way and then they had built a divider for like almost a mile that I had to go back around and I wasn't the only one and everyone was doing the thing where they were like do we jump this? Can we jump this? Should we jump this? It was so yeah it was so painful. I can't believe this is gonna host a World Cup Final. I was talking

to somebody who's covering the game They live in New York and I don't think that they've covered or gone to a game at MetLife and like I'm getting a voice on He's like, yeah. Well, anyway, I'm almost getting the New York pen here on my way to MetLife. You are not You are not Five trips away still From getting there, but I had a lot of fun at the game And I think like you said, like there's some cool environments to it. What my guess about the whole thing always was,

was that the Brazilian and Argentine teams would be the draw. But a lot of that is because they don't come to the US as often, which may change now because they may see, oh, here is the value that European teams have already seen. For the most part, the Brazilian teams do go to Florida. They do their off season in January. In Orlando, they'll play like a fake friendly and then they'll go back. Maybe they start to expand that a little more, although the weather not perfect for it.

But yeah, it's a... Everybody needs a piece of the cake and it's great. Well, Tom, anti open markets over here. Yeah, let's just have no off season. Let's just keep it running. Well, you were locked in. Because Auckland City needs to play fire music. Didn't you watch the 114 tournament

for the Club World Cup three years ago? Weren't you super locked in about that? Wasn't that your favorite competition? I hate Club World. And on that note, we move from the Club World Cup, USMNT 5-0 win in the Gold Cup. Gold Cup's been a little bit wacky to start. You had the Dominican Republic, the 3-2 loss to Mexico. And they almost tied it.

And DR has been for real for a couple of years. Marcelo Nevejoff, who's the coach, was Orlando City's Academy Director under Oscar Pereja before he took this job. He is the one who helped bring Alex Freeman in, Gustavo Carballa, like he, and I think they were working on Ben Huckramaski is my understanding. They thought he was gonna come to Orlando. He ended up on Inter Miami instead, cause I think Nebohov's roots are at like Westin

and those clubs in the Miami area. And he left to take over this role, but Dominican Republic's been on the rise for a while. They've done it both ways, finding dual nationals, as well as building out a better system to create players in their own country. That was a wild game. Then you get CERN on Costa Rica,

which was like the full, Francisco Calvo was like, you're all me now. There's 22 of me. Let's see what happens. And it was exactly how you thought you had basically own goals. You had red cards, you then had the team to sir and I'm went down one zero, what up to one, then up three to got a red card on Costa Rica and then lost four to three up a man. And then Guatemala knocks off Jamaica, I think for the first time ever. It was the first time Guatemala had ever beaten Jamaica in a game.

So it's been a vibe, Tom. And on top of all that, USMNT won 5-0 against Shenandoah and Jamaica. Yeah, sorry about that one. It was a good performance. They're in a difficult spot where it's just like, yeah, that was cool. And like, what does it mean? I don't know. It's better to win and I think it's important for them to hopefully win this competition. But they're kind of in a lose-lose situation where if they win, it's like, okay, cool. It's great. Who cares? But then if they perform poorly, it's like okay cool it's great who cares but then if they

perform poorly it's going to be a critique of the players of the staff of the federation again like as it should be there should be criticism but like the reason why i don't see a ton of upside gosh like of the starters of that trinidad and tabago game chris richards i think was the only one you could say he will start the opening game at the World Cup provided he's healthy Guaranteed that's it. You're saying I Mean a virtual yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean like even if it was Turner and go and it was freeze You'd probably be like, yeah, I think he'd be the starter, but I don't know for sure It's like said Rima's on the field. But like dude, we love Max Orffson here

He's not gonna be on he's not gonna be playing at the world. I don't know if that's true, man Like he's true, man. He's, oh, I mean Pochettino seems to really, really love him. Not only does Pochettino love him, I think kind of what's happening, and if you want, we can both cosplay as former USMNT players and just complain about the world. I think there's something going on

with commitment and cause and how engaged you are with the project. And this all might be false because these players are unavailable and so he has to be committed to the players he has. But I think there's a decent chance we're about to get five Jonathan Borensteins. The guys that the coach decides are his guys that keep getting called in and it's going to be very hard for other players to win spots if they don't get Minutes and like I get it Jedi is going to play but I don't know Yeah fair enough. I think maybe my bigger point was like

You know And even for the players that again, maybe that was probably too hard. No, I think I get what you're saying But like so the team that played against Switzerland and a lot of the players that played against um, Trinidad and Tobago a Lineup with Max Arfsten at left back and then Diego Luna and Jack McGlinn and Joe Wingers is Never going to be played at a complete a World Cup or a friendly like again We saw how that went against Switzerland man, like like cool. They played really well against Trinidad and Tobago It was like again like ah Jamal like I thought he was good. I thought he was fine like

It was like a January camp game where it's like yeah, that was awesome that you scored against you know, Venezuela's C team It's like what does this mean moving forward? I think I think that's just kind of where I'm fed up of like talking about this where it's like sick, man. Like we're going to talk about Sebastian Barralter or whatever. Right. And be like, all right, like he's probably not going to play when the seven other center mids are available. Right. And I think maybe this is like too nihilistic or too like defeatist to like look at it. Like, but I just what are we going to take away?

It's going to be, you know, 18 different players on the World Cup squad. I think what you're hoping to get is a clear idea of who can be depth and who can be a part of that. I agree with you on like that starting team. But like, I wouldn't be shocked if Jacqueline Glenn and Diego Luna are the attacking options off the bench. And I think we all wouldn't be shocked if multiples of the center backs are there. Like I do think one of the things we might come away with is like, who's Chris Richards

best pairing in this group? And that may not be the op all the options you're having at actual like as you go into the World Cup. But like it wouldn't be shocking if it was Mark McKenzie if he plays well, it wouldn't be shocking if it is Tim Ream because clearly seems to be trust there or walkers are like they all kind of have a shot at it, which is play well now with Chris Richard, show your partnership and then you can try and maintain that spot. I think Luca Del Toro will probably be on

or around that roster as well. Johnny obviously will be. So yeah, I agree with you. It's hard to say this is what's happening out of this. The only thing they can do is win games. That's the only thing they can do at this point that is anyway positive. I've been asked a couple of times,

they should win the gold cup. Like if you think Canada, Mexico's groups or squads are better than them, that's fine. They should still win the gold cup. Like that should be the expectation. That should be an acceptable expectation. And they should go about it in a way that that's their belief, that that's what they're gonna do.

And after five or six games, if some people perform at a high level, then they're going to stay in the conversation and they're going to have chances going forward. And I think that's what you're looking for. I'm glad they played on the front foot. Trinidad and Tobago obviously opened themselves up to it. Saudi Arabia, which is, I still can't get over talking about this in the Digicel gold cup being played out at the Rite Aid Stadium is Is going to be a tougher test in a little bit more structured and I think that's The matchups that you're looking for because I think for this US team

That's like the first thing they have to figure out is How do you break down teams that sit in against you and that's what your assumption of group stage kind of ends up looking like and then you can start to talk about those higher talent teams and like what's your go-to plan against them but that's all you can work on in this tournament right now until you get into the knockout round so it's been a wild and wacky gold cup so far i think that's like kind of be expected it's gold cup after dark man permanent late late game punch of players who played 37 tournaments in a row their eyes are bleeding they don't even know what team they're on you know games I'm like I wonder what the lineup is gonna be and then it's just like I would like when the dormant one came out today is like I feel like seven dudes

I go just wouldn't have guessed but like then but then it's like p is like PSG. I was like, I'm certain They're gonna rotate or like these guys can't be up for this and then they play essentially the best 11 and just rip Atletico Madrid and it's like dude. I'm no idea what to expect and any given the Club World Cup. It's posh The Club World Cup? It's Pashi. Was that your Giani? Yeah, it was like a weird French guy Giani thing. I don't know what it was. It's Pashi. Today? I feel... But did we talk about this with the money last week?

Because I've been talking about this for like a week now. I've been obsessed with it. Someone made a video about... Yeah, exactly. Esperance Tunis. And they were saying That the Champions League winner in Africa gets three million dollars for winning the whole thing And the participation was 10 million or 7 million for Club World Cup 9.9 point five and then if you get out of the group, it's seven more it even even if you is it I don't know what the breakdown is and I don't particularly care But like I know that you get like a million for a group stage win

So like if you come in third and don't advance you could so you're still gonna get more money So this is a club that is going to take home Three times more than any Champions League winner on the continent and that's like long-lasting money for a team now where it's like Okay, maybe it doesn't go straight into your roster, but you're building a new stadium or you're paying off your stadium You don't have to deal with this stuff, you can finance academy stuff, can you bring in more residency players? Whatever that is, that's like a lasting change.

And I think that's where you're seeing money talks, baby. Like some teams are way more locked in than I expected them to be. We didn't mention this, and now we're back on the Club World Cup. Clearly it's in my blood right now. The Boca Juniors crowd was crazy. I'm actually sad I wasn't in Miami for that.

I could watch videos of the Boca fans, the river, the big Brazilian clubs that I hear. I could just, if the entire Club World Cup was people sending me videos of them just taking over random places. The Boca Juniors took over the ocean. The fans took over the Atlantic Ocean. That was incredible. In fairness, people from Miami don't go to the beach because they're lame, so it's pretty open and available.

But yeah, it was epic. That was unbelievable. And that's where we all said they should just do the Confed Cup. That's where you are getting a little bit of the feel of like, I told everyone, Times Square is going to be a thing next year. It sucks because it's Times Square

But like foreign people don't know that that's what people do If you've ever gone on a trip and you've run into the British tourists, they're sitting in the tourist square drinking fosters or a Whatever other Carling whatever other crap beer that they get at home and they're drinking in that country and being like I love this place beer that they get at home and they're drinking in that country and being like I love this place waving flags and exactly and that's gonna be these and so I think it is cool to see the like okay here are the spots and because other fans are gonna see that and that's what they're gonna do next year like the Dutch fans are gonna see that and be like when we have a game at Miami that's

where we're going that's what we're gonna do do you think so or do you think that there's gonna stay inside because it? Maybe that's why they were in the water trying to cool down a little bit. But they all had shirts on! It's wild that Hard Rock doesn't have a roof. It is so wild that Hard Rock, they built that stadium with no roof, is like one of the craziest things. I'm always just like, yeah, this is sports. It's meant to be outside. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. But I sympathize with that one.

Because I think it's the only one, quote unquote, southern that doesn't, because Mercedes-Benz does and Jerry World does. But they don't have blinds for their windows in Dallas. Well, that's because God's always shining on the Dallas Cowboys. Dude, this show, for me and you, it's gonna feel great.

Yeah, everyone else is gonna hate it. Maybe like 8% of people. Also, everyone's gonna think we're drunk and we started at like 10, 15 in the morning. It's because I'm in New Jersey. We're both channeling the same, we're on the same wavelength and that's not actually safe for the show.

USMNT, they're back on the field against Saudi Arabia. I mentioned that. I have zero idea when the game is. I didn't actually think of that. So let me do a quick FOTMOB search. This is also sponsored by FOTMOB. The game's on Thursday at 9.50 PM. So what a day. Inter-Miami at 3, Seattle at 6, USMNT at 9. That's the dream, baby.m. Broadway for your guy. So he's gonna be updating the Palmares a la Lee game while he's in there. You close out the night you get a double header with PSG Botafogo and Trinidad and Tobago Haiti at the same time. One of the issues for Gold Cup by the way is on the west coast. About 80% of these fan bases are on the east coast. Like Trinidad and Tobago Haiti Haiti at Red Bull Arena, that game pops.

Like I'm there. I'm flying in for that game. That's how much I'm stoked about that. And on the West Coast, it's like 1300 people in an empty stadium, which is what some of this has looked like so far, which is less than I did. Hashtag summer. Also, shout out to one of my least favorite players in the world. Edson Alvarez being a representative for the Mexican community in LA. I thought that was very cool. It made me like him. How nice of you had to say that it was one of your least favorite players.

It made me like him 2% more. Tyler Adams is still a better defensive midfielder than him and I won't hear any conversation outside of that and that's where my fandom unfortunately seeps out every once in a while. Are we ready to do our midseason awards? As ready as we're ever gonna start with the real ones. So I'm gonna go, I'll announce each of them. And when we get into our other stuff that you created. Wait, how is it gonna work? We're just, we're gonna say the award

and then say the people that we think won the award. Okay, cool. I'll let you drive later, Tom. I'm really looking forward to that one based off this performance so far. All right, Tom, let's start. Thanks for teaching me the way. Let's let you drive later Tom. I'm really looking forward to that one based off this performance so far All right, Tom, let's start. Thanks for teaching me the way. Let's start with the first one And it's one of the I think one of the ones we've debated the most on and off the show It's the Audi goals drive progress impact award winner

I blindly go like Kai Kamara I will blindly go like Kai Kamara. Noted studio analysts now Kai Kamara. Yeah, doing well. And then I think we could pair that with the MLS assistant referee of the year. But there's just halfway through and I think as you've always talked about, a lot of the assistant referees really push on from July later because that's where they get their kick. I think that's where we're at on this one.

Okay, cool. So now we'll actually start. I have coach of the year down first. This is I think another, this reminds me of two years ago when it was what? Carnell, Nance and Curtin? Yeah, I remember I voted for Carnell. I think Curtin. And Carnell was expansion winner doing things expansion teams had never done. Curtin was continuing to do great things with the team that maybe was questioned.

A legacy type of war too because of how good they had been for a few years and that you... So maybe Nance was the year before where was Nance first. I feel like you voted non say like I vote I voted non say ten years ago when he was an assistant in the Academy I have a non say every year. He showed up in Montreal with a backpack. Like he has my vote for life There was that one that was one that year which was LAFC won the supporter shield Philly finished tied on points, and Montreal finished right behind. And I think both the coaching staffs for Cherunzalow and Curtin were like,

you should, and Noonan has been in there as well, were like, you should vote for Nance, and everyone didn't vote for him. So we're off to a banger start here. 23 was obviously St. Louis' debut season. So Jim Curtin won in 22. I voted for him that year. 23, Noonan won, which completely fair. Like he's an awesome coach, well-deserving. Again, my vote that year went to Cornell just because of what he did with that St. Louis

team. And then last year, Wilfernaz did win it, which again, I think that, again, they were awesome last year, obviously, but I do think that that has- It's always a year or two late. A lot. It's like you think of like the Academy Awards like they do that too it's it's like when Scorsese finally won his best best director best best picture whatever it was for The Departed that wasn't his best movie it's a great movie but it was just like okay yeah he's due here I think part of it last year it's like when things are

super close you go like all right man like Nancy we think he's the best coach like that breaks a couple tiebreakers so so I think this year is similar my guess is we are both picking between Jesper Sorensen Mikey Varis and Bradley Carnell correct I think I think that's a clear top three do you have your vote Jesper Sorensen I went back and forth because all three like again like this is one of those where if you say any one of these three people, I'm not going to argue hard against it, right? Like I was split here. All three would be deserving winners at this stage of the year. But for Sorensen, for me, he it's it's all of what we've recapped over and over again, Coming into the season with him taking over a day before preseason, with ownership, having put the team up for sale for a group that hadn't developed or hadn't

gone further. Like they finished eighth in the Western Conference the year before. They keep losing the LEFC in the playoffs. They, you know, they've been without Ryan Gold essentially the whole season. What he's done to make every single player on that roster better and the way they play. And again, reminder, this is an award just for the MLS regular season. So saying that they got to the CONCAP Champions Cup final isn't supposed to be part of this. But where it can be part of this is they're playing games midweek most weeks,

and they're still getting the results in MLS on the weekend. So with all of that as context and for Vancouver being traditionally a low spending team, and that's what they are again this season. I think all of that relative to expectation, to the uncertainty around the job, losing Stuart Armstrong a couple of weeks into preseason, and the way they play for me gives it to Jesser Swanson just by a hair. In a vacuum, or you can think about it as these teams, what is harder in your mind to get a team that has been settled and has no changes to play a lot better or to put together a brand new team that's playing really well?

So that was one of the thoughts that I like. I think it's a little bit more. I mean, it depends on the project, right? Like if you have to come in and get rid of 15, 18 players and then sign, you know, 12 to 15 or whatever, like this Vancouver team didn't quite have that. But like we looked at this team as they're stalled out and it wasn't a good thing that they had continuity. It's like they don't even have any moves to make.

I think I think all three of these projects are Completely different. It's Vancouver, which was how do you find improvement without changing the roster at all? It's Philly which was Established team flipping the roster and it's San Diego, which is an expansion team So part of what you're judging here is what do you think is more impressive? Part of what you're judging is which do you think is better of the three? And I think that will end up coming down to trophies. Like if genuinely one of these wins a supporter shield, I think that coach is going to win coach of the year. Yeah. So and I try to I try to not just be like, oh, the team who had the best record the regular season, but like in this situation, any of these three teams, like, yeah. I think two years ago, I was like,

how can you look past Bradley Carnell doing this with an expansion team? And maybe that makes things harder for VARUS because now you've had Atlanta, LAFC, you could argue Nashville year one, and St. Louis that have set a little bit of a different barometer of what you do expect from an expansion team.

None of them played the soccer that San Diego is playing, which is like now that starts to shift things a bit. So I, like we said, I think all three would be right. I said yes for Sorenson as well. I just, I don't know how you avoid it. They are the best team in major league soccer, like from the quality of what they play to the results they're getting. They've done he's done it with so many players we've seen for years that are now playing outside their minds all at the same time had zero experience around the league. Before he got here, you talked about all the other stuff, the ownership sales to Armstrong, whatever. So that's where my vote fell as well. Now let's move. Let's do MVP. I'm going to do both here.

MVP and newcomer. Andres Dreier is my vote for both. Oh, there we go. Maybe we should have put these on a shared sheet so he didn't end up. No, this is better because then you would have just picked somebody that you didn't believe. Yeah, but how do I win time? MLS Best 17 Goal Contributions for Andres Dreier. He leads the league in assists as well.

He's an 8 goals, 9 assists. He started all 18 games and of MVP, these kind of awards, that matters. Like he's been the constant. They've had a few other players, you know, CJ Dos Santos, Chris McVee, I know Anabal could always miss a few games, but like they've had a few constants and Andres Dreier has been the most important one for me because beginning of the season You're Chuki Lozano's second banana. He's more of the inside forward You're more of the like the key's the guy who's gonna get the creative license and freedom and you kind of have to work within The system well and then Chuki goes down and then it's like, okay

You need to kind of be both the creator and a finisher. Okay, Ingvartsson our center forward goes down You know, we're either gonna play as a false nine, maybe you'll play a century sometimes. We really need you to be a killer. And then True Hulazano comes back and it's like, okay, now can you do, he's done so many different roles and his technical quality, motor, and intelligence is everything San Diego wants to build around and play.

So, Anders Dreier has been the MLS MVP for me as well. That's awesome. I think the other names that will deserve to be floated, Messi deserves to be in it now this year from actual production. And I think he'll get in that conversation. It's going to be interesting if Philly finishes high if Tye Borebo is obviously in that golden boot combo, it'll be him. I don't know who else. I just don't think he's a serious MVP. Like, again, that's this isn't a knockout. It's just I don't think that he does.

He impacts the game as much as the other players do because he's super important in finishing goals. But like, I don't know, I just think Dreier is more irreplaceable to San Diego and Messi is obviously more irreplaceable to Miami and go on the list and have a bigger impact in the game. Yeah I think that's fair. If the standings remain similar and Nashville finishes as a top-six team and Hany puts up the numbers he's putting up I think he's gonna get back into a conversation again this year. Yeah yeah yeah we did this on on Morning Foodie Michael LaHood had Hany as his MVP MVP He wasn't consideration for me at the CBS crossover content in here dreams

Just just letting you know um and he was pretty indignant about it lovely hood But I think this is wrong, but to your point. I think absolutely like absolutely will be in the conversation if Nashville sticks around towards the top of the east and he continues, which we all know he's a phenomenal player. But I think it's a clear dryer by himself right now. Then there's like Messi or Van der. You know, and then you talk about okay, what if this happens for this? And now Chucky back who's playing at a high level. That could help dryer because their numbers could both pop or maybe it takes away a bit because Chucky starts to control more things and

his numbers drop off a little bit And obviously the team needs to remain sort of towards the top for Vancouver. Do you have a vote if they finish? Doppler League is it Brian White? Is it Kuba? But I think that this comes back to and nice try being a hipster demons Let's talk about it. Let's talk about the the Canadian Premier League head coaching candidatesster demons let's talk about it let's talk about the the Canadian Premier League head coaching candidates more and let's talk about how many Canadian Premier League former coaches have done poorly in MLS yeah exactly so you're welcome

yeah no it's like it probably Brian White and I had him in the mix here, but like I think he falls more like Beribo I'd probably put him up, but maybe and maybe that's just being unfair to Beribo and Philly but I feel like Brian White does more in addition to scoring goals, but Yeah, it'd probably be him. But like again, I just I think the MVP at this stage of Major League Soccer is guys who have higher usage rate and who are creating goals than assists rather than just like the top goal scorer is going to win this. I think that's fair.

Newcomer, I said Dreier. Does that mean if you have him as MVP you have him too? Yeah. I'd be really funny if I didn't. But so yeah, if Dreier is MVP he's obviously a newcomer. But look, Kevin Denke has been fantastic like any other year I feel like he'd be the runaway newcomer the year candidate like I think he

He could be on the fringes of an MVP race because of everything he does like again There's a lot of ifs and like a van or probably still be their stronger candidate But regardless just shouting out Kevin Denke and the newcomer the year Yes, and this obviously will be dictated by results. If Chicago flies up the standings, maybe a bomba gets into this. Maybe Hugo Kuyper's gets into this. Those are some like the individual performers. Well, Kuyper's isn't a newcomer.

Oh, sorry. We're on newcomer now. I thought we were talking about MVP. I think Posilic could be in this converse. I think Posilic could be in this convo, especially if he continues as the season goes along. That's one where I would say, like maybe even Ohada gets into an MVP talk, but Pasalic might just be both of them, like another dryer, which would be pretty big.

Okay, let's move to goalkeeper of the year or in defender of the year. Tommy, pick one. Cornell for goalkeeper, Tristan Blackman for defender. I think defender of the year Tommy pick one Cornell Cornell for goalkeeper Tristan Blackman for defender I think defender the year is a more interesting conversation at this point. So I'll start there Tristan Blackman I have him ahead of Michael Boxall both players have been excellent Both of them are critical to how their team plays and in completely different ways for Tristan Blackman his defending in space and

eliminating transition moments and comfortability to be on an island with with the you know electric or pacey forward is very unique and they need him to be that to play the way that they play. They also need him to be comfortable on the ball. The way that he progresses both dribbling and passing is integral to how they play and a little bonus he's got a long for a mate. And that's a nice little bonus. I can't believe you just brought that up. Goalkeeper of the year.

What? Little cherry on top. I hate. Little Coutre-Mont. You know how much I hate this, right? Yeah, because you're just wrong. I'm not wrong. It is bad soccer.

Goalkeeper of the year, I find a really tough one this year. To me, there's not a clear outlier. I think that's partially because of how balanced the teams are, and it's partially because of the performances. I think Coronel is up there. I think Matt Friese is up there as well. I think Zach Steffen is up there. This is a really tough one to say coming off the weekend that was, but I think there's a pretty good chance if the season remains the way it is that I would vote for CJ Dos Santos at the end of the year because of what's asked of him both in possession and as a goalkeeper. He conceded an own goal and then gave up a rebound for a second goal on Saturday. So it's like not a great time to talk about that.

But listen, scared money don't make money. So you got to be, you got to be where you got to be. I do think he's one of the keepers that's more connected. I think if Schulte was healthy the full year, he probably gets in, but it's going to be tough now if he misses two months or whatever it ends up being plus national team stuff with him. So that's like the whole range of them. I don't feel great about any of them.

So I'll go with that freeze right now. Yeah. And again, I think he's worthy Cornell and freeze were the two for me. Stefan would have been in there, but I think the injury is going to make it hard because of the games he's going to miss. And same thing, like you said, for salty. But I think that's going to be wide open for the rest of the year. Defender of the year, I feel good about Blackman as well. And this is one of those that's tough

because we're pulling not just because he was on the show, but we're pulling CCL stuff in like you just can't ignore it. But the performances they've had the way they play. I mean, if people voted for Veselninovich, I also wouldn't be mad. Like that's, that's how good they've been. I Veselninovich on my ballot last year or I had him in like these discussions. It was like he was the dominant center back last year. And I think this year, just with the emphasis change on the way they play, like Blackman's more important.

But again, Veselninovich is awesome. Yeah. Okay. So that takes us through to the final one, which is Young Player of the Year in Major League Soccer so this award is I can't explain but you have to be 22 in the year of under 23 what under 23 yes thank you which the 22 under 22 you have to be under 22 so that's the little bit of difference there I'm gonna put in USMNT starting right back Alex Freeman as my vote.

He is one of the top chance creators in the league. Orlando has been one of the best teams both ways, defensively and offensively. He is huge to what they do in the attack, but he's held up defensively. And like that was the whole question mark with him. They knew he could affect the game going forward. He's held his own. He's pushed his way into the national team and not just like oh he got around it Like he's gotten pretty much to start every game in this window and he's not the only right back on that roster Yeah, Freeman's been really really good But can't say enough good things about him except Diego Luna is my fault like these

awards traditionally go to attackers. If Freeman and Luna each have their best season, Luna's winning this award. Luna has eight goals and four assists in just under 1,400 minutes. That's a really strong season for a team that he's had to carry. It was supposed to have more help around him. We thought Marchuk was going to give them more. We thought they were going to bring in DP Forward multiple. And Diego Gonzalez was gonna be like a human being on the team. Exactly Exactly. Instead it's Diego Luna and if he doesn't perform really well They don't have a chance to win and even when he does perform really well, sometimes they don't win So the responsibility that's on Diego Luna every single game and the production and output he's been giving

every single game and the production and output he's been giving. It's Diego Luna for me, but both of these players are gone for however many weeks with the gold cup, so they're going to miss games. Maybe that opens a door for somebody else, but I do think that Quince Alvin is also gone. That would have been a guy to consider, and I think that he'll still have a role in this, but I think Diego Luna is the leader, and if he plays anywhere near the way he's been playing, like I think it's a round. I think Jack McGlynn is gonna be one that's gonna get mentioned in here.

And similar to Luna, like he's the central force of his team's attack. Luna has more pressure. I think McGlynn's team might have more success. I think Julian Fernandez has been playing better and could get into this conversation. Tom's just completely out on it get out of here. Okay, that's it with our Traditional old school categories Tom bring us the cool snappy wacky new school

Superlatives just another way to talk about the first half of the season We didn't have a lot of creativity from David Goss and that's okay. You know, I could just come up with the names. Um, first perler for me, uh, most pleasant surprise, David Goss, what is your most pleasant surprise of the 2025 MLS season? So I have all teams listed here because I think big picture if you, you know, the whole conversation around the league right now is did anyone think any of these teams were going to be here when you look at the top six and then the next combo is like, can they maintain?

So I have some that I'm going to filter into other categories. So here I'm going to go with Nashville. I liked the way Nashville had built to be competitive or competent was my feeling this year and then building bigger going forward. And I think they've made more jumps than I expected faster. And they've done it in a pleasing way to watch, enjoyable way to watch. And they've done it without dumping the things that were there, like they're getting more out of search. They've gotten honey back into more comfortable positions. They've maintained without Walker Zimmerman. And I think you've seen the positives and

negatives like the issues defensively, but also some of the positives in possession and that whole central midfield core I could watch play every day whether it's taxeth whether it's um uh Yazbek whether it's bringing Gaston Brugman in for the time they play in there um Alex Muehl has been really really good and Qasim is he's my Gostian player for next year because I think what we see this year is going to be the like tip of the iceberg. I think he's going to be a dominant game changer next year. So, uh, they're really, really enjoyable to watch. They've been successful. I love Andy Nahar. I love seeing him healthy and effective and BJ Callahan, I think, you know, he's clearly got Greg Burr halters number. Now he's on the broadcast.

Maybe we'll learn a bit more about his personality But like what a perfect first year coming off the way he started and I think you're building something special at Nashville Yeah, I really like that shout. This was a team that came up for me And it's funny we keep on talking about the relativity of the season like Like there are so many different, most pleasant surprises you can pick from. Like you said, you're looking at the top of the standings and you could name any of those teams. And I think Nashville is a good one. For me, it's gonna sound a little boring now

because we've talked about Vancouver for so long over the last 20 minutes. Like it's still Vancouver. Like I'm not gonna overthink this. Again, man, like the dunk on myself, I think I had them like 14th in the West in like my preseason predictions. I thought the scene was going to be trash and they're the best team in the league.

So again, there are other options. There are again, there's Philly, but I was higher on Philly, but there's still a super pleasant surprise. But like the the Delta between what I thought Vancouver was going to be. And again, I don't think I was alone, but I am an idiot. So Vancouver, what you got? I have Vancouver in my list of teams, but I had them coming up somewhere else.

Let's move to the next one here, Tommy Scoops. Least pleasant surprise. So I have two down. From a team point of view, the obvious one is Atlanta. But I'm going to lean into the player one, which is Brian Gutierrez. I really thought with Greg coming in with the teams he's coached in the past, and we've seen a lot of it come to fruition. Hugo Kipers, I think he leads the league in XG. He's one of the leading goal scorers. You knew that Greg's system would create goals for a center forward. You knew that Greg's system would solidify things defensively.

And I think you've seen young players come in at center back and come in at fullback and be successful because of the structure he's able to build. He also has had some of the best tens in league history and he's created space for them to work. Gutierrez hasn't taken advantage of that. And then there's been this weird sort of reaction to like the growing pains of whether that's being a pro, whether that's being unsure about the next steps in your career, whether that's disappointment with the national team, unsure of where you fit in this team, whatever it is, I thought that he was going to be a guy that I was saying was a gold cup call up should be in young player of the year conversation. And none of that has been true.

Now, I think that's a good shout on Gut year conversation. And none of that has been true. No, I think that's a good shout on Gutierrez. It's, you know, another bad red card that we talked about for our many weeks ago. What I like about what Greg Barlater's done with Chicago is his man management. So hopefully that can shine through for Brian Gutierrez over the second half of the season. Like I was told, if you remember in the opening weekend, Sergio Oriol had an abominable game. He was told, if you remember in the opening weekend, Sergio Oriel had an abominable game. He was so, so bad. A couple of the goals directly because of his giveaways. And this is a young player who, look, they wanted to give him a chance and they like him, but it's

not like coming to a season like Goody or coming in a season like McGlynn where it's like, all right, like there will be some growing pains, but it's, whatever Orioles the kind of guy where like there's a possibility you have that performance and you don't see the field again for a long time what I was told is that night like 1 30 in the morning when they got back or whatever it was Orioles getting text for Berhalter like hey man everybody has bad games we were gonna rely on you we're gonna need you this season I'm pretty sure he started week two and I'm pretty sure he told him like Don't worry like shake it off. Keep trying to play this way

Don't play scared and Orioles been really really good this season So hopefully there will be some stuff for good Tierra's in that like burlter won't be like Oh, you got a bad red card. F you like you're the dog house. Yeah What's your what's your least? What's your what's your least? Um, gonna go the LA Galaxy. You and I differed on what they might be this season even without pooch. Yeah, even you that were a little bit more down on them than I was like never in your wildest dreams could you've assumed something like this and even like I don't think that you could have assumed that they were gonna be 13th let alone dead last with one win after 18 games. It's just been a comedy of errors, a confluence of bad performances, a little

bit of bad luck and a little bit of a disconnect, I think, between the coaching staff and the front office. Like we've seen some of the newer signings get more minutes and they've played better, but like, dude, they have eight points after 18 matches. Eight points after 18 matches eight points after 18 matches Yeah, I think those are all great points we're gonna debate that like galaxy thing Coming up in a bit. So let's move to the next one. You put down most fun team Tom. Why don't you start? Sure, I'll start I'll start I'm gonna go to San Diego It was a toss-up for me between San Jose and San Diego just because of the chaos that comes from these San Jose games, which I love.

But man, San Diego are getting towards the Wilford-Nancy Columbus crew category of, if they're on, I don't care who they're playing, they're on my main screen. I just want to watch them play. And I think that's a singular trait that, again, was really only reserved for Columbus in recent years. There's a ton of fun teams. There's a ton of teams. I really enjoy watching in MLS, but San Diego are the only other team behind Columbus that broke through to like, dude, if they're playing, I want to watch.

So Vancouver is my version of that. I think they've broken through for me to no matter what, I'm getting good soccer that I enjoy. I don't think San Diego is the wrong one there, but I went the chaos category. My debate was Chicago, who has just played these weird games, mainly just against Nashville. They fell behind San Jose, as you said, and I landed on Portland because Portland is still attack can't defend. They are seventh, I believe, in expected goals against in MLS, which weirdly the six of the worst seven are in the West. And so they're like not that bad in their own conference, but they're bad across the league. And they have no inability to close games down. So if they take Lee and then on

the last piece of that is Providence Park. So like of those three Chicago, San Jose and Portland from afar, you tune into a home game. It's the best atmosphere. You're gonna watch these teams in They have Portland has a ton of super fun attacking players. They make a ton of mistakes at the back They play these open games They let teams back into it they jump on teams early or they start behind and they jump on teams late to me They're right now the kings of the chaos category and so that's where I find them most entertaining. I wouldn't have went with Portland for that one but I like your argument. That would have been San Jose for me just because of

everything but though they have started to close down a bit more defensively. I think with Portland I just don't think that they're that bad defensively. I mean last year this was a Portland category but I think this year it's it's more controlled You know da costa in for van der finch sermon taking a step forward pantamis. So I think that that's helped but so here's the thing I'll say it this way in the east Top five teams are philly, sincenti, nashville columbus orlando In the west the top five teams are vancouver san diego minnesota portland Portland LAFC, which of those teams is the worst defensive team?

Portland yeah It's pretty out there an outlier as worse by the way We should throw inter Miami in this convo and into Miami a sixth in these but like yeah, they You know into Miami everything they do is hell but that's where so of the good teams if you want to say that portland are the worst defensively and they are one of the most dangerous offensively hence why they are high enough up the standings to be in that conversation uh next one here you have second thoughts having second thoughts yeah i'm ron bergandon just anything anything in that

Didn't happen this year St. Louis firing Bradley Cardell last year doesn't look super good right now They got have I think I'd be having a lot of second thoughts on that one. I think that's a fair one. I think Red Bulls in Columbus looking at Brian White and smashing burl halter would have to be pretty high Up this list. Those guys are kind of good at soccer now. Brian White was when they traded. Yeah, fair. I still don't get that.

Yeah, no. So it's St. Louis. They did just have a 3-3 draw this weekend for the LA Galaxy. Super fun. Down to the 15th and 14th in the Western Conference. They are seven points below the playoff line. This is kind of where they were last year coming into the summer window when they were like, just be close enough for our reinforcements. Too bad that they can't get a line to get John Hackworth on the phone.

So yeah, St. Louis might be having some buyers. Okay. The next one we have is biggest flex. I Did not explain this to you in any way. I can't wait to hear your answer But this was one of those where I had an answer and then I came up with a question biggest flex is is Columbus not buying a DP until late April and then even at that God's dog is in a center forward and like they haven't replaced Kucho Hernandez and Wilford Nancy was just like Fuck it. Well, I don't care. Give me you know, hey Jason Ross Rowe. You've scored too many goals I want to play without a center forward now And they're still really good

So I think the biggest flex is Columbus being like dude Kucho Christian really to replace anybody, bro Like do we have somebody from the second team we can get Lassie Lappeline and what are you up to? Yeah, completely understood this differently We have somebody from the second team we can get. Lassie Lappalainen, what are you up to? Come through. Yeah, I completely understood this differently. Go ahead. No, man.

I thought it was my biggest flex. So I put down, can I say, saying that they're like, Galaxy wouldn't be good and should put Ricky Booze on the SEI. That's why I saved that convo for later. I thought it was David Goss' biggest MLS flex. No, that's good. Talk through it and take your victory lap and I'll try to decide what mine is. I don't know if it's a big enough flex because I don't know that I hammered it home as much as I

should have. I think I probably- No, you did. I was an asshole whenever you were. I was like, stop suggesting. That's more on me. And I still think in the end, you did I was an asshole whenever you were like stop suggest like that that's more on and I still think in the end You're right, which is everything I've been saying which is like it's a four-year build And if Ricky Pooj is unhappy with the club because of that They weren't they weren't gonna win MLS Cup this year if they replaced them They were not gonna bring in a DP who was gonna make them an MLS Cup winning team You could say is MLS Cup and being MLS Cup competitive in the two years around this worth how bad this year has been that could be a debate But I feel pretty safe about that one. The other one I put down was all caps pet BL motherfucker

I felt pretty good then I wrote bro It's pet BL cuz that's like my favorite line of yours that I try and keep reusing all the time. Which is funny because the next superlative you had was the take you're wrong about but refuse to give up on and which I didn't have a single answer for this one. Why? I couldn't think of anything. Because you're just a thinking man who will change his mind with new information. I think mainly it's because I have no belief in anything I actually say and I was a coward and I ran away from everything. So for me, Atlanta will

make the playoffs. No. I can't give up. No. I can't give up. I don't have any good rationale for this. They suck. And even when they seem to play well, it doesn't seem repeatable and then they immediately suck and you're you're still in that's like It was either that or like saying Charlotte is gonna be better than they are So either one of those it's like I feel stronger about Charlotte cuz they're better But like I think this is a better answer for me to say that like, you know What it don't let them? Yeah, I would say so I think I'm not think I picked the Seattle Sounders to win supporter shield. And I still think they're a

good team. Like I still think they're there. By the way, I just because I had to look this up because I thought I had in my head. Atlanta finishes this before a little bit of a layoff. They have they go at Columbus, then they go at Miami, which is great. Then they're at DC and at Toronto, which are not, but like that's a four game road stand. They come home to play Chicago, Charlotte and Seattle. So yeah, you're gonna know the answer to that one

pretty soon. Good time to say I broke the news this morning that Atlanta are very close to signing a Albanian international center back whose name I'm scared of trying to pronounce. Yeah, it's a smart thing to be scared of. Ine Mihaj. Sick. He was playing in Portugal for another team whose name I'm scared to try to pronounce.

Famili Kau. name family cow this is I hope it can solve us is gonna be listening to this and just like crazy so sad I'd EG but yeah so they're bringing in Albany International Center back on a free transfer deal is very close as what I was told so if that gets done that's a big signing but Atlanta will have ten games remaining when the transfer window opens and they might be too far gone by the time he gets here but that's a good start. Yeah I'm gonna say mine is I'm staying in on Seattle. Like I still think they're an MLS Cup contender. I think they get healthy.

If Yima and Jordan Morris are back they're already fine. Actually think the soccer looks pretty good. I think Kent has been like a really good ad. There was a moment in the Botafogo game where he like saves this ball with a croiff on the sideline and plays it like straight to Reed Baker Whiting's feet and now they're out and he's flying up the field. Obviously Moose has been a good like ad in terms of getting playing time and being productive. So yeah, I'm not going to sell my my stock there on that one. We do have some stock that we do have to get into. Did you want to do

interesting tactical change? I'll just be really quick. For me, it's Orlando finessing their system around their best players and that's putting Breckalow at left back, Freeman to play like a wing back on the right side. It's like what Houston does with Griffin Dorsey where the left back stays at home and Griffin Dorsey plays like a wing back somehow in a back four. I really like that. And then that also, they've also tweaked around the the front four, more so in roles and positioning where like you're just getting the absolute best out of Oheda, Morial, Paschalich and Angulo. And I think that's a really good

I'll say Caleb Porter and switching to the three in the back and getting a lot out of fine gold who's been phenomenal Peyton Miller when he's out there. And I think a little bit of credit there of like, you brought in a whole new roster with one specific formation and you didn't tie yourself to it. And even though a lot of the pieces were supposed to save this job, we're supposed to fit into that. Yeah, they've been flexible enough to tweak things around coming into this weekend. They were nine unbeaten. They still need more production from the center forward position even more because they're like getting a ton of space wide that there are

Crossing crossing space available, too Uh, but I think that will come so that's our tactical one you wrote here you go for the next few Best homage to proper football mate Minnesota united's pension for long throws put it in the mixer last zero question about that one It's minnesota for, by the way. The Welsh wizard making all of the lads proud. Oh, that's delightful. Last two, or last three, sorry,

I didn't notice that one more. Team, I'm buying stock four in the second half of the season. It's still Cincy's supported shield race for me. Like, they've been, I was looking at their XG numbers, and again, I know that they're not been great, or not been sportishly great, but they're still getting a lot of results. They're 22nd in MOS and expected goal difference. They are right between, it goes 20th St. Louis, 21st Colorado, 22nd Sinzi, 23rd New England. That's crazy to me.

I still think that they're going to be really, really good down the stretch, though I have been saying that now, probably for six weeks. So maybe it won't happen mine is I'm all in on Texas and I still have Wall I Still have Dallas and Houston stock and every time I think I'm out I get sucked back in I've been saying Houston for me because they did so much work late Like I think they're going to be a better team in the second half of the season especially once McClint 100% bad time to say it then on the flip side Dallas just smoked court, Kansas City, which doesn't mean anything

And Uruguay days injury is a massive part of this but like it feels like Musa and Lucho are starting to create more of a connection and that's making life really easy for the guys around them to figure out where they fit in. And I still feel really good about my Musa golden boot pick of like even if he's not this can go into my other one. Even if he's not it like he's played at a level to be that and maybe there's the team's not that good. So I feel good about those two teams of like being playoff teams in the Western Conference. Plus the West is like pure chaos. Yeah, I mean, Peter Musa has five goals right now.

He's only eight off of the Golden Boot race. Great pick. You taking a victory lap on that? He's one of the five best soccer players at the center forward position in Major League Soccer. Sick. Is that what they give the goal and boot for? I don't know.

I never really pay attention. After the Audi's goals progress drives impact award, I kind of tune out after that. Team, I'm selling stock for no matter the fee over the second half. Goss, what do you have? This means like, because I called a couple of finance people and pulled out a Patagonia vest and really got locked in on this conversation. My understanding with this is no matter the fee means even if it's low, you're still selling. Even if you're not going to make a lot of money. So I have Atlanta as mine, which clearly worked out well for me because you'll buy it straight

off me. I might even be able to bid you I might be able to get Rob Ursa in here and bid you guys up against each other No, I think Rob couldn't be more low on this team. Yeah I don't think you have a chance to. That's a good point. For me and it comes with an addendum if the Red Bulls don't add a serious designated player this summer I'm just all the way out on this team. Just all the way out. Where I was this time last year and then they got to have a couple of fun. The safest thing to do in this would have been to pick one of the top four in the West.

Because you've got to assume someone falls off the conferences so tight. I don't know who, man. Yeah, I mean, Portland would be the safest bet in that. The question would be like, does San Diego and Vancouver have the depth to do this for a full year? And you'd kind of just be picking blind there unless you have pure belief. I think it's hard because both have proven that they're willing to rotate pieces and they all play well because of the system. So maybe I'm wrong. But I do think that your financial advisors will probably lean you in that direction at Charles Schwab. So sponsored by Charles Schwab.

So let us know if you want to throw a little money our way. I'm now reading the last category, which I read wrong at first. So it's a second half of the season, Gauss theorem. I just thought it said Gauss theorem. So I put Joaquin Pereira and Luis Muriel, who I think are leaders for Gauss theorem this year. I think that's good. I think that's, we'll split then. I'll do it how I wrote it then. I think I think that's good. I think that's we'll split then I'll do it how I how I wrote it then I think that's good. I would go with Luis Morial just his redemption arc But for me, I'd like looking forward to the second of season Emmanuel latte lot Right, that's my second half of the season. So it's

Treating the seasons as that the season is two years who's coming on on the second year? Yeah, second half of the year. He hasn't scored since March, but don't let him get hot. I think that's a really good one. I'm really, really impressed by what you were able to come up with there, Tommy Scoops. I didn't know I had Atlanta for three years. And that takes us to our superlatives.

I don't think that's wrong, by the way. Atlanta, for me, every single negative one take take you've had whatever, they spend $50 million and they're not an MLS playoff team. So I think that was a pretty safe one for them to like a pretty safe team to come into that space. And on the flip side, I think like Vancouver, Philadelphia maybe didn't come up as often as they could. I think that's partially because of the style that they didn't come into like all the entertaining stuff and then San Diego I think are always going to be like tops on that side. So if you think I won, let me know. You can find us on social, SoccerWise, HQ, anywhere you find your social media. You can go into our Discord if you're a Patreon subscriber and you can tell us that you think I won. If you think Tom won, you can

find his address and mail him a handwritten letter. That's the only way you can vote for him. So we'll have to count those when they all come through. And, you know, no barriers to entry on any of this. Just feel free to shoot it our way. Thank you to all of you for listening. For anyone who watched like the minute and seven seconds of the live show today, I apologize. I will go delete that because that is very, very bad quality. And we'll be back tomorrow with Jordan. Reminder, no

show on Thursday. And then we'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. I don't have plans for holidays, so I don't know that we'll ever take off. The grind is real for Tom. So we'll have to figure something out around. I don't know when July 4th is. I don't even know what day of the week it is and We're very excited. We will be in the discord for all the Club World Cup games So come hang out with us If you don't already subscribe to our patreon to get you access there as well as to our depth charts Which were pretty huge for me in going through all of this and we've got a transfer window around the corner

So we're gonna get the ice cream shop popped open We are going to get a couple new flavors in there. Depth charts is what you need for that. You want access to the Discord for all of that as well. So thank you to all of you for listening and we'll talk to you again very, very soon.