SoccerWise - MLS Edition: David's Got The CCL Fever Back, Dallas $4mill Signing + Big Transfer needs

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

David turns back the clock for the classic CCL Fever as we hit the big time in that competition. Thee guys break down everything they saw this week in CCC(gross). Then they dig into FC Dallas's multimillion dollar center mid signing, and discuss some glaring transfer needs that can still be filled. Finally their must watch games of Week 3 in MLS. 9:30 Whitecaps Pushing Monterey19:00 Seattle Tie Cruz Azul22:44 LA Galaxy Lose 1-0 In Costa Rica29:04 FCC Tie Tigres At Home35:00 LAFC Revenge Match Against Columbus41:50 FC Dallas $4mill u22 Signing48:30 Glaring Roster Holes In Orlando, Columbus, Houston, SLC, Nashville & More1:06:50 Must Watch Week 3 SJ-MIN & Revs-Philly   Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What's up everybody and welcome back to Soccer Wise, Tommy Scoops and David Goss with you a little bit earlier here on this Thursday. If you are watching live, if you're listening as a podcast, I guess that doesn't really affect your life. Although we'll be up a little bit earlier. I have some family in town, so I gotta run around. Tom, you've got plenty of things to do as well. So we figured we'd jump on now. Also because, I got the fever, man.

I'm back. The CC, and I'm calling it out, it's CCL to me me It is that it's very like Lakers fans and staple center of like CCL was a fake name that was invented After whatever was called Campione's Cup, but that that's the that's its its legal name to me It is its Cassius clay is CCL and I'm back in man, and I'm all about it I love that you came all the way around to cash his clay and that's what you want me over I think it has to be CCL one of the great lines in coming to America is one of the barbershop scenes where he Keeps calling him I think it's got to be CCL and so an MLS club wins it again. Just because all these all these L's

and head towards the end ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm I don't even feel proud about that. I just thought. L tree, really nailed it, Tom. Really nailed it on that one. You can hear me bail on that halfway through. Like this sucks, why am I even saying this? We've got a lot to talk about coming up in this show. FC Dallas made a huge signing this week. And so we're gonna talk about that,

but it also brings us into some other transfers that we'd still like to see happen. And that will help us preview the weekend as well with some big games coming up. And of course we're going to talk about the CONCACAF champion stuff. The vibe in Eridiano in the victory over the LA Galaxy. Galaxy fall 1-0 late goal unbelievable strike. There was a strike in the Dortmund Champions League game. I think it was earlier in the day. that was like one of the cleanest. Oh my god. But

Aguilera's shot was not the same but it was in a similar vein of like watching it in replay. It felt good. Like your soul felt good as if you hit it. That's how clean that hit was and that was to take a 1-0 win over Aridiano. But Tom, the atmosphere was electric. It was CONCACAF at its best. And like, I gotta go. We gotta be in Costa Rica for some of these big CONCACAF games at some point in our soccer wise lifetime. This is the most obvious me and you thing of all time. It is a slam. Like this is probably second to G a cup. Um, and like, I don't know why that we're just, it's just hitting us now because we forgot about the CCC, the CCL until, you know, this week was when, when

it really felt great. Like week would like the round of 32 is good and stuff, but like, this is when it's like, Oh my God, like looking at Eriduiano looking at all these other games Like why are why are we not going to Jamaica next week? I Don't know that we're not we haven't decided yet I did have a friend who covers into Miami text me and be like I am if the second leg is competitive I am going to be it's like only like an hour and a half away from here. It's not very far Are you gonna take a right? Probably I I read the book boys in the boat in which there you are It is a heavy dad move

My friends have texted me about it recently because he's trying to get into rowing and he's like everyone in the class He's like, why are you here? And they're like, I read this book called boys in the boat. You're like, of course you do It's worth the read though. It is my dad has been trying they're like I read this book called boys in the boat You're like, of course you do it's worth the read though It is my dad has been trying to get me to read that book I can't probably you should be like stop trying but like I kind of always see it in the house Like my dad's an avid reader. He's a big history. So you don't like what you don't like well-written books You don't like being inspired by human greatness or you don't love the American dream like which of the three Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. But that's not what it's about. Come on, you know, it's about human

perseverance and all of that. So I will probably row down to Jamaica. It would be it would be an amazing experience but that one even less because that one that one's like cool, but it's cool in like novel way. These are like you get to see this experience. Like I just I just don't watch. I'm going to be honest. I don't watch the Costa Rica league. But like that doesn't mean it's not like this when I already on a face off against all of the ones they and face off against limo and my number one team. And like I want to be in the purple monster. I have to go to a dude a thousand percent again

we could name the ten teams that like these feel like muskos and like even like It doesn't feel quite CCL fever without it being pure Central American games and pure chaos and like the big tree in Haiti I believe or what no what they played in Dominican when when um Austin lost to the Haitian team that hadn't played Yeah That was a Haitian team playing in the Dominican Republic like that like yeah but even so like I haven't been to one of these Mexican stadiums when he's leading up like I like Mexico City is absolutely on my like alright like I

need to play I need to go there that's a non-negotiable yeah but again like I can name 10 ones we're talking about Erdogan I said it in the discord last time again subscribe to soccer wise on patreon You should subscribe the discord was on point all the way through the end of the man I was like I don't know the name of this Eridiano coach and I don't care because of Three second reaction clips. We've gotten enough in this game. I will run through a wall for this man. I'm all the way in Well, he so one thing he did really well is he was really good at showing how they should have struck it in frustration on the sideline.

So he was doing the like slice across it, should have sliced across it. And then he was pretty upset. Also it was perfect in comparison to when they cut from the wide shot of him complaining and you just see Greg Vanny in the pink pinny screaming. Nothing makes me happy. Nothing feels more like CCL fever than a head coach either wearing a lanyard with an identification or a bib. Vanny wasn't, like I don't know, am I colorblind?

He wasn't wearing the same color, he was wearing black, wasn't he? Like why did he have a bib on? He was also wearing a suit. Why did they make him do that? You gotta bib up, man't he? Like, why did he have a bib on? He was also wearing a suit. Why did they make him do that? You gotta bib up, man. What? Oh, no, no. Then you gotta bib up.

You can't just be out there raw, Dagen. Wow, we're just on random things that are just popping. But I'm a little sick. And just, you know, the great ones, they get through it by complaining about it and telling you how many times that I'm doing the show, not feeling well, so I get sympathy, and then blaming it on that.

That's what the great ones do. While every thought that pops in my head I'm just gonna say it. The viral photo last night of I believe it was Copa Libre to Doris I don't know there was a South America competition where the coach was wearing a tuxedo. No his name is Segundo Casillas I think. Second castle. He's coach of Barca in Ecuador. They played Corinthians in Copa Lib and he wore a white tuxedo. The fact that that was in Comic Con Champions Cup is mind-blowing to me. I refuse to believe that that wasn't a CCC game. I refuse to believe it. Also, you dress for the job you want, he won 3-0. That's respect. That's respecting the game. The game is back, mate. When someone shows up in a white

tuxedo and wipes a big Brazilian club 3-0, you know it's back. You mentioned Mexico City. One of the great regrets in my life was I was supposed to go down to Mexico City to see Tigres, Cruz Azul, Pumas, Club America, and then a playoff game. And I had to delay my trip one day, so I didn't get to go to the Tigris-Cruz Azul game. This was the final year of Azul Stadium. So now they play at the Azteca. And Azul Stadium was one of the ones of the like, band box in the city, like built up. And I will regret that for the rest of my life.

Toluca is similar. It's actually called La Bambanera. Like it is another chocolate box stadium. So we gotta go there at some point because I have a list of these. Estadio Cuscot-Lan for an El Salvador national team game is high. The Purple Monster as well. Those are all up there. I think those along with Pacific, you've seen that stadium and CPL,

like the crazy on the water. I think those are my top North American stadium slash game experiences that I have to hit that are not Major League Soccer, which I've been to a lot of those and enjoy them and have the last few that I have to hit But those are my top outside ones and then the Centenario in Uruguay. That's the like King one one day for a World Cup qualifier. Do you have anything that you want to throw in there as I? I just retweet everything you just said stamp it. I agree. I can't say anything better Thank you to drew fan Vanderploe who was on our show for our preview for finishing my

Coming to America joke in the chat right now We are gonna dig into CCC now Then we are going to talk about the FC Dallas signing that was made and then we have Then we are going to talk about the FC Dallas signing that was made and then we have Some transfers that we feel stronger about now after watching these teams for two and some four or five games including Concord Calf competition we have our Super chats turned on so if you want to throw a little money behind your chat and push it at us You can throw the the openings that you feel are really strong or whatever into that conversation And we will get to it when we get

into that section, but Tom let's dig into the actual games and Let's take the memes away. Let's get straight into it, which is we kept joking about Vancouver Whitecaps Taking down Monterey and Vancouver Whitecaps went toe-to-toe with Monterey only playing Superdraft kids. So I had the Herodiano vibes. I had Guido Pizarro stepping off from playing 90 minutes to stand on the sideline and manage his team. We had Vicente Sanchez, yes, Colorado Rapids legend, Chente on a sideline as well. And then Monterey And then Vancouver goes,

oh, 40, 50, 60 million dollar signings? No, no, no, no, no, no. Look at my super draft picks. Let me throw JC Nagando in the middle of this and tear it up. I was in heaven. Just everything is incredible. I don't even know where to start.

Great performance by Vancouver. Good result again, right? Like if we're talking about them getting through, you'd wanna win, but like you said, dude, Everything is incredible. I don't even know where to start. Great performance by Vancouver. Good result again, right? Like if we're talking about them getting through, you'd want to win. But like you said, dude, look at this. Wait, when the starting 11 came out, I was like, oh God, oh no. And then they played toe to toe with Monterey. And Jaden Nelson went out hurt, what, five minutes into this game.

Brian White does not get a start. We already know that Samada Kubei is out injured. Kubas doesn't get a start. Like, I don't know what this was from Sorensen. I don't want to say that he was shipping the game, even though that's kind of what it feels like. But at least the team you put out there went for the game and went toe to toe. I think unfortunately the goal conceded. Questions in the Discord about offside. You're not gonna get the best angles at the best replay moments in CONCACAF.

That's just the reality. And it was like an absurd shot to the far post that I don't know, maybe you could say is saveable if Boner is able to react a little bit better either way. Yeah, is that not his name? Isaac. I paused in the middle and we already are getting comments about the Dallas signing pronunciation which I have written down.

It's very clear that you keep saying the Dallas signing. Ka-E-K. Ka-E-K has been acquired by FC Dallas. But from that moment of the goal on, Vancouver went after the game. They pushed Monterey, they played in the attacking third. Ryan Gould's making runs from central areas to end lines out to the edge of the box. I think he would say he should have scored. Like he should have been able to score, especially on that early 1v1, which he was probably offside on, but they didn't actually call it. So I don't know what they would have done if he puts it in the have been able to score, especially on that early 1v1, which he was probably offside on, but

they didn't actually call it. So I don't know what they would have done if he puts it in the net. A couple really dangerous pullbacks as well from him. And just overall, it was the Vanny Sartini stuff from Vancouver of like playing high tempo and having the game move really quickly. But it felt a lot cleaner than what we've seen. And I think that was part of why it felt winnable, even though it wasn't all the elite talent on the field. So all of the conversation about the white caps, I would say before Stewart Armstrong was transferred because that's when it turned negative and pessimistic. But the idea was, hey, this is a really a solid team, a potentially, I would say

potentially good to very good team if everything goes right. And the idea was, well, we're not going to be able to make a ton of signings. Turns out we were wrong because Armstrong left, Nelson came in and he's obviously had a really big impact to start the season. Daniel Rios was an important depth piece for them and rotational piece. Calling it depth feels a little dismissive to Daniel Rios, but my point remains. And the idea-

No, I think it's fair because our resident Vancouver Whitecaps fan in the discord was like you're not gonna win CCC games with Daniel Rios starting up and that's a real but the whole point was the growth is gonna come if jess for Sorenson tweaks the game model refines a few things keep some more things consistent right gets the best out of the group and with the Armstrong sale with the team being up for sale, with kind of everything else that was negative outside of the locker room, outside of the playing field, and with the team being for sale, I just assumed one of the lowest spending teams in the league was going to be even lower in terms of spending.

So we weren't wrong to like point questions, but that clouded our view of like, hey, this is still a good team. It's a playoff team. They should have finished higher than they did last year. And if Sorensen comes in and immediately gets a team playing well, and refines the structure and the game model, that this should be a good team.

I was just completely wrong, is what I'm kind of building. So I feel like I've said that every show now. I have one more thing to throw back at you um I will submit this is the this is the David Goss midfield trio of JC Nagando Sebastian Barolos or Ralph Briso I don't think that there's another trio across the league that that could beat that for the David Goss midfield no 100% you're yeah we are talking USL high performer on loan super draft pick we We are talking about two GA Cup legends. We are talking about homegrowns that then have moved to second teams or third teams

to goss theorem their careers in. Yeah, it was perfection for me. Before we're too out of control on this. We're already out of control, Bell. Yeah, so someone in the chat here and thank you to Agua L who said, well, the one soccer broadcast said pregame Sorenson's focusing on MLS and rotating the team. So it doesn't run out of steam by October and November. That is where the spending does hit this team, which is they didn't have enough to get over the line last night and make it a two one

win and go on the road with a lead and potentially actually challenge for this thing. Cause it's gonna be tough. Like it is going to be tough for them to go and score. And if they don't score, then they lose. If they, you know what I mean? Like they need to go and score a goal. And so that's where you see the challenges

of the spending for this club is at their peak, healthy, best 11, great, or good, very good maybe. It's that next piece to get you over the line. It's the same conversation we're having about Houston and Philly of like, you've bumped up against this line. What are you gonna do? And almost all three of those have regressed to try and build a little higher later,

but not in a clear way. Where Columbus bumped up against the line and was like, we're going to go get Cucho. And then it accelerated them past it for a year and a half of like huge or two years of huge success. That's, I think where you see that hole. And so if you had a DP center forward, which I'm not saying they even should, because I'm not saying Brian White's a guy. Brian White starts this game though, right? You know what I mean? And then you have that guy and then you rotate gold out on the weekend and you play two up top and like that's where that depth would come in.

But for the things they've done, they've done them right. They've hit on the right players at the price point they've spent and they've improved players internally. I think Pedro Vite is clearly showing he's taking another step and is a big piece of this. And I think Ali Ahmed has obviously done that. Laborda, I think at this point, is showing that he has done it.

Veselnjevic has done it. They have helped increase, and Brian White, they have increased the quality or the performances of the players that they have on their team. And they did this against a Monterey team that was stronger than the Cruzezoul team that was on the field against Seattle.

So in the same time window, I'm watching the two games and Vancouver looks more dangerous with a more rotated squad against a better opponent. And I think that should feel pretty good for Vancouver fans, even though they would say we'd like to win things similar to Seattle because I brought it up. Can I just say what I, you don't have to worry about this result because Brian White is going to dunk all over Sergio Ramos in the return leg. They're going through. I'm all the way in.

Brian White had another moment in this game where he, what was it? He didn't start a fight, did he? There was something else with Brian White in this game where I was like, this guy, this guy loves to protect a teammate. He loves to like be the second one in with the shove being like, what are you doing, bro? What is that and I'm not gonna lie. I'm one of those people Man I'd like I need to I don't like if something happens. I'm just that kind of guy I'm in for the boys with like I'm on CBS Monday at Friday, the Cromon tomorrow, I'm on a couple days next

week as well. Oh, big TV. Oh. I can't show up with a black guy. But that's not going through my mind. A guy on the other team is just absolute lunatic, like I don't know, maybe he was having troubles at home because he came into the game way too tuned up here. Thank you.

And like he's screaming at one of my teammates, my teammates starts to lose his mind a little bit too But it was justified and the team it kind of pushes him like this like get out of my face the dude immediately goes CCC Chug like Starts to try to choke him and I was like That's a little messy. I was I was the closest one there and I was like, oh shit Is it is it about to be on thankfully it defused? But again, I'm the Brian White the David Goss like that that that's what it's all about yeah in fairness Alexis Guerrero used to sit on that um stage so you can show up with a black eye you'd be fine

that's my guy love you Alexis shout out to Cooligans our favorites um Seattle I brought it up it has not clicked yet it has not clicked in league play. It there was the one big performance against Antigua to start CCC. And I was thinking, okay, fine, they're going to take it a little slow. Like, this is a club that has a history where they understand how the focus splits. I think they've built a pretty deep squad. I think they can go after this competition. You get Cruz Azul at home heavily rotated because of fitness issues and all these other things

and it seems like the perfect setup for it and Seattle came out and I think Multiple players it felt like we're not up to the speed and pace of the game. You had some high performers I thought knew who was really good in this game defensively. I thought Yai Mar was really good in this game defensively. I thought Yaimar was really good in this game. I thought Christian Roldan was really good, but they were putting out fires because a lot of other players were not up to speed

and the ball wasn't off their foot quick enough and the game was closing too quickly on them. And this is not a Seattle team that has pique Niko Lodaro that gets you out of it. Like you need all 11 pieces. If all 11 pieces are humming, they 11 pieces if all 11 pieces are humming They are elite because all 11 pieces are that good to great But you need all 11 and they weren't even close in this look man. I hate to just do the lazy

Analysis of it wasn't good enough It's simply that like that what that result was not good enough that performance was not good enough because of the expectations and the respect We have for the Seattle Sounders team for all the players that Cruz Azul did not travel because of rotation and whatever else that their head coach said at home have to win this game Cruz Azul I guarantee you they were thrilled to like like before the game they would have been said thrilled with a draw great we'll go beat them in Mexico I like during the game they were probably like man like we maybe we should maybe we could have won maybe we should have won right like so. Like during the game, they were probably like, man, like we maybe we should maybe we could have won. Maybe we should have won. Right. Like, so it's for the

expectations and the talent of this team, the quality of this coach, the home field advantage the fans provide. And again, the just the distance of the travel for for a CCC team to come into Seattle. This has to be three points given all these circumstances. So it just wasn't good enough. For everyone keeping score at home who listened to this show when I said, I think Paul Ariela will play a little wingback and then Doyle immediately texted me live and was like, what are you crazy?

And then set the line at two and a half. This is one game where he played left wing back. So I already got one in the pocket. I just need two more over the rest of the season. It showed though a little bit of how this like how Seattle thought about this game to play quote unquote five in the back and sit a little bit deeper against Monterey at home Monterey no Cruiserzoole at home. Like that what and it still created chances. Paul Areola got lanes to run on that left side had the cross to Jordan early or late in the first half.

That was like a really dangerous moment. The two don't link up. They've obviously not really played together that much. And you know, on this team, Jordan had a few other chances. I don't know how he hit the far post on that shot. I still can't see the deflection, but I don't understand the angle. And it's like, that's Jordan Morris. Like he is a high level center forward at this point. It's a great opportunity just to create but it didn't feel like similar to what Vancouver did. It didn't feel like Seattle jumped on Cruz Azul and said okay you're coming to our house like we're going to make life difficult for you and the times they pressed Cruz Azul played through them and they were able to play through them. Most then at that point when they broke lines

Seattle was able to win it back but the game was played middle third and not final third for the Seattle team. Jesus Ferrer comes off the bench late. We know he wasn't in January camp because of an injury. He is clearly not there yet, and that is going to limit this Seattle team. Like to me, the ceiling is, Jesus is playing at his best level,

and he is that next piece that they didn't have last year. And so to have him come in with 15 minutes left in the game and not be himself just doesn't get you there overall. And so this is one that I'm now worried about. I would say going back to Mexico City at zero zero, even though you have the away goals going for you, it feels like a worrying setup to be in. I'm less concerned about the LA Galaxy.

That was the Eridiano game that we started on because we were hyped about the atmosphere in the moment. The Galaxy are not in the best way right now. Missing Payne's still missing, of course, Ricky Pooj for the year. This was like the rock fight and it was for RSL as well. Like this is an Eridiano team with a ton of experience in it, experience in this competition, guys like Alan Cruz who have experience in MLS

or against MLS teams and the atmosphere is on point. They are not going to beat themselves. I would love to see last year's LA Galaxy team in this setting and see how they handled like this field, this atmosphere with their like, we are going to play this way no matter what vibes. And so they're still trying to find like a direction to all of it. They're still trying to find someone to lead.

We thought it would be Peck. He's a young player. It's tough to do. But like you watch this game, Marco Royce, a passenger. I didn't even realize Christian Ramirez had started. That's how tough it was for him to get involved in the game. Fugundes tried coming off the bench, but there wasn't a ton for him. And right now, this is a Galaxy team that, out of MLS Cup, where their identity was so clear, they're just a little directionless. Yeah, but it's difficult, right? Like, so what does Greg Vanni do?

You don't change the game model because Paintsil's gonna be back, Ricky Pooch is gonna be back. This is your identity. This is how he views the game. This is how he wants to play the game. The idea was supposed to be that Gabriel Peck can do more in the buildup or have a bigger responsibility. And Marco Royce, you come on in and you have to shoulder this burden. He just hasn't at the beginning of the season. So in the short term, yes, I'm worried about the Galaxy. If Payne still, like, I don't know if they're going to get through this because Eridiano is good They're coming with the lead like galaxy can and I want to say too. I like I hammered Seattle a little bit there. I Because of my expectations and that's why I was down down on that performance

I think that they can absolutely go to Mexico get like they're a team that I probably but I would but I would rather lose 1-0 at Eridiano than tie 0-0 cruises to cruises who will go From a pierce. I agree, but I would rather lose one zero at aerodiano than tie zero zero cruises to cruises who'll go From a pierce, I agree, but I'm just saying that like I Still feel kind of Optimistic that Seattle like yes six years ago. We would be like dude. It's over. There's no chance Right like sure you need to win. Yeah At home to hope you can hang on to a three three draw and get yeah

So so that's kind of where I'm at with them to win 3-0 at home to hope you can hang on to a 3-3 draw and get the penalty. So that's kind of where I'm at with them. I just wanted to go back around to make sure that I wasn't just overly negative. But the Galaxy, yeah, like it's worrying right now. But it's like this weird juxtaposition that like, I'm not worried about them long term, like at all. Yeah. Oh, interesting.

Are you? Does long term mean 2025 or in a three year span? There's more concern for me this year. And like I said coming into the year, I think they made the right moves to become a we could win two MLS cups in a four or five year span. I don't think they're a true contender this year. And that has solidified for me. And I would have to see what it looks like with pain still I get that. But it's not going to be anywhere close to where they were. And if the argument which I was making in preseason was they're going to

be harder to play against now. I don't see that like Maya Yoshida is the same guy when you get him isolated 1v1 car says has the holes in his game a lot of its possession stuff that he then sort of loses moments the fullbacks are still attack minded and that's the basis of them being on the field and so if the ceiling is they counter press more organized and like Sanabria brings them another level centrally fine but we're clearly gonna be waiting a bit on the Sanabria stuff for him to get comfortable and get settled in. And I don't think Marco Royce is the guy who's changing the game in counter pressing. So there

are concerns there for me with the Galaxy this season. Yes. Again, my view is that like for this competition, yeah, I'm totally there. But again, for the totality of the 25 season, and I think honestly by June, July, we're just going to see a LA Yaxie team that we're more used to because there was a lot of change this winter. A guy like Sanabri, I think he's going to be really good signing right now. Like it's any U22 initiative signing to expect them to come out of the gate really, really strong and fit in seamlessly to a team that was in flux because of the changes they had

to make. I'm not worried. Even Christian Ramirez, I thought it was going to be quicker with him, but between him and Nachimento, they have two hopefully quality number nines, right? I think Christian Ramirez is the starter, should be the starter, but you got a highly talented Brazilian center forward on loan with the purchase option I believe it's something like 7 million or something to that effect. That's a serious player right and if he does that's a serious talent so I still I still

just believe in this group and like you said I would like to see him be more difficult to play against because that was the change up that was the okay like this is how we're going to pick up more points or change a little bit when we don't have Ricky Pooch and then how without paint so as well, but I'm just not worried about this team this season Let me just remind everyone and I'm not saying it's like for like but day on your village was there you 22 Center forward signing he started six games the first year. He came over He started seven playing fully healthy a full season his second year under Greg Vani, started 19 his third year before the breakout last year.

There are different players, so it's different scenarios, but Greg Vani has requirements for his center forward. So I think again, this is where I'm saying, I think the galaxy made the right moves longterm to put the team on the right standing after winning MLS Cup to be strong. A lot of these pieces, if their Gauss theorem and hit next year, it feels weird to say it myself, hits next year, then Ricky's back and it's all great and all of that. I just think this

year might be a struggle and that's what we're seeing in all of this. In saying that, I think they have a great chance to shut out Eridiano and get a victory in the next game and to win this series and get to the next round. If they do so, I believe they would play the winner of LAFC against Columbus, which has a pretty good chance of being LAFC a 3-0. Miami and Calvary. That's where that one goes. Galaxy play the winner of Cincy Tigress. Oh man, well you ruined my whole transition. Now I'm going to go to Cincy Tigress. They would play the winner of Cincy Tigress which comes in at 1-1. FC Cincinnati got the early goal through the obvious pick as the Conker Calf Champions

Cup Golden Boot winner in Pavel Buka who scores when he wants. I tried to do a Pavel Bukanka because there is a C in his name. Didn't work as well as I'd like it probably should have written out as a bottom third on the live show for everyone watching. And then that was a third minute goal I think helped created by Yedlin Denke with a pretty good layoff to help set it up. Since you were dominant then for the next 20 minutes and pretty much out of nowhere Cordova saves a ball on the end line and teenage Hedebi gets dunked on.

It was though, it was NBA All-Star weekend. Like that was, Hedebi I think gets his feet wrong in terms of tracking the ball so he's not on his full jump and there is someone, I guess I should look up the goal scores. There's what? Oh, it was Ibanez. He is half a body length higher than him and dunks on him at the far post to make it 1-1. And then I think Cincinnati was fairly strong throughout the rest of the half to be able to try and create chances.

Denke got almost a gift that he's not able to put away 1v1. This is a tgress team that obviously performs in those high leverage moments. This is a strong group that they put out there, an experienced group, Carioca in this squad, Nahu in this squad, Banya is like guys who have been there before. I think overall promising for Cincinnati, but it still goes to my one question with them,

which is like, Origano's coming off the bench. If Origano starts this game, cause he had played full preseason and signed and was ready and was linked in with Denke and Evander, this is probably a victory at home. It's not now you're going to Tigres, El Volcán and you need to get a result like that's a pretty dangerous moment. I totally agree. Like, again, I think since he has the capability to win this tournament and following that

line of thinking, it's disappointing that they didn't win as well. I think that they performed better than Seattle did, but again, that's cool. They didn't get a win and T-Grace scored an away goal. Again, I respect the Sinse team. I do believe that they can go to T-Grace and get the result and move on, but it would have been a whole lot better coming back 1-0 or 2-1 or whatever. Your point about Origano, it's totally correct. I'll take it back to what Pat Noonan said probably three

weeks before the season started. He kind of aired his frustrations of like, look, we're not as far along as I wish we were or as we should be. And he was in a very difficult position this preseason of, he's the one that has to face the media every day in just normal duties as a head coach. And every day it's where's Lucho Ocosta?

Where's Luke O'Rehan? Where's Yuya Kubo? And so I think at some point it was like, look, we're not as advanced as we should be because three dudes didn't show up for preseason. And then because of the delay and the Foster-Gilette debacle, like the Lucho Ocosa deal should have happened a month ago, and thus the Evander deal should have happened a month ago, and they would have had more timing. So all these things are out of Pat Noonan's control, and he's one of the very best managers

in this league, and that's probably, like he could see this coming of like, God damn man, like this would be nice to get some reps with Orgeno and Evander and Denke. And I think that we would have seen a lot a different performance against Tigres. With that again, that being said, they played well enough to win, but they didn't win. And now they go to Mexico and need the result. So one is the moment that the broadcast I think got of Noonan going over to Guido Pizarro. So for anyone who doesn't know, Tigres fired Velko Panovich last week and they hired Guido Pizarro who has been their center mid or center back depending on which game you're watching. He's what? Thirty seven years old and he started for this team for like 10 straight years, spent

I think a little time in Spain and came back, whatever it is. One of the great players in league MX history, one of the great players in CONCACAF history, an unbelievable soccer player, hence his ability to play as a center mid at his age or as a center back when needed. And then they turned him into a manager. So he played 90 minutes on the weekend, then he becomes manager. This is his first game. Pat Noonan went over to him before the game and they shook hands and you can see him point at center mid, basically being like, glad I don't have to game plan for you out there.

And it was like such a good moment. So I thought that was really fun. The other thing with FC Cincinnati is like, if you are an MLS team who needs a center back, you should pay FC Cincinnati for a consulting fee. Because Gilberto Flores has hit in a way that most TAM centerbacks don't as what are U22 signing U22 initiative. This is the team that did this with Jerson Mosquera. This is the team that brought Matt Miyazaki back. This is the team that was able to find ways to get Ian Murphy on the field and turn him into a muscle.

We're talking about a woesium, one of our favorite centerbacks in the league that they brought in mid season after Matt Miyazaki got hurt. Like there are so many, basically every team in MLS strikes out on their center backs. We're going to talk about Orlando coming up in this transfer segment and Cincinnati continue to roll them out there. And Flores has hit the ground running in a way in which we are not spending every week talking about Matt Miazga. That is like a compliment to them as much as Teenage Adabbi got dunked on and I think they probably would have preferred to have a Wuzium instead of Adabbi and they got stuck in a tight spot last year, felt like they had to bring him

in, then you're stuck on the contracts, whatever. All of that. If you are looking for a center back, just like check where FC Cincinnati's head scouts are flying to and see who's playing in that city. Yeah. And what's going on and see what you can get out there. And if I was since I would just start signing only centerbacks and then selling them as cashers inside the league and seeing how much game you can cash out out of all of that. So Cincinnati in a little bit of a tough spot here going into the next game. That takes us to L.A.F.C. Columbus, which we have not talked about

because you won't let me. But now I'm going to give LAFC fans the due they deserve. They finally slayed the giant. They finally slayed the dragon. They get Columbus at home. This was the game we thought we were going to get what nine months ago when they faced off in LAFC in the regular season, I think last June, and Columbus put a 5-0 pacing on, which is this is the first time I've seen LAFC play this high a line of confrontation, this consistently against Columbus. And whether you're going to say the first goal is a gift or not, you need to be within that distance of Stephen Marrera, that high up the field for him to make that mistake. And Buonga has not been there for a year and a half

in the 1v1, in the games they have played against the team. LAFC have sat so deep that they have not been able to threaten off Columbus's mistakes because they are so far from goal. And so to get that opening, and now LAFC or Columbus are on their heels, you cause a couple more mistakes, Ordaz gets the second and Columbus doesn't have the as high a level of threat for them to come all the way back.

LAFC gets a 3-0 win. It should feel cathartic to the fans. It's not over, but this was the dominant performance you need in one. Yeah, man. What a way to exercise your air quo demons against this Columbus crew team. How many times have they fallen just short of Columbus? And we've said it on this show over time and time again, like it's not a huge failure to lose twice in a final on the road against what we,

like one of the defining teams of the decade. Like we're gonna look back at this team, the Cucho-Nance Nagby era as one of the defining teams of the decade at MLS, right? Like, so for all the criticism, obviously, like I was letting them off the hook for that, but like for them to come to this game, get those three goals, like you said, Goss,

like to be brave enough to go and press higher. I don't know if that decision was, okay, hey, we, there's no Cucho and no Christian Ramirez, right? Like this team, I don't know if that impacted it or not, or if it doesn't matter who was on the field, they were gonna do that either way it worked either way It still played into how LAFC want to play against Columbus or and just generally other teams right like the possession battle was like 3070 but the field tilt was I don't have the exact numbers

But just from the eye test of watching that game Was much better because like you said they were able to get up the field and able to do more and then a game was much better because like you said, they were able to get up the field and able to do more. And then a good pressing moment for the first goal and a moment of brilliance from an MVP level player in this league to get the second goal. And that's what good scouting and money gets you in this league. And it's like, it's going to be difficult to do revisions history, but like it's this outcome wasn't out of the ordinary for what we've seen from LAFC like there is a

Possibly like this could have happened Denny Buong could have had a moment like that that could have changed one of the other finals Against his Columbus team. So look, it's a game of inches game of margins all the empty stupid platitudes that that you want to say but like That's kind of why I wasn't really laying into LAFC when they would lose in the League's Cup final, RMLN's Cup final to this team, but we really only did when they got absolutely killed by LAFC, and we've referenced that game because it was such an important kind of turning moment for both of these teams. But that's kind of why we're like, they're not that far off Columbus Crew. And again, this is a different crew team without Cucho, without Ramirez, but like, this is L.A.F.C. man. So I did more than you did because of the reality you said,

which is they're not that far off. And then the way they played the league's cup final, which was the same as MLS cup. So you went to MLS cup, it was a big game. You hadn't faced off in that moment before. You got punched in the mouth, you sat deep, you lost the game to a elite squad. Fine, it happens. Last year then in league's cup, they did the same thing and there was like, uh, it doesn't work once

Why is it gonna work a second time? I Don't want to rain on LAFC's parade because I've sort of been worried about them for the first two weeks not scoring goals They score three. It's a huge game. Is there any concern over Olivia's route? Jaybo get this Again, I got absolutely this is this is absolutely a thing and it's gonna be right now from the man management side of the game hey Olivier we need to rotate we have all these games we're playing twice a week dude what happens when like again like I'm assuming and just based on the lineups and stuff LFC or prioritizing concaption music up right now as they should I think yeah

Olivia's roots didn't start this game right like what that shows and I don't think it's a coincidence that they were able to play higher Absolutely and press higher and have Jeremy a Boba see in the star but so it's gonna be easy right now to be like Hey, man, we need to rotate you You know we need you best at the end of season where matters right when there's two games a week What happens when it's one game a week and if Jeremy above is he's still starting like Olivier Giroud is a professional I've heard nothing but good things about him in the locker room on the training field everything else So I'm not worried about him, you know being a problem or taking it negatively if that happens But it's gonna be a thing that we're talking about every week

It's gonna be a thing that MLS 360 that wrap up and everything. This is the talking point with this team. This is why like when they sign a Boba Z and the money that it's like when the salary sheets come out, it's going to be a significant number. Like you don't do that if you fully believe in Olivier Giroud. You sign a U22 initiative forward or you say Nathan Ordaz is going to be our backup center forward and we'll figure it out or we can play with a false nine but Giroud is going to be our guy. When and we'll figure it out Or we can play with a false 9 when we do but Giroud is gonna be our guy When they signed to BoBasie that showed the people at that club were worried Yeah it is

some credit there then love like to understand the needs of the of the team and to bring Jeremy a BoBasie in because not every Team has something to fill. I just I Completely agree with everything you said and what I said coming into the year was like, the Vigit Root at 37 years old played a year and a half straight of soccer. I think I calculated it. It was like 5,400 first team minutes across all the clubs he played from the middle of 2023 to the end of 2024.

So like this was his first real off season. And it was a longer off season than he's ever really had because MLS is a huge off season and they didn't go to MLS Cup. So to come out of that. So it could be one thing which is it's going to take him a little while to restart. He hasn't had to do preseason into season or the flip side is this is the freshest he's going to be all year and he doesn't have the pop to give you a difference so I don't know that it gets better. Those are the two concerns for that team. We're not going to talk about Miami again obviously because they play tonight so we'll learn about that against Cavalier. I will not be at the

game because I will be at Clover Park dug in watching Juan Soto stare guys down at a spring training game otherwise I would have been at the Miami game if I had the opportunity. Let's go into our conversation about FC Dallas now. They bring in a $4 million U-22 initiative signing in Caique, a 19-year-old center defensive midfielder or potentially center back, which we'll talk about, coming in from Grêmio, one of the biggest clubs in Brazil. It's a massive acquisition in terms of total expenditure for them. It's also a big one, Tom, in terms of the cap sheet and where they want to be. They're starting to spend the Allen Velasco money. They're starting to spend all this

money they've generated. And so to choose to go with a 19 year old center man, I think tells you something about what Dallas is trying to build So Dallas was a team that was in for Sonny Dodson I didn't see Central midfield as an obvious need for this team Um, and they went out and because they brought in Ramiro they they have a lot like this Tomical and the jet legit I thought was gonna be dealt this offseason. He wasn't well We can we can all sit around and name dudes was going to be dealt this offseason. It wasn't well, we can we can all sit around and name dudes doesn't mean it's good. Well, in a salary cap league, you can't just sign 17 center

mids. You can't be Chelsea and sign 45 players and hope that six of them work like you need to allocate all these resources. But so obviously shows how much they like this player and talking to a couple people around the club. And some of the things that they're putting out in announcing this and talking about this player, he's just a dog, bro. He's a dog. He's a pitbull in the midfield. He's gonna be a ball winner. I think that kind of profile, as far as G22 initiative, right, I'm still gonna give him time, I'm still gonna give him benefit if it doesn't work out immediately, because that's what you have to do for these kind of signings.

But a profile of go out there, just dudes win the ball chase people right rather than you have to fit into the game mod or you have to have the final pass or you have to be a 21 year old center back right like I think that this is the quickest possible way for a player to impact the first team and on the money side of things I'm very encouraged I didn't know if they were gonna spend this money right they they mmm I'm sure that the contract for Lucho Costa is going to be big and the transfer fee five million that's not nothing dude and four million for a player like this that it might not work out and they're accepting

that risk and putting the money down and I think that's impressive and worth celebrating I agree with you it's a fascinating signing in that he's got one senior appearance in his whole career right now The fee was interesting because I was like, I think this is just a youth player. Oh my god. Yeah, so FC Dallas is head of scouting whose name escapes me right now was on the Dallas There you go. That's why it's a two-man team right here I was on the FC Dallas agenda podcast that the FC Dallas radio team hosts. And he was saying about this signing, he's an elite player, but there's no space to push into Grimio's senior

team at his position. So he was fourth on the depth chart. And when you look at this Grimio team, Gustavo Cuellar plays in central midfield for this team and Vilsanti two players that I absolutely love. So it's right in that like you can be a high level player and not get into that group. The problem is just Gremio knows his value and so you are spending money in a little bit of an unknown and I think what the scout was saying was there was a player a few years back that he saw in a youth team I think for Gremio that went for $10 million without ever having made a first team debut because you have to get into the marketing. And it's one of the reasons a lot of MLS teams don't shop in Brazil,

because it's so expensive because you're tough because you're up against Premier League teams like at GA Cup last year, one of the Brazilian clubs was like, there's Everton's already putting a $10 million offer on our center back. And you're like, looks like an unbelievable player, but is a U-17 player, like, and $10 million would blow, you know, the transfer fee records for a lot of MLS teams out the water. And so that's the space you're talking about. It is a risk, therefore, for Dallas, there is the potential, which is if he develops skill wise wise where you want him to go and he gets on the field for you You could be looking at an eight or ten million dollar sale going forward or a piece that's able to fit into your team

Really? Well the idea behind Alan Velasco, which was at a different scale was I I still say I think Supplementing the Academy because you had that golden generation and there's been a little bit of a gap in between I think supplementing the Academy because you had that golden generation and there's been a little bit of a gap in between This is another one that fills that hole of like you're getting a cost Effective player against the cap that can fill minutes in that area while you're trying to bring the next generation of Academy pieces through And I do I do think center midfield is a bit of a hole for this team I'm not as sold sold on patches to Delgado as Yeah, I'm not so I'm not as sold on other people. I think T, yeah, I'm not. So I'm not as sold on other people. I think Tiki and Sabalins is like a good MLS roster piece,

so you've got options in there. Ramiro, another, Ramiro was signed as a free agent this winter, another Brazilian veteran. That's a profile that's coming in that should be a starter again. Pámacol, again, right? That's, well, I would love to assign minutes for Pámacol. Yeah, I know, I know.

Like I would give my soul, I would give you my physical arm to let Pax and Pompical be healthy, but like, he can't do that, unfortunately. So I do think there are minutes in that position of the field for this team. And I don't think we've seen in the two games, and it's unfair because they played on the road both times, we haven't seen their central midfield control the game. Everything's bypassed central midfield that's been dangerous for them. And the game hasn't been played at their tempo under a new coach on the road. I get that. So I haven't been convinced yet and so I don't mind making the signing. The last piece I will throw in there is third degree in their article about him said that

someone at FC Dallas had mentioned him as center back potential as well, which is a position of need for them. And if you are talking about a physical tall central defensive midfielder who can swap into that position, that could be another way for you to use this player as well. Then you start to see the value. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend going over the back field and reading Ben Wright's article about the U-22 initiative and whether or not it has been a success in Major

League Soccer. I think you and I both know from the many conversations we have with front office executives, they want less initiatives and more money to just spend. And so there is a frustration inside the league from a lot of people that the way they can spend money is controlled because again, Dallas,

if the salary cap was $4 million more because they had made a big sale, then they could just go out and get whatever players they want. They are almost required to use some level of these initiatives so that they can fill in their roster and do it in a cost smart way to fit into the salary cap, which is not what every team exactly wants to do. So Dallas makes a signing at Central Midfield. I think Matt Doyle wrote a good piece about transfer needs that were necessary and that sparked our mind a little bit to talk about some of the holes that we still see two to five games into the season. I agree while we're on transfers

I have a bit of news that um for Britta Romano just first reported something that I've had for a little while unfortunately. Um a c malone assigned uh... red bull academy midfielder astin and my uh... so he joins the second team sixteen-year-old u.s. youth international uh... very impressive i mean he has a you passport i forget if it's a specifically a really regardless like this is helped

to bridge because he has a u passport again and then by is joining AC Milan's youth program second team from New York Red Bull Academy sources confirm that that that is done. Whoa, a little breaking news on the show. Love to hear that. Okay, congratulations. I don't know this player. That's okay. That's a concern. If you don't know him. That's a concern. Now I'm going to go into my notes and be like, oh, here's like a super long note about him and what I saw from this player. Should we move into our conversation?

Yeah. Are you are you licking your wounds on breaking news right now? Move on. OK, we want to talk about a couple of positions. Go read Doyle's piece I think it's at MLSsoccer.com or on his sub stack You should subscribe to his sub stack if you don't already and obviously we love Doyle and Doyle comes on this show A ton he had his I think for us

We had a few ones that stood out and some were same team but different position Tom, how do you want to go about this? You want to start you say You say the first one? It doesn't have to be in our rundown, just you know producing whatever you want. So for me, yeah so for me there's a few positions that have stood out. One obvious one to me is Orlando City Center back. Yeah. The hope was that David Bricallo would step in for Schlegel. We've had the Schlegel conversation for a while. Robin Janssen gets hurt to start the year and Bricallo and Schlegel we've had this legal conversation for a while Robin Janssen gets hurt to start the year and Bricallo and Schlegel both don't look like starting MLS center back

So you are in a hole right now looking for another piece. Hang on one sec Bless you David because There's another one coming another one coming did I get you sick Potentially, yeah getting all your northeast germs me. That seems to be like an obvious one for me. And I don't know exactly where the money is right now for this, for this Orlando City team. But time if they want to take a step like I think Pasalic has shown enough to say day one Okay, we have not taken us that biggest step back from Faku Torres. The attack is still okay We can still be competitive midfield stuff. You can argue a little you know from seeing the Philly game Which was week one at to esta how does he fill in it's not the same exact game model all of that fine if they had

a FC Cincinnati level center back it's not the same exact game model all of that fine if they had a FC Cincinnati level center back in that team whether Yon sense healthy or not we are talking about an Eastern Conference contender We're talking about an MLS Cup contender and I get that they got there last year But that's the big that's I think this is one of the biggest holes in the league So I wouldn't lead with this. Um, I understand like league. So I wouldn't lead with this. I understand like, maybe it's just gonna be a boring conversation and go back to like the salary cap stuff and resources right like, Ricardo is a maxed hand player. He's got to be the guy where they have to move on from them. Like maybe they have the room maybe with the cards of Hanna season and I don't know what exactly their cap sheet looks like. So maybe, but you have the guys there.

You have Thomas Williams, a highly rated Academy center back. And again, Alex Freeman, like this is an easy jumping off point. Alex Freeman comes in and played very well. So I think that they have the people there. And like, maybe I'm just refusing to take the L on David Bricallo,

because I thought for sure he was gonna be a good signing. Maybe he still will, maybe I'm not. I also refuse to take the L on Alan Cruzricallo because I thought for sure he was going to be a good signing. Maybe he still will. Maybe I'm not. I also refused to take the L on Alan Cruz. I feel vindicated last night just saying for erudite honor. When I saw his name, I just smiled and it brought back all the days of me saying, no, he's really good, dude. No, just trust me, man. I probably was. I didn't know you were an Alan Cruz guy. I was. I forgot about it. Thank you for self-identifying yourself. I forgot about it until I saw him on the screen. Then I was like, wait, that's my guy. Oh, he's playing well. Oh, I was right. Dude, I was right the whole time. I knew it. I knew it. He shook Yoshida on that one moment where he, what, curled the shot wide or got saved.

Poof, he hit his lunge. Yeah. So anyway, that's just unfortunate. My whole point is here that, like, yeah, it's more of a want than a need for me it's kind of where I'm at. So Orlando City this weekend they face off against NYCFC they beat Toronto FC 4-2 on the weekend. Kyle Smith started at center back by the way so to be clear once again maybe a hole in this roster even if Tom disagrees with me. NYCFC I think have looked pretty good over the first two games of the season, even though they couldn't get the breakthrough against LAFC, it still feels very Maxi Morales contingent,

their performances and like that's a worry just because of his age, not because of his genius and ability. And so, but if he's on the field, they're competitive, they're dangerous. This is Orlando City's first road game of the season. So we're gonna see a different step for them. I think this is where you start to see an at-west that get tested a little bit more.

You need to be more compact. You need to be more efficient, whether it's turnovers or being able to kill transition moments the other way. And so this is going to be Orlando's biggest test so far of the year, or I guess the next test, even though they got throttled by Philly at home in the opening game. So I think this is definitely one that I'm going to be watching out for to say where they stand right now in the hierarchy of the Eastern Conference and where that test is. Tom, you said you wouldn't start with this even though you gave me carte blanche to start the segment.

Where would you start? I'd probably I'd probably start with Columbus DP, just because it's an obvious one and it's potentially a lead changing one, right? Like, if they put most of the money or some of the money or whatever, right, of the Cucho Hernandez departure, and if you get the signing right and you put him in a Wilford-Nance system, they're going to score a ton of goals, he's gonna be awesome, it's gonna be fun. I think that is much more important to the 2025 MLS regular season or 26, whatever, than a TAM center back for Orlando.

So, without that nine, I think Columbus is the top five team in the East this year. And without that nine in place, I think they could still make this sun. What I'm saying is I've been impressed by what I've seen even with the LAFC result. And I think they are what I have been shown is that the non-say system creates enough goals and that Rosie's good enough. And Shambos has shown a little in the attack and Jason Russell row. I'd like to see more from AZ Jackson. I'd like to see more production on the field and turn some of the shiftiness and half turn stuff and all of that stuff in the middle of the field into some final third quality.

And then you had in all these pieces that joined the attack, the Farsees, the art, all of that. I think there's enough. I mean, they've won both games in MLS play. So you could say it's not the highest level of competition but like that's what we're judging them on. I think this is a team that can compete for a home field without that but you are right to get back to last year they would they need that number nine. I just don't think that they have enough depth there. If you told me that Jason Resserelle could start 32 games if Diego Rossi like they don't have enough players in those positions.

Okay, that's fair, except Wilford Nantes is going to play 16 guys. So like you were we can debate that one. But like, it's not like if we added five pieces that Wilford Nantes would play them, like he doesn't want a big squad. If this was any other team, but calm this, you'd be like this team stinks. They're not gonna be good enough or you know, definitely need this but it's not ice they've proven themselves and to come back this year and show that they're gonna do it again which means they're gonna play the same style they're gonna have the commitment to it and the confidence in it even without Cucho which I wasn't 100 sure of and then you go back and you say oh right Zell andaryon left and they didn't miss a beat. And I get that they had Cucho in place, but like, I think this club has... Fair, but Rossi is not the same profile.

Although I guess he's similar production in MLS. Okay, I'm a little less worried about them. So therefore it wasn't as high on my list, even though it should be a bigger signing than a TAM center back or whatever I'm talking about. I'm just going to grab the wheel and keep going just because this is an easy transition. Columbus play Houston this weekend. Houston is another team. They need a few things.

DP10, I know that they, you know, they certainly they brought in Nicolodero. They still want to bring in a DP10. For me, and Doyle wrote this, and I totally agree with what he said, it's more important to get the Mikael replacement than it is a DP-10. Yeah. What do you think? I don't know that I'm... I would like to see them go and get a high level center back.

I still, I get that they got smoked by Miami. Two weeks in, I'm not sure that the center back depth core is a train wreck. Like Mikael, I had his best 11. So we're talking about massive talent. I don't know that it's as big a hole. I worry more about the attack for them still and the finishing quality for them. And so I think if you said, Houston can make one more signing, where would it be? I would say that 10 or that pocket winger. Cause I don't mind playing Basi and Nicolodero as the 10, if you've got a high level DP as that pocket winger,

who's sharing space with them and doing some of the Cocoa Kara Ski and stuff. I sent you a Costa Rican international that I was like, why is this player not on the Houston Dynamo and Brandon Aguilera, who I'm obsessed with. I don't know why, I think his name popped in my head cause we were watching, I was watching the Eridiano game and the goal scorer had a similar name.

But I would like to see- That's where I was confused. I was like, does this person play for Eridiano? No, I just, he started against the US at local qualifying in the cycle, what, three years ago at 18? And I'm like, this guy's unbelievable. And then he got signed to England

and has been in England for the rest of the time. I would say that would be my biggest concern about Houston, would be that attacking piece. Because no matter who they sign, they're gonna take a half step back defensively without Mikael. And so you need the attack to be even better than it was last year.

The possession needs to lead to more than it did last year. More goals, be more efficient in front of goal. And they're like on the opposite end of that spectrum right now after these two performances that we've seen so far. So that would be my focus for them. This is an interesting game, Columbus Houston. It feels like it's the two teams that are most similar in style that want to open the

game up and possess. It'll be interesting to see it match up and how it all fits against each other. Let me keep us going here and let's talk the other big number nine, which is RSL We already did a little bit about it. It just Nothing that's happened so far has led to any questions. You're checking to see if RSL Since we've started talking here, but so we've talked about this a little bit it this is to me Probably the biggest hole right now in the league. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I did like what Ayago has shown, right? They definitely need another player, but I was a little doubtful when I would talk to people around the club when they'd say, no, dude, like he's going to be like, yeah, we're still looking for one, but we're fine with him for now and just in the future as well. I was like, are you just saying that because you have to? No, they said it because they meant it and he impressed me in the minutes I've seen of him.

Maybe that's where I'm at of, yeah, they need one. I guess the difference for me between them and Columbus is that I think Columbus has a much higher ceiling and I think I believe that they would spend more in this position. Again, this is all just thoughts, theoretical, rather than me saying this with any kind of certainty. But yeah, so that's an obvious one. I don't have too much more to add because like you said, we've talked about it plenty. So I'm going to go to NYCFC. At least one attacking DP. At least one. That has to happen. This team is Do you mean an adult though?

preferably an adult but God, I don't know man. Like again, I trust their scouting department. I trust David Lee and and I'm gonna trust this coach to play young players as well. So that could all be good again I prefer you do don't take Johnny Shores minutes. Come on, man I'd prefer for it to be an adult but they like They need to go out so spend ten million dollars and go get go get an Attack right like this is city football group, man That's what they should be doing Yeah, I don't disagree with you there's not a ton of proof that they will do it

Although they will drop three huge signings the day, you know the last day of the window, but they will be 18 year olds You know who would look really good in this team? Thales Magno. I still don't understand. I still don't get how he went from being a difference maker in MLS to no longer playing in MLS and no longer being eligible like they didn't think he could be a factor. It's how that happened. But like now you're posting that as's like a club and this is the morning director. I get that but this is where sporting director has to have that vision for the club big picture which is Nick Kushen job was to win games week to week to your

job. I get it. But it's also tiles Magnos as agents job to say he's not playing him the hell out of this club. That's fair. I want to go to my next one. I talked about it a little bit on Monday or Tuesday. I don't know what days of the week there are, which is the Nashville attacking piece. And I'd like a lot of what I've seen from Nashville. And so I would like to see one more piece in there. I don't know if it's this guy, Kwasim, that they've brought in, the Swedish young attacking player. I haven't seen anything yet, I think from him.

So I'm happy to be wrong about this. And they have the vision and all of that. I think with the way they're playing the attackers more narrow and let's Shaffelberg can play as a forward, like as a second forward and honey plays underneath him and he's stretching the field alongside surge. I don't know that he's going to be super effective in this team. I think we've seen the ceiling on Alex Mweal in terms of an attacking force and creativity. It still feels like Hany needs help. It still feels like Hany's playing two positions. He has to be a creator and a finisher and Serge doesn't do enough off the ball or enough with the ball in buildup for him to be that

difference maker and so I don't care what it is. Like now looking back, I kind of wish this was a Christian Ramirez team because if he was the second forward and Hany was underneath them and he's dropping in a little and linking up like that could be really interesting. I've banged the Julian Gressel drum on this one as well. I don't care if it's from inside the league or outside the league. There needs to be one more attacking piece in this group unless they're 100% sure K Qwossums that day. Yeah, so I think that's what I would look at and be like, hey, like that that was their swing was Qwossum. But again, I don't know their cap sheet totally to say whether or not they could get a Julian Gressel or they could go out and sign somebody.

We'll see. This team has been good at entry league editions. So I do like the shot for Julian Gressel. And again, like part of this like go. How much do you think at this point of this season, you'd have to cash for for Caden Clark or Bryce Duke? Why would why would Montreal? Because I like to get money for players. So I still think that, again, this is I would assume that there's not the room in the salary cap because the cash flow is then you have to amortize the fee into that budget charge. Right, right.

So a guy like that, I think that's why your grass roots shot is a really good one because the whole conversation around this is Miami are going to eat some portion of his contract for him to leave. And the more and more that goes, obviously, the more teams should open up and the more valuable this potential addition could be. So yeah, for Nashville, if they are kind of capped out or if they don't have a ton of room, if it's a waiting game, and I think this is the same with Atlanta situation, they like wrestle, right? But again, I think it's going to come down to how much salary you have to cover.

And that's the decision for all these teams. And same thing with Miami about, hey, if you you guys like them so much and just trade for them right Okay, any more from you before we talk about some games? Let me do just two quick ones one at land united ball winning central midfielder. They've needed it for years Every time that they signed him a Yumba or a sleesh. I was like, oh, I'm not familiar with this guy's game Like must be a ball winner. They're not, like, they can do that, but that's not their primary role.

They need a pit bull in that team. So like, that's where, and going back to Kaike, the sent like a U-20, they have two U-22 initiative slots open. I would love to see them use one on a ball winning central midfielder. And again, Atlanta fans might be getting PTSD about like Franco Bara or Santi Sosa, whatever, right?

They spent a lot of money on a couple guys who didn't work out, but this is a team with the closest thing in MLS to a bottomless pit of money. Use a U-22 initiative slot for a ball winning central midfielder, I think would be very good for this team, but I don't expect them to this window. I don't know if I expect them to at all. Garth Lagerway hasn't been the you know, like the biggest proponent of the U22 initiative slash like I think he would like to keep at least one spot open for a high performing Academy player on their second contract.

Yeah. Oh, and so I want, which would be one more Toronto, a one way ticket for Lorenzo and senior literally anywhere. Just literally anywhere. Like. It is, uh, less of a side attraction for them because he's just not around the team. Right? He already probably has that ticket.

I don't know where Lorenzo Insinia lives right now. Like he doesn't really have to be in Toronto because he doesn't really have much to do. Not to make this as me taking a victory lap or just yelling at people on Twitter through the show but like I'll tell you there was a couple a couple people who weren't familiar with Lorenzo and seeing his game in Toronto when I reported that like he's not in the plans of Robin Frazier I'm telling you that as a fact. Oh yeah he's gonna be benched for Theo Corbino give me a break what are you talking about you're an idiot.

Didn't even make the matchday squad. You give me a break. Yeah shout out Theo. Keep getting it done for Canada. Let's close because we talked about a lot of these games and who these teams are playing this weekend, as well as the CCC teams. Let's talk a couple of big games this weekend.

I think for me, the must watch for the non CCC teams, because you've got LAFC Seattle, which is a really fun one, is San Jose, Minnesota. Like San Jose, this is their biggest test so far under Bruce. They've got the two perfect, they've started perfect. They've got the two wins against teams coming off midweek games, teams that have question marks already about their seasons. This is a Minnesota team that I respect really highly, and I respect really highly to not concede the type of goals that San Jose's been able to score so far. So can

they push them? What does Cristian Espinosa look like in a game where he's being threatened down that wing? Is he playing truly as a wingback? Can you get more support out there for him? And then for San Jose, what does the spine look like dealing with a Kelvin Yabova and dealing with a quality player at that level that they haven't really had to? And what does Bruce Harina do with no Hernán López with this red card suspension? True, yeah. Then you could, I guess, really even lock in for like, is this a mall pal, Reno time, or do you lock in two or three at the back?

Like, I'm pretty fascinated by this. And like, Bruce is the first guy to come out and be like, make the jokes about like all the tactical experts or whatever and like downplay it. But like, I'm very curious to see the young 33 year old manager and Eric Ramsey who's like the youngest to get his I forget what the the qualification I think it was a UA yeah a young guy who studies he's this way does all this stuff and like he thinks all the time about the game what he's gonna do and like I wrote a big feature on him so

that's where a lot of these insights are coming go read it give me support he's a very impressive guy again he's always thinking all this stuff. And then it's like, Bruce is just like the power of friendship and vibes. But I'm still really juiced about this tactical matchup. No matter how much Bruce wants to say he doesn't care. It's also funny that you used the phrase power of friendship. I don't know that that's the term I would have used for it, but it is the same concept on the vibe side. Honestly, this might not be a bad game to not have Hernán López of like, can you be a little harder to play against centrally? And then it's a lot of service from wide areas for two runners in Chicho and Joseph, which I think

Minnesota, I really like what they've done with Carlos Harvey. I talked about a couple of times on this show, that wide center back, but like not a natural center back. So like, does he lose marks? Can you get if you have two runners, you know, attacking Christian Espinosa crosses and all of that, is there sort of some mess to clean up in that central area? So I think there's going to be a really fun game. I think it's one where you're looking for a test for both these teams to see what goes down. And I think that makes it really interesting. By the way, in the chat right now, we have one person who said Ruiz Diaz to RSL

was just sent into the Froyo Flea Market, which is our channel in our Discord for stuff that's not Tom's official ice cream shop stuff. And then the next person, TOT, follows by saying that was me. So the people are watching live in the chat and in the Discord right in the discord this is Reported by Nico Moreno Nico Moreno is an accent reporter. So this

By the way that we have I didn't know yet while I saw that I was like when some the t o t Commented here in the chat saying by me. I was like, did you make this up or is it like did you stop? But it's a good need a moreno. So you take that seriously Okay, and it would make sense. It's kind of one of those, it would be a short term move, right? You're not signing Rudy Diaz through a six year deal at this point in his career. You're just trying to cover a couple minutes as they need to for the rest of this year. What's your big game that we haven't talked about so far?

Rebs-Philly, and for two different reasons. The Philly side, what do you got this week? Are they going to score four goals a week? Maybe. They have, they have it. It's four. They haven't done that yet. If you score three, it's a failure. If you score three, I'm starting the weekend recap with Phillies in trouble. So I'm excited to see this. Like, look, I, I like the brand of soccer that they play. I don't know if that's an unpopular, it feels an unpopular pit in because of how much Matt Doyle hates anything that isn't 7,000 passes sideways and slow and everything else

Um, I like watching them play as long as they're going forward with it, which they are This is a team with young players and some good like good finishers type Reba rec The other side of this is the winged revolution haven't scored a goal yet new revolution are home How disastrous last year was if they lose again and don't score a goal again? Pressure's got to be coming up on Caleb Porter, right? So it's difficult to, again, it doesn't mean that he's going to get fired, doesn't mean it's a must win, doesn't mean the season's over because it's week three of MLS.

I get it, right? But it feels like this is a game of consequence already for the New England Revolution. Yeah. If you haven't scored a goal in two games and you're in you have two home games so it's in front of your crowd a crowd that is not totally enamored with the team right now because it has been tough to watch for a year and a half there's pressure to put together performances on the Philly side like I'm gonna watch every game they play because Quinn Sullivan's been awesome the front three are sort of flying and so it's

high level. And then you've got a ton of young players that like I like. Francis Westfield's been great so far this year and like to replace Nathan Harrell when injured with that and not go veteran like that's that's what Philly wants to be. And so it's cool to see it play out. Francis Westfield is a player coming out of a French academy. Frankie Westfield is a kid coming from Philly. Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, Frankie, right back. Yeah. So I'm excited to watch it go down. It's going to be a big weekend. I will have my weekend recap for you coming up next Monday. And then we will get into our week of stuff. No, if you haven't already go listen to our NWSL season preview. The season does not kick

off till next week. The NWSL Challenge Cup is Friday night. We will have a special preview episode that's gonna drop in a little bit. On that one, in which we interviewed Aubrey Kingsbury, starting goalkeeper for the Washington Spirit. But our preview show, we had Laurie Lindsay and Jill Lloyd in the voices of NWSL on Amazon Prime, as well as on ION with our own Jordan Angeley.

We did six and a half to seven minutes breaking down every single team in one episode. They are all available on YouTube as standalone videos, so you can watch or share them if you want to just talk about your team. If not, similar to what we did with the MLS previews, in the podcast I have a timestamp for when every single team's conversation hits. So you can go listen to that as well. One thing to put out there, a big time Routies fan, Matthew Cox has passed away this week and I know one of our own in Morgan Tenza who has done a lot of work down in Tampa and used to live down there was close to him. I know a lot

of other people in our community as well have been putting up posts about him, helped cover the team, passionate about the team. Obviously the Tampa Bay Routies going into their 50th season this year. Um, that's a big hit to their community. So when one person in our soccer community is sad, all of us are sad. So I wanted to give best wishes and thoughts and prayers to him and his family or to his family and to those does that fan base, uh, and thank you to all of you for watching and thank you to all of you for being here and

helping build this thing up with us and be a place where we can talk about things like this. So once again, have a great weekend, enjoy all the games, say that you love you to your loved ones, like I do to Tom every single day, and we'll talk to you all again very, very soon. you