SoccerWise - MLS Edition: Michele Giannone on Supporters Shield, MVP Race & Pochettino's USMNT

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

With Tom out of service for his big day David calls in the super sub Michele Giannone to help on a championship episode. To start Inter Miami have won their first Supporters Shield in a wild matchup with Columbus. How did they get it done? And was it an MVP that got them there? Then Montreal look to crash the playoff party behind Josef Martinez, Minnesota solidify their spot, and NYCFC continue to cruise at RBA. Then the guys react to Mauricio Pochettino's first USMNT roster. And of course they have to preview the last weekend before the international break! 8:37 MIA-CLB Reaction 17:20 Inter Miami Defensive Playoff Preview? 23:29 2024 MLS MVP Debate 35:36 DC United Save Their Season 41:10 Montreal Riding Josef Martinez Through Atlanta 48:23 USMNT Under Pochettino 1:07:20 MLS Weekend Preview Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What's up everybody? Welcome back to SoccerWise. David Goss with you for another Thursday of MLS, USMNT, maybe a little Canada thrown in there as well. Conversation, big talk, But of course the big man Tom Is off getting ready for his wedding So I had to call in the super sub The big name himself

Michele Giannone, you know him well From covering MLS for years, USMNT Everything else, Michele Feels like we're back together I love it, how are you David? Thanks for having me And congratulations to Tom I didn't know he was getting married So that's pretty cool. Still, it's Thursday. It's Thursday, right? It's Thursday. Yeah. Right. Yeah. It's Thursday.

So he should be working. The wedding is not until Saturday, maybe. So you've got plenty of time. Yeah, dude, it's not it's not that you're on a honeymoon already. So I think you should be here. But I'm happy he's not because I'm here and I'm excited. It's great to see your face. And yeah, I'm here. I also remember a few years ago, Twitter spaces, doing the MLS recaps on Mondays and Fridays. Those were fun. That's when Twitter was a good place to be. Exactly. That's when it was still a fun place to talk about Major League league soccer and hang out and talk about all things soccer.

And now it is a hellscape of insanity. We are available live there. If you want to watch there still, if you don't like it, by the way, this is a thing that I think is very great about soccer wise. We have a private discord where you can talk all things MLS. If you are a Patreon subscriber,

it was on fire. Once again, last night, everyone's watching games, talking about it, talking about the U S roster that came out, talking NWSL, all the other things that are going on. And you get all of Tom's tweets put into a clean Discord chat. So if you're thinking, well, I have to be on there because I need to follow what's going on and all the breaking news, it's an option to get off there and get all of that. So you can subscribe to our Patreon. It gets you our depth charts and salary cap tables as well um and we've got some more stuff coming up that we are very very excited about um but michele this is a big

day we have crowned a champion in major league soccer supporter shield winner are you a supporter shield truther is it shield over cup for you um i don't know if it's shield over cup but i'm a truther in the sense of that people should put more weight on it because it's it's i mean you're the best team during a long long time and mls it's the most grueling soccer league in the in the world they were playing through the summer and and it says a lot when a team like like inner miami and we're gonna get into it um can't stay afloat without the best player ever on the roster during that brutal summer relying on older players like sergio busquez jordi alba to to be a great team that says a lot and and i think uh it's it's the supporter shield should be and i know

that people are already screaming because i saw the report this morning that it's basically done that intermium is going to be the last team on the fifa club world cup next year because they've won the supporter shield um shield and and but i think it's i think it's okay i think it's okay. I think it's a way of rewarding the best team during basically, what, eight, nine months. And I really love the Supporters Shields. I see the playoffs as a different tournament. And of course, MLS Cup at the end,

it's the end of all. Nobody remembers who won the Supporters' Shield. Everybody's going to remember who won MLS Cup. But I do believe the Supporters' Shield, it's a great award. And it's celebrated. You saw the celebration yesterday from Inter Miami, from an owner like Jorge Mas that has put so much into this team and what Chris Henderson has done on the front office it's

unbelievable and and yeah i love the supporter shield i always put a lot of stock in it and and yeah it's it's it's not i mean i don't think i i could say that it's above mls cup but it's it's right there for sure it is obviously the natural breakdown, American sports versus global sports. A playoffs is who's hot or who's in the right moment, or it is, as I'm wearing my Mets hat, or it is who's set up for a different style of knockouts, right? A World Cup or a Champions League is different than a league, but Major League Soccer has too many teams for there to be an even schedule. So you get into a space of it's not perfectly fair either way. And you need to award a champion somehow. Let me say that I think it should be celebrated more.

The supporters should be celebrated more. Because, yeah, it's obviously Major League Soccer. It's the North American league, but North American talking about the US and Canada. And here we love the playoffs. But at the end, the playoffs, I see it, and especially you see it in hockey or in baseball. I think you see it more in baseball.

Like the team that gets momentum, that gets more informed, maybe can make a month run and be a champion right even if they sneak at the last time during the regular season now we see it on MLB like the Detroit Tigers like snocking at the end being absolutely on fire the last month of the season and maybe they're they're gonna be MLB champions who knows but I think we need to put more weight and celebrate more who's been the best during an expanded time I mean it's a long time from February basically February to October that's a long time to to stay at top and and I think we should put more weight and celebrate more the support shield I completely agree with you um and I think we should put more weight and celebrate more the support shield. I completely agree with you.

And I think they should be hand in hand, like the two champions of each year. And if you win both, then you are clearly right to find. And that is almost impossible in Major League Soccer is what we have seen because both are so difficult. You mentioned the Club World Cup. We've got our venues now. Knowing where it will be, we believe Seattle Sounders will host their games, which will be really, really cool. And the assumption being with Hard Rock,

one of the venues, maybe Inter-Miami, if they are the team that gets in, will host as well. If not, maybe if it's the MLS Cup champion and they're a different team on the East Coast in one of these venues, then maybe they'll get the chance to host as well. So we've got all of that to react to. A huge Wednesday of games. Insane comeback for DC

United. Montreal are somehow in the postseason right now. TFC continue to trip over themselves and make mistakes. And we've got a USMNT roster, our first under Mauricio Pochettino, for us to digest, react to. We've got a week until those games. The U.S. is facing off against Panama a week from Saturday, and then Mexico a few days later in what is, I think, the matchup of the two most pathetic teams in the region, trying to figure out who stands on the top of that mountain, unfortunately. So a lot to talk to.

And then we've got another weekend of MLS action. So games this weekend in MLS. There are two makeup games, I believe in one week during the international break. Columbus has one of those. I don't remember what the other game is right now. And then decision day is the following week. So we've only got two weeks left in the regular season in MLS. A lot has been decided, a lot still to be decided, and then we go into a 47-match, nine-week playoff, or whatever it is now, in MLS from there on out. But let's start with our midweek. McKellie, this is your first time doing it, but we like to do our reactions to these match weeks. We've got our best match, our biggest win for the playoff push, our Shield Race recap, who's the bounce back team of the match week,

and then some other ones, including our losers as well. For best match, this one was pretty simple. McKellie, it was. Inter-Miami, a 3-2 win on the road. We had a red card. We had two penalties. We almost had more. We almost had more red cards we had stunning goals we had messy elevating this game as well we had inter miami winning the club's first supporter shield from an event point of view this was as good of a regular season game as you're ever going to get yeah um i can't remember a most hype or most anticipated regular season game ever like the whole soccer world that we know, we're talking about this game for days, if not for weeks. Right. Especially because what I was what I was saying for Miami and Columbus, because Columbus, if they won the game last night or at least avoided that Miami had the three points, they still had a chance to get that that supporter shields right and and also like like the messy um he he i mean he came back a few games ago but still like he hasn't looked as sharp as as as we

know it before going to copa america and before the injury of course like the same for luis suarez the same for sergio busquets and and the hype around this game was great. I loved it. I watched the whole thing. I wish the referee was a little bit better. I think there were some things that... More consistent. More consistent, yeah. I mean, Sergio Busquets is unreal that he didn't get at least a yellow card.

For me, it was a red card. So the game is 0-0 at that point. It's still the first half. So that obviously could have changed everything. Miami was not playing well. Messi was not playing well. But they gave him an inch, and they kill you. And he killed you.

And then the free kick, Schulte doesn't set up his wall the way he should have. I think he needed at least one more man there and then Messi fits it there and it's boom boom, 2-0 and then Columbus is shocked

but yeah I think, did it lift to the hype? Maybe not completely because I don't think Columbus showed up the way we thought they were going to show up.

Because all the hype, it's Cucho, Rossi, Messi, it's the MVP race, it's Columbus going to clinch again that hope for a supporter shield, so they're going to impede Miami to celebrate at their home turf, you know. And Columbus, I know Matt Doyle has this opinion.

And I think I shared Columbus, this Columbus, this iteration the last two years. I think it's the best team on MLS history. So I was expecting a lot more from Columbus yesterday. Schulte didn't have a good game. That obviously helped. As soon as Columbus get the 2-1, as soon as the second half starts, then we are not even live. We're watching still the replay of that goal.

And then Schulte commits that. I mean, between Camacho and Schulte, they give away Miami the 3-1. Then Columbus has a chance with Cucho. He misses the PK. He has missed one PK before in his entire career, and then he misses there, which was a 3-3. So I don't know. I was expecting more from Columbus, but, I mean, of course, it was a great game.

Miami is still alive for the points record. We have a good discussion for the the mvp for the mvp award and and all the awards and and i mean yeah it was a fun it was a fun night of mls for sure yeah it was wacky it was wild which is entertaining right and that's what you want and i think the wacky and wild felt bigger because the stakes were high because it was for the shield and it was these two best teams i agree with you that columbus wasn't as good as we have seen Columbus be. And my point that I've made to people, and I don't know that it's even true, is like with Inter-Miami, you have to pick the way you want to play and open up and let it go. So you either have to lock everything down and leave everything behind

because Inter-Miami are unbalanced. So you can't choose to play a normal soccer game against them. And Columbus don't play normal soccer games. So that's where it feels like a pretty clean connection, but you have to be efficient. You always have to take your chances against the Inter-Miami team because they will score and they will open up. And so whether Busquets gets that red card or not, and if you don't want to give Busquets the red card, the problem is later Camacho's isn't a second yellow and it's not then a red card. That's the issue with the refereeing in this. You could choose to not give both or you could choose to give both. You can't do one and one.

That's the whole problem. And that's most coaches complaints right now about refereeing is consistency and all of that. Columbus should have been ahead one zero when Messi scores his first goal, just like on the run of play, being at home, the quality of players they have, and the half chances they had created, they should have been ahead 1-0. And so then you open up the door for Inter-Miami. It allows Messi to do what he does. And then, as you said, Diego Rossi scores. The momentum's on your side.

You're down 2-1. It's a high-scoring team against a team that struggles defensively. You're probably in an okay spot, and Schulte makes the mistake in the back. You can't really tell from watching video if he properly calls off Camacho because you can't hear anything and there's no clear indication whether or not. I'd like to say that Rudy Camacho has done this long enough in his life that if his goalkeeper is screaming at him coming off his line and Camacho also takes a half look back that he pulls out of that and he gets away from it um and we've seen Schulte this is his biggest struggle he struggles controlling the box

he struggles in the air he struggles with physicality it is something that maybe wouldn't affect a lot of goalkeepers who have physical presence, center backs who dominate that space for them. That's not the case with Columbus. And so this is the opening all the time, and it's what every team tried to do in the postseason last year. It's just normally not enough for them to lose. Yeah, and to be fair with Schulte, he's still very young, right? You think these are mistakes and corrections that he as he's gonna make now he's in

the mix he's in the usmnt call-up he was a starter the last window at least at least for the for for one of the games and he did very well the thing is that the spotlight was there tonight and and and sometimes his youth and he makes this type of mistakes. And I think there's a reason why Nancy stayed with a backup for, for example, League's Cup final. Because sometimes I feel like for Schulte, and again, he's young. He demonstrated his value last year. I mean, they won MLS Cup and everything they had. I mean, and they reached CONCACAF Champions League final this year

with Schulte on goal, and he was a great keeper in the playoffs and against LAFC at MLS Cup, et cetera, et cetera. But I think sometimes what I've seen is that he's not the most reliable when the spotlight is on him. And I think Nancy knows that and sees that. And we've seen it, like we saw it last night. Again, I love Schulte. He's a great goalkeeper.

He can be the next USMNT goalkeeper for the next decade. But we saw it yesterday, even on plays that didn't end up in a goal. He's very hesitant to leave the the his goal and like you said he has trouble sometimes commanding the box is it fixable yes but it's it's happening too many times and he should and and he i mean now that again he's on the usmnt mix he's on the best team in mls probably the best team on mls history you need to be better and sometimes he's rushing that growth but you need to be better in those cases it is a clear deficiency he has strengths then his ability to play with the ball at his feet and why he's on the team

but that's the case with Columbus every single position right all the players on this team they have deficiencies but their strengths fit what Wilfred Nance wants, and that's why the team works. This is that upper echelon, though. This is the, we are so much better than NYCFC that it doesn't matter in the end because we'll win 3-1. That's not the case against the Inter-Miamis of the world. It may not be the case against the LA Galaxy. It has been against LAFC so far. But those are the question marks, and this is that upper echelon. I will say that first 30, 35 minutes, it was Tata going Atlanta United MLS Cup again of like,

we're just going to completely sit in. There was zero pressure on Columbus. Miami was so tight in their lines or playing so deep. We've never seen them really play that way before. And I'm not sure if they can defend in that. But we didn't see that play out over the course of the game because then Messi gets the two goals. It changes things a little bit. The game gets a little bit chaotic. I don't know that it bodes well for us as viewers going forward of like, is Tata going to make that shift now?

And I don't know if it works for Inter Miami in terms of trying to win. The one idea is you're trying to protect your struggling back line and your deficient back line by having more numbers in front of them. The other issue, though, is, well, they might have to defend more. And I don't know that Noah Allen and Ian Frey and all of that, like, I think you start to get to those penalties because a lot of the defensive actions are occurring in and around the 18 rather than higher up the field or you get the goals but that's why they're inter miami right that's what we've seen over the last three months a year whatever it is is these are the best players for some of them still in the world and they're capable of those special moments i think this is the inter miami we're gonna see in the playoffs i i really do like the the this is gonna sound crazy because it feels like i'm i what winning Supporters' Shield means.

But then again, I think this is the shakiest Supporters' Shield winner that we've had in a long time. I don't see Inter-Miami as a clear favorite in the playoffs. I put several teams above them. If that game gets played 10 more times, I think Columbus wins 9 out of 10 last night. But what happens within the Miami? Their back line is very shaky, especially when it's Toto Aviles there with Sergio Busquets.

So the question is, what are you going to do with Sergio Busquets? Are you going to keep it as a defensive mid? But again, you got to play very tight because if he has to cover a lot of space, that's not the Sergio Busquets that we know anymore, right? But if he plays in the back line with Toto Aviles, that they've been playing in for the last month,

that's an extremely slow back line. But then who do you put as a defensive midfielder that has to cover all those spaces so i think we're gonna see in the playoffs it's and it's we're gonna hate it and probably people are gonna hate it and probably they're gonna win mls cup playing this way but they're gonna play exactly like they played last night we Let's win maybe 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, instead of winning 5-4, because it's the playoffs. It's a gamble.

And we have the greatest player of all time. We still have Luis Suarez, who's for now, and it's crazy that they both played over 100 minutes last night when you're going to play at Toronto next Saturday. Maybe they start on the bench, but again, maybe they're motivated to play at Toronto next Saturday. Maybe they start on the bench, but again,

maybe they're motivated to keep playing because the points record is still achievable. But the back line is an issue. And this is a team that is that... And that's what I was most shocked about Columbus, that Columbus is a team that can play through anyone. And Miami is a team that it's not that difficult to play through because those spaces on the midfield would have been so slow, the back line, also the defensive mids.

And again, I think we're going to see a Miami more compact with lines more close to each other. And then just find Messi, find Suarez, and they're going to do what they did last night. Give them an inch and they're going to kill you. I think that's the way they're going to play for the playoffs. Yeah, it's the precedent for Tata Martino. It wouldn't be shocking.

It wouldn't be surprising. On the strength of the shield, I think, one, we're going to learn a little bit over the next two games in historic circumstances of, like, where do they finish in terms of points, right? If they finish on the points record, it's going to be tough to say, but the underlying numbers say what you're saying, which is they are outperforming their XG. Now, I think some of that is like Messi and Suarez in their lifetime outperform their XGs. Like that's who they are. They're the ones that break the model. And I think a lot of that is mental. I have said this over and over again. I think people freak out when they play Inter-Miami. And I think it's not just players.

I think it's coaches. I think it might be referees as well. Like, it is a starstruck moment. You know, you see these spots of, like... And you see it from the best players and the best teams on MLS. Committing these mental mistakes mistakes like Columbus last night that we saw against, for example, on Leaks Cup last year where Andre Blake had his worst professional game ever, I think.

And it's definitely mental. When you have Lionel Messi in front of you and now Luis Suarez and Busquets and Alba, I believe that a lot of teams and players, like you're saying, they get starstruck still. It's not that killer instinct of, okay, that's Lionel Messi. I'm going to kill him. No, it's like, oh, my God, it's Lionel Messi.

And honestly, that also happens with the referees sometimes. And I don't think i'm saying something crazy here but it's like the whole league commits just the dumbest mistakes against miami all the time yeah i think it's starstruck i also think it's pressure i think there's this level of like i have to finish this chance because we're gonna lose if i don't and that creates a higher level of stress than you normally see. I go back the last few weeks, Charlotte last week, Brant Bronico dribbles into the box on the left side. He's got a clear square to Swiderski and he tries to hit it

near post. Swiderski also as well turned inside the box, clear chance to shoot on goal, takes a second touch, doesn't get the opportunity we talked about philly and their opportunities and what they could have done columbus when they went down to miami like you see it over and over again but that might not go away so that might be there forever for this intermine team or at least at least the rest of this playoff run going forward now playoffs mls cup that is not part of our postseason voting. So the question is this, because coming out of yesterday, the conversation is Lionel Messi, in the big game, scored two goals for his team to win Supporter Shield. He is now tied for third in the Golden Boot race, which is ridiculous for the amount of games he's played.

Is he the MVP in Major League Soccer? I don't think so. And I'm a voter. And if you ask me, I'm not voting for Messi. But before going crazy and before we get canceled and we get all the Messi crazy army against me, against us, just let's go through the numbers. Yes, insane numbers. 17 goals, against us. Just let's go through the numbers. Yes, insane numbers. 17 goals, 15 assists, but just 17 games played, 15 games started.

So he's played half season. I cannot vote for that. I'm sorry. And I understand maybe this is not the best year to have this case in my favor because there's not maybe another clear-cut MVP. Although I can make a case for Evander. You could have made a case before last night for Cucho. I think, I don't know, it depends if DC gets in. How is there a case for Benteke? Maybe. Is there a case for Buanga? Is there a case for anyone at Galaxy?

Although Galaxy is difficult because there's a lot of people doing a lot of things well. So they have Peck playing great. They have Pudge playing great. You know, it's difficult to pick one from that group, right? So I cannot vote for MVP, a player that is going to end up playing half the season. And while he was away and injured, the team didn't do well. They did great. The numbers with Messi across all competitions this year is with Messi

11-2-7. Without Messi, 12-6-2. And they won seven, sorry, they won nine out of 10 games in the stretch while he was in Copa America and he got injured. This across all competitions. So you cannot tell me that Messi is the only reason that this team just wants to put a shield. And I understand that the narrative and the visceral reaction is always best player on best team. But I think nowadays, with all that we have on our favor to analyze, to watch games, all the statistics, the metrics that favor Messi, the statistics favor Messi because it's absurd, that he has basically a goal and assist per game played, which is insane.

I think playing the whole season, or at least most of the season and being really valuable for your team, like the case of Evander in Portland, because without Evander, Portland wouldn't be in the playoffs. Yeah, they're going to be the ninth seed. They're going to be on a plane, but he is the reason why Portland is at least getting into the playing games, right? And what is playing against Messi, in my opinion, is not just that he is going to end up playing half a season

and the minutes and everything else. It's that Inter and Miami were great without him. So if you're going to vote for Tata Martino for coach of the minutes, and everything else, is that Inter and Miami were great without him. So if you're going to vote for Tata Martino for Coach of the Year, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot have Tata Martino, Coach of the Year, and Lionel Messi MVP. My vote for MVP, and I have a vote, is for Evander. So the issue with Evander, as you said,

is that Portland are ninth place in the Western Conference. You go back through, let's just do the last 10 years. Hany won it two years ago. Nashville were fifth in the West. He had, I think, like 31 or 32 goal contributions in that season. He won the Golden Boot. And he was like the lone scorer on that team. No one else had double digit goals

and then you go back to mike mcgee who won the golden boot was unbelievable back in 2013 the year he got traded from the galaxy chicago fire didn't make the playoffs um and that was at the time when everyone was voting for mike mcgee a down year like that was the conversation there is not a carlos vella this year or a joseph right who is the best player on the best team and the best player in the league and like it all fits and it's a no-brainer and there's no conversation every single one of these cases is flawed evander's is that his team is bad and if you are the mvp how can you elevate them or how can you fix some of those faults and he's not capable of that. Portland is bad.

And they're going to make the playoffs because of him. They will beat Chicago or San Jose without Evander. And Evander has more goal contributions right now than Messi. He has 15 assists, 18 goals. Yeah, he has played 800 more minutes. And yeah, people say, well, if Messi would have played the whole season, he would have like broken all the records. But he didn't.

He didn't. And that has to count. That has to count. If you want to give an MVP at Inter Miami. I agree with you. And I'll say this. I know I'm in the wrong because Messi is going to win it. Because I know how people vote.

And I know it's Lionel Messi. And after last night, watching all the discourse and people talk about it, Messi is going to win it. Because he's Lionel Messi. And he's the greatest player of all time. He's the best player on MLS. But that's not the award. It's not the best player award.

It's the most valuable player. And again, Portland is terrible. Without Evander, there will be San Jose or Chicago. And they're going to make the playoffs because of him you could have made a case for Benteke on DC

like I think the golden boot is done he has a three goal advantage over Buanga and there's two games left I think Benteke

is going to get probably the golden boot but what if DC ends up getting into the playoffs with Benteke scoring 25 goals

because there's two games left does he has a case? I think that it's tough with the way MLS has structured their league that everyone gets in to completely say that the MVP is the person who takes you from 12th

to 9th because that is a very small gap so I think for me, it needs to be something bigger to say, without this player, the fourth place team would be the 10th place team. And that's where I find the Evander argument tough. The other part of the Evander argument that's tough is that Portland are a high attacking team. They're the first team in MLS to have three guys score 14 goals, right? So for all of the reasons Evander's numbers are huge for him, his own quality, even when he's not in Jonathan Rodriguez and Felipe Mora and Santimuray, like I understand they struggled against Vancouver on the road a little bit this weekend without him, but like

part of his numbers are inflated because his team doesn't defend and they just try and score a thousand goals and all of those things, which is great. And he needs to be there for them to make the playoffs. But that doesn't 100% mean that he's doing the same things as other people. I think right now I am leaning Cucho because he is in this same conversation and he is the true leader of the second best team. And like if you're going to say Messi hasn't played enough minutes he's not the most valuable player this team has been good and won without him or despite him at times who then is in the mix of like is valuable is true quality has put up the numbers all those things and I think Kucho and Lucho are probably still the two. Buonga potentially can get in there, as you mentioned,

the issues with the Galaxy debate. So it's a tough one. I will say this. If Messi finishes top two in the Golden Boot race after sitting out half the year, I can't really blame people for voting for him because the obvious thing that's hitting you in the face is he is so much better than everyone else in the league that he's playing in. Oh, no, I agree. I agree. He's the best player in the league, hands down, and he's going to win the award. And I'm not and I'm not castigating anyone that they're going to vote for Messi. I'm just I'm just giving my case. And the way I voted is two years ago, and we had this debate for coach of the year when I voted Phil Neville, when he made Inter-Miami, that Inter-Miami, that there's no player of that team,

the worst team on the league, and he made them make the playoffs. So I voted for Phil Neville because I really put stock on teams that shouldn't be involved in the playoffs race. Yeah, like you say, it's not a big gap from 12th to 9th, right? But still, I think we should still put stock on bad teams that make the playoffs. Is it the league's fault, the league's format? Yeah, 100%, 100%. But again, Miami, through the summer, the most grueling part of the season, without Messi, 12-6-2. If you're asking me who's the MVP of Miami, I think I will say Busquets, for example.

At his age, playing the most difficult position on the field, in my opinion, which is defensive midfield, and he was playing every game, every minute, giving everything, and he basically took over the team i mean luis suarez was kind of there too he didn't miss as much time as messi because of the injury but i mean for me messi is not even the mvp of his own team so i would i wouldn't vote for him for for for league m league MVP because I think that record, it's damning for him. Or even Tata. I mean, Tata. I think Tata is going to win coach of the year.

And I'm voting Tata for coach of the year again because what they did, winning the Supporters' Shield with a record of 12-6-2 without Messi. It's incredible. Incredible. And Inter-Miami is not the deepest of teams. The bench, whenever it is playing, it's an incredible starting XI. Incredible.

But the bench is not that deep as you wish. And the drop-off, I mean, which is normal in MLS, you know, it's the same thing in Columbus, at LAFC, etc. But the drop-off between the starters and the bench at Inter Miami, it's huge. So I think with Tata dead and the players dead without Messi, that's why I cannot find myself voting for Messi as MVP.

For now, I think, I mean, there's two games left, but I think Evander will be my vote. And then I will definitelyander will be my vote. And then I will definitely vote it for Cucho. But I think because the game got so many media attention and fan attention last night, and he missing the PK that would have been the 3-3, and he didn't have the best of games, I think that's going to play against him in the narrative,

in the public narrative, you know? And they didn't win Campeones Cup, and they've had some big moments, good and bad, CONCACAF final as well. I think there's no doubt in my mind that Columbus over the course of the last 12 months has accomplished anything they could have dreamed of, and they've been great in big moments. I think the CONCACAF one's probably the one that really sticks out to them. The Shield was probably a step too far this year if they were going to compete

across all the competitions they were in. But let's talk about the real MVP then. If it's about making the playoffs, then it's about the bottom half of that race. It is about DC United coming from behind against Nashville, scoring in the 94th and 97th minute Gabriel Perani is your Michele Giannone 2024 MVP celebrate the young man he carried Ben Teke over the line and this was the craziest game of the night unbelievable it was an elimination game between Nashville and DC right elimination game and it seemed like Nashville was going to make it. And then DC comes back with 94th and 97th minute, and now Nashville is gone.

Like, we can say that Nashville is done, the playoffs hopes, and DC is right there. And now it's all about Philly and DC for that last spot because Toronto, I think, is cooked also because they just have one game left. And Montreal getting that win in Atlanta with that brace from Joseph is incredible. But let's stick with Nashville and DC.

I mean, let's go back to Nashville. Like, this is a catastrophe for this team not making the playoffs. But what happened? They lost 10 games in a row between June 29th and August 31st.

It's not a span of 10 games without a win. No, they lost 10 straight games across all competitions. Eight on MLS and the two-aught league cup, obviously, in the group stage. And four of them were with B.J. Callahan. Now, Callahan has had some time to figure out his starting lineup, the way that he wants the team to play. And last night, it felt like the miracle that was going to happen after having that brutal summer. Again, 10 straight losses for Nashville. It looked like they were going to make it at home and then DC with, I mean, what can you say about Troy LeSens? I always struggle with pronouncing his last name.

Lesaen? Lesaen. Lesaen, Troy Lesaen. Coach of the year? Coach of the year? If they make it, it's unbelievable what they did. Of course, Menteke gets another goal. But, I mean, it's just unbelievable what they did.

And, yeah, I feel bad for Nashville because those fans deserve better. That team should have been way better. And I think it's going to get better under B.J. Callahan for the future. But, yeah, last night was an unbelievable ending. And I'm happy for D.C. because, honestly, I wasn't I wasn't expecting DC to be at this point fighting for a playoff spot. It felt like they gave up two weeks ago when they lost 4-0 to Philadelphia in like a, again, it felt like an elimination game. DC was 9th when that game happened.

Philly was 10th or 11th. It was like a three-point difference. Okay, you've got the chance to control your own destiny. Get a draw on the road. Knock Philly down a little. Philly have a tougher schedule to finish. You know, DC can control the situation. They lost that game 4-0 and they were like absolutely lifeless in that game. And it felt like they had given up and was slightly understandable of as much as they were pushing for a playoff spot. It had been a weird year for them and it was year one of a rebuild. And I think you start to get towards the end of the season when you have a conversation about a rebuild and people start looking around saying,

is that me? Am I gone? Like, am I part of the problem? What's the future look like here? And outside of Benteke, you didn't have individuals who were performing at a high level, but you had a team that was doing okay.

And so to come from behind in this game, 94th and 97th minute, to win it, but just to, like, even be trying on the road still, to be pushing for it and have everyone pushing for it, it was, I think, a really big emotional moment for the future of this club under Troy Lesane to say, like, this group believes in him, this group's fighting for him, and Benteke is the center of all of that, of, like, you know you always have a chance when he's on the field. I think for a lot of these attacking players,

you see it even in the final 15 minutes of this game. They go forward, Benteke gets the ball at his feet in transition moments. Everyone flocks towards him, and there's easy passes out to the wings for him from there, and that's where Perani starts to find some success. That's where we've seen Cudi Pietro find some success as well. That there is a real chance. And now you look at this for DC, and you come out of that one. DC finishes at New England and against Charlotte. Like those are winnable games where Philly in front of them finishes at Columbus and against FC Cincinnati. TFC has one game left.

It's this Saturday against Inter Miami at home and Montreal play at Charlotte and against NYCFC. So DC have the easiest schedule left of these teams. But 75 minutes into this game, it didn't matter because they were going to lose this game. And like, that was going to be the end of it. And then they are able to turn it around and come back. So it's a huge moment. Um, if you go into a playoff game, then tech is going to be the best player on the field, especially in the playing game. Uh, and he's the best goal scorer in the league right now. And so that gives you an opportunity. And I think it's, it's cool for both the players, as you said, for this group and for these fans to just have something to care about and root for towards the end of the year.

We did a long rant about the Red Bulls and like, OK, cool. You make the playoffs every year. What else on Tuesday? And the amount of D.C. fans that were in the comments there being like, that would be fun. It would be fun to make the playoffs. That would be a fun problem to have. You're like, okay, cool. Well, this is your year to get that. And this is your opportunity. Let's talk about

the biggest win though, for the playoff push. And it has to be Montreal because Montreal are currently in the spots. They control their own destiny. They are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference right now, where two weeks ago, Tom wouldn't let me say their name in this debate or in this race and said that we didn't care and they do it off the back of a Joseph Martinez revenge game two goals in Atlanta like I could not have guessed that he still had this in him and they cheered him I believe in the crowd after the first goal he is now seventh all-time in mls goal scoring and i know you're in love because it's your venezuelans but like this was a crazy moment i thought joseph was cooked two or three months ago like done done and there were some like weird comments from his coach and

the front office from montreal like they weren't completely happy with him or something was going on. And out of nowhere, this front three, which I love, is my favorite thing on MLS right now. Caden Clark, which was one of the most touted talents coming from MLS in the last two years, and he's been like all over the place, going to Europe, coming back, going to Minnesota, not working out at Red Bulls, not working out, Red Bulls not working out obviously Europe not working out and now at Montreal with Bryce Duke my my guy I saw Bryce Duke when he when he made his first his debut with LAFC and you know when you see a player live or on your TV but let's say live and and because when you're watching live you can like pick up more things and the

way a player moves or or his personality like for example for a player like Bryce Duke he always wants the ball you know like give me the ball and and he and and and he can be he likes to take uh he wants to take he wants to take the ball go 1v1 he's obviously young fast he moves a lot and and i would have never guessed that a three of kate and clark price duke will get so they will play so much better with with joseph like joseph nowadays is it's it's the number nine he's gonna be in the box like the first goal yesterday the ball is gonna be there at his feet and he's gonna put it in the box like the first goal yesterday the ball is going to be there at his feet and he's going to put it in the back of the net 10 goals for joseph 12 starts 10 goals that's unbelievable for a player that honestly and i love joseph like you said venezuelan but i thought he was done done done like joseph is fine i mean he is is, for the first few months of the season, a bench player,

coming from the bench, not playing a lot. But I thought that was going to be his future for the rest of his career, which is crazy because he's only 31 years old. Like, we've seen so much from Joseph that we think he's like 38, but he's 31. Of course, the knee injuries can be catastrophic for players like Joseph because he's clearly nowhere close to what he was at his peak with Atlanta or in Europe when he was playing with Torino, but in Atlanta when he was the MVP, champion, et cetera.

But it's fun. I'm happy for them. I'm happy for Montreal. I'm happy for them i'm happy for montreal i'm happy for for the young kids and and again like dc is a team that we were we were expecting nothing like before before the season began you could have you could have said like okay the last three spots on the eastern conference is going to be chicago dc montreal and now two of those teams are going to be in the playoffs potentially and and I would

love to say something about Philly we can do that after but yeah I want to give props to Montreal they just need a point in the last two games or maybe not winning and and if the other team's not done they don't they don't win their games they're gonna be in and it's fun I'm happy for Joseph I'm happy for Montreal it's a fun team are there are they're gonna make noise in the playoffs i don't think so but but it's fun to see them there yeah joseph uh remember was also suspended like three weeks ago for the way he was interacting with staff members and being disrespectful like it's not even okay he got injured and the last year or two it's been bad like this was this was weeks ago, and he comes back in

and is able to score these goals, and this has been the gamble. With Joseph the last two years for Miami and Montreal, it's like, oh, you know, class is timeless. Like, he doesn't have the explosive ability. He's not effective in transition. He doesn't dominate in the air like he used to, but if you put the ball in front of him in the right area in the box, like, he'll put it away, and that hadn't't really been the case partially because he doesn't get in those

areas anymore and he's not capable of it i think he's giving a little bit more effort after the suspension and so now you start to see him get on the end of more stuff and you start to see him be more effective and i think you talked about bryce duke and what he brings and kate and clark those two guys are crazy work rate. So there's also less for him to cover because he's got a ton of energy around him. And now it's this fun little mix of like he's the veteran bringing these two through and like helping them and guiding them. And that was the dream setup for Montreal. That's what they were hoping for.

I think absolutely next year you talk about Montreal and you write Bryce Duke, Caden Clark, and Nathan Saliba in pen in that midfield three. And you're cooking with something there. Like you've got something fun. Now what can you do to fit around it? But that was Montreal's job this year was to have anything to be able to say that about and then say, okay, now we build from here going forward. And they've gotten that. So credit to Corey Ray, who put a lot of this together on the fly, including picking up Kaden Clark and Shaquille Marcy Ruddy. Lauren Quartaw, year one. Not credit to ownership, because that's the problem with Montreal.

And, like, that's the ceiling with all of this. But we'll get to that another day, because I don't know that we can dig into them right now. Let's talk about some bounce-back wins. For Miami, obviously, that was a bounce back victory after three straight ties. But the Red Bulls go on the road, they get a 4-1 win at Toronto. I think that might be it for Toronto in this playoff race. Bernadeschi, another embarrassing red card in which this is the second time this year he threw an arm up on an attack opposing players, like basically their neck. It's like a full on lazy football tackle for someone going by him in a completely

undangerous moment in which it's like something you do in training where you're like joking and you don't want to chase after the player. And he got a red card again. So now he's suspended for the last game of the season at home against Inter Miami. I can't I can't imagine a world in which he or in Zinye would be on my team next year. I don't know how much control Toronto has over that, but like, this was the microcosm of the season in one game of like, he's talented. He's creating chances. He looks dangerous. And then he doesn't really care enough to just play the game properly to help you see it out and lose

in this game. And Red Bulls able to bounce back with the win. Again, they're in the playoffs. Good for you. What else can you do? Forsberg on the field, at least got a goal for this team. And that's a little bit more positive for them. But I want to move on here because I want us to talk a little national team because we've got our first camp for Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT. We got the first roster out. Shocking, surprising. Mauricio Pochettino cannot invent 23 new players to play for the USMNT. It is going to be quite similar to the camps we have seen.

You have covered this team more than anyone over the last five ten years especially in the greg burr halter years you've been at every camp you've been at every game you were on the the i believe the press conference with mariso pochettino yesterday after the roster came out let's start big picture what is your expectation of what pochettino is for this team and what he can be well obviously, obviously, there's a need to get better, right? Like, after being there when the USMNT gets eliminated, Copa America, talking with staff, talking with players, not necessarily with a microphone and a camera on their faces.

But on the record, like Team Ream spoke, and I think it's always a good time to bring those words out or like to bring those words back. And I think there's a lot of writing not on pocket you know on it's on the players like we've talked for years now that is the golden generation of US soccer and I I am one that believes that this group this generation is as of now overrated we don't, outside of Christian Pulisic, a world-class player making a difference on his club. We don't have it. And we have a lot of key players that are not playing at their clubs.

And Pochettino was very emphatic yesterday about that. He was asked about the goalkeepers which is probably the weakest position right now i will say or the one that has more uncertainty or uncertainty on the on the usmnt and it's crazy to think because historically and for the last few years with matt turner being that rock and and before that with you know all the generations of great goalkeepers, Tim Howard, Casey Keller, et cetera, et cetera. He said, and he used the word handicap. He said, not playing at your club is a handicap that is not going to be permitted, and I'm quoting him,

is not going to be permitted on the national team. He didn't name names, but basically he said, I don't care if you're Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, or you are John Tolkien, if you're not playing in your club, you're not going to get called up. And people then start yelling, well, then why did he call Matt Turner? It's his first call up. And I think he's not going to be that aggressive until January.

Because what happens in January? The market opens. So I think Pochettino is going to have a lot of talks. And he mentioned this. I'm going to talk with the players. It's something that Berhalter also did. Berhalter was more of an advisor. You know, he never forced players to move, to play.

But I think Pochettino, the sense that we all got, at least on the media and talking with some fans, interacting with some fans, is that he's going to talk with players and he's going to tell Matt Turner, you got to go play or you're not going to get called up. He's going to tell Gio Reyna, you got to play. I don't care if you're Gio Reyna, you're not going to get called up. And if you get called up because you're Gio Reyna, you're not going to get called up and if you get called up because you're Gio Reyna you're not going to be a starter and I think there's a lot

riding on this group Tim Green said it best after the elimination on Copa America, this is a team that sometimes the talent fall through the cracks, I'm quoting Tim Green there, and he said that there are players on this team that they think they are made

a final product and they're not this is still a young team it's crazy to think that chris and polisic is 25 26 year old still but weston mckinney yunus musa following balogun none of them are over 26 27 years old so this is still a group of players that need to grow. They need development. And we can I think we can trust that Pochettino is going to bring the best out of them because he's a great manager. He's done it at every club. Right. But the pressure is on the players. Bring Pochettino, Pochettino, bring Guardiola, bring Ancelotti. If the players don't respond on the field,

there's nothing you can do. And I do believe that this generation of players, as of now, is a little bit overrated. And they need to go play. They need to find minutes and go play. Ricardo Pepe cannot sit on the bench at PSV for another full season. Gio Reyna cannot sit on the bench on Borussia Dortmund for another season. Matt Turner cannot be the backup of the backup.

You're not going to get called up. And I think we have to start from that and figure out things, because the World Cup is less than two years from now. And Pochettino is not putting his reputation on the line with players that are not doing what he wants them to do. What will be interesting to me, because I agree with a lot of what you said, and I think clearly, based off what Pochettino was saying early on, that that's where he's going is what the alternatives are.

Because one of the issues that I've said over and over again with the U.S. men's national team pool is you had a blank generation. And I don't think this is a golden generation. I think it's the start of the change of youth development and the start of the change of the players coming through. But you didn't have veteran players. And so when someone doesn't play, there wasn't really options outside of them. Like if Pepe's not playing, there weren't really center forwards to say this is who you call up. That has started to shift a bit over the last few years, right? Now you look at the team and you say, Aiden Morris has, you know, been successful in MLS and has gone over and he's now playing in Europe and playing fine.

And you add Caleb Wiley's into the conversation and you add Griffin Yow's into the conversation. You add Diego Luna's into the conversation. Like there are more pieces or you look the other way and you say like, is a Brian White or Hassani Dotson now in the conversation? I am curious to find out, and we don't know, where Mauricio Pochettino looks and says, okay, Matt Turner's not playing enough, so Zach Steffen got called in. Are we going to see going forward that it's the MLS,

you know, who's the best player at this position in MLS? Is it who can fit my system? Or is it, does he judge and say the Belgian second division and the English third division are a higher level than some of these leagues or players? Like, does he pull players out of League MX and MLS as quickly as maybe a Greg Berhalter would have? Or does he do it more quickly than a Greg Berhalter?

He has license to do some of this that I think Greg, by the end of the cycle, didn't because of the perceptions and the pressure. Also, I go back to the 900th time, I would never hire someone for a second cycle. And I think you feel a lot of that with the Tim Rehm comment of like, it got stale. And you weren't pushing players, whether it was for their starting spot, or whether it was to get into the team and all of that, it'll just be, it wasn't easy partially because of the culture that you build and then how it gets stale over seven years. And also because there aren't really other players to go out and take. It's not, there is not that much competition for a lot of these spots.

And so, as you said, it's on the players because there's only so much the manager can do. And as excited as we were about Pochettino, it's still the same player pool. Yeah, two things. And I think that's a great point. There are not another 25, 23, 20 players that he could have called up, right? It's basically the same team that went to Copa America without the injuries, which are Tyler Adams, Serginio Dest and Gio Reyna. Right now. Yeah. You can get like the players that were in the bubble, like Mark McKenzie, like trustee. I don't know who else. Like, but basically this is a player pool, right? And another point that you make is not just that it got

staled on the field, players were at the end too comfortable with Greg. And that's the truth. They were very comfortable because basically they all knew where they were, and a lot of them had their spot saved, mark on Sharpie, on the

starting lineup, no matter what. Right? But then you go back, back to a player pool, saved Marco and Sharpie on the starting lineup, no matter what, right? But then you go back, back to the player pool, and then we're going to probably see a very similar starting XI against Panama of what we saw in Copa America. We're going to see West of his course, Weston McKinney, who's playing great. Yesterday he played great with Juve. We're going to see probably Gio Reyna. We're going to see, obviously, Christian Pulisic.

We're going to see Balogun. We're going to see Tim Weah that has been playing on and off with Juve, but at least at the beginning of the season, before the injury, he was playing, he was being a starter as a right wing. But that's the player pool, and that's where we go and say, OK, for example, we have a big, big hole behind Tyler Adams. Johnny Cardoso cannot play the six. He has shown you he cannot play the six.

And he told me it's on the record. He doesn't like to play the six. If he plays the six, he likes him. He feels more comfortable playing a double pivot like he plays at Betis with a clear double pivot when he has another six besides him. For example, last FIFA window when he when he struggled next to him was Musa. Musa is not a is not a six. Right. But Johnny doesn't have the quality, in my opinion, to challenge one of the eight spots on this team. So then you have a mismatch of talent and you have a hole there on your golden generation. And if it's your golden generation, why is that hole not filled?

Why do we have so many doubts on different parts of the field? Maybe Zayden Morris that is going to fill that gap, probably. Maybe now Schulte on goal. So after six years, six or seven years with Greg, nowadays like COVID makes that those years makes everything difficult to do math. But Greg started in January 2019. So 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 24 yeah basically almost 6 full years under Greg

right and you didn't make that that big of a leap in less than 2 years under Mauricio Pocatino do you trust that the same group of players in less than 2 years

are going to make it to a semi-final in a World Cup I don't think so. As of now, things could change, obviously, when we give Pochettino the time to work. But again, if the players are not developing and are not getting the minutes that they should, or they're not developing the way we overhype these players, because that's another thing. Now people are saying, well, call Luca Coliosio. He's dead. He's he's playing for the Italian national team and he's getting called on the under under 21st.

He's a 19 year old kid. Why do we overhype all these kids thinking that they're going to be the next big thing? Balogun came in a year ago. He was going to be the savior. He was going to score all the goals. He's going to score a thousand goals in Copa America. What now? He's not a starter at Monaco he has played well i think he had a good copa america but the number nine position is pretty wide open like josh hart sergeant i think can easily challenge balogun so we overhype these

players too much right and that's what has happened in the macro with the golden generation narrative that i think it's a big mistake so honestly i don't know if less than two years and and how difficult the schedule is for the usmnt with nations league etc to find good rivals right we're playing panama and mexico again on this window and next year maybe with gold cup hopefully they they can make it bigger and invite some european teams etc playing Panama and Mexico again on this window and next year maybe with Gold Cup hopefully they can make it bigger and invite some European teams etc but I don't think it's the way this player pool has developed

taking out the six years prior with Greg getting as many minutes that they need at their clubs that two years or less than two years now is enough. A year and a half is enough. It's going to be enough for Mauricio Pochettino to get the best out of them.

Can they make a round of 16 again? A round of 32 now with a new format? Or quarterfinals? Yeah. But can they be a serious contender to be a World Cup champion in 2026? Right now. I'm not saying it's not going to happen. But right now, I don't see it.

Not even close. Yeah, I think that's fair. I mean, I think they made a pretty good leap in the first three years with Greg from zero to what they ended up at at 2022. And then as we said, it got stale and my thing has always been... The program was in the absolute bottom.

Like it was basically, it was impossible not to get better. Yeah, fair. But then I think a lot of it is going to fall on these players getting older, getting more experience, the pool getting larger. Like, all that's going to happen over time. That's the player pool side, though. But you sat on the call with Pochettino yesterday.

Talk to me a little bit about what you think he is as a manager and what you think his effect will be or what you think he will be like as a national team manager i think it's going to change the culture again one of the problems one of the issues is that players got too comfortable with greg at the end i saw it firsthand i saw it on the field of the field they were too comfortable greg was a pal their phone uncle at the end and sometimes you i'm not saying they lost respect because i don't think i don't think they lost respect but i think the message gets old it gets it you need a new face and and Pochettino, it's an Argentinian. We know how hard can they be, how passionate can they be.

And he's going to be a coach that as soon as he enters the locker room, the players are going to have to be eyes wide open, alert. This is a manager that has make a champions league final that has a big name that is considered one of the best coaches in the planet and now if you want to make it to a world cup you better step up your game on the field and off the field and if the i I've never heard and I don't think it happened I never heard Greg saying publicly on the record to a player pool if you don't get minutes on your team you're not going to get called up if we're seeing that from pocket from Pochettino on a press conference on camera on the record imagine how he's going to be inside the locker room.

He's going to demand excellence. He's going to demand respect. And the players having that figure in front of them, especially young players that sometimes are easy to be starstruck, I believe they're going to kill themselves on the field to make a good impression. And they're going to kill themselves on the field to make a good impression. And they're going to be motivated not just to develop and get more minutes and being called up, but to be on the World Cup team. Right?

It's going to be the biggest World Cup in history. It's going to be here in the U.S. And I think that motivation alone is going to help. But I do believe that Pochettino, I don't know him personally, and I don't think he's like a general, you know, he's going to make life impossible for players, and he's going to be like unreachable in in in like a like like on a human side he's everything that i've heard of is that he's super friendly like he he's very amicable you can see it the way he talks in public but inside the locker room he's gonna demand excellence and i don't think this group has seen that for the past six years under Greg. And it's going to be a wake-up call.

And they better wake up. It's going to be interesting to watch. We've still got over a week until that first game. You mentioned it. They play Panama on Saturday, a week from Saturday. And then the game against Mexico the following Tuesday. I believe the Panama game is in Austin at Q2 Stadium. And then they move on from there.

This is our first opportunity. The roster, not super shocking, not a ton of surprises. The big one, Zach Steffen and the team, Pochettino said, thought he'd earned his way back in. A lot of the numbers don't say that in MLS, but the team's production does. The League's Cup run was very good. It's here or there.

Obviously, the Rapids put on the press saying that they thought he had earned his way back in and were frustrated that Mikey Varas, in his interim stint, didn't call him in. And now he gets the opportunity under Pochettino. There are a lot of theories why. I think we both kind of fall on the, like, he's heard of him because he played in the Premier League and was playing under Pep Guardiola sort of at a time. I hope that's not the reason. You'd hope by now with Pochettino knowing he's had this job for that long

that he's done his research and he's sort of figured it out on the entire player pool. But we've got a lot more to cover with this. We are going to have some special guests to talk USMNT next week as well going into the games. And, of course, we will be here on SoccerWise to recap all of the games, react to them, and talk about what we have seen.

But before we get out of here, let's talk about the weekend coming up in Major League Soccer. We said all of these teams trying to push for playoff spots, trying to push for standings. And this is the slate of games that we have coming up. I think some of the most important ones, Charlotte hosting Montreal. Charlotte sitting in seventh place.

They got the victory over Chicago Fire midweek. It was a breakout game for Swiderski. Pep Biel was very good as well. But they went up 4-1, and they give up two goals to get pegged back to only win 4-3 against the Chicago Fire team that has nothing left to play for. It was a little bit more of the danger for the Charlotte team. Ashley Westwood, I think it was after the game said, you know, we sort of lost ourselves for a couple of weeks, but we found our feet again and we're back where we want to be. I don't know that a performance

like that is the case. Their last four games, they lost that Orlando. They beat new England at home. They drew into Miami on the road, which is good. And then they win this game barely against the Chicago fire team with nothing to play for. This is a Charlotte team that's much different than the one I thought they would be coming out of the summer window. I like Pepiel. I've said that a bunch. I like his effect on the team.

Swiderski scoring goals is a positive for you. Abata scoring goals is a positive for you. They've slid Tim Rehm out to that left back spot. And that was supposed to solidify things and make things, I think, a little bit safer. Giving up three goals to a Chicago Fire team that does not score goals, that doesn't feel that way. So it could have been a lapse late in the game. Maybe it's a chance for Dean Smith to sort of get on them and say, this is the level we have to be at. We can't step down in any way. But that was a little frustrating. And then you got a Montreal team coming in, like we just said, on a ton of confidence.

I think this one's got to be must-watch on Saturday. Yeah. I mean, absolutely. And Charlotte has just been such a weird team. Like before the All-Star break, they were so good defensively. And then they bring Tim Reen, and you think it's going to get better, like you said. They have probably the best goalkeeper at MLS, at least, I mean, in numbers,

which is Kalina, and that helps a lot to help that back line. But it's not even that they had that lapsus at the end of the game. Like when Chicago gets the goal that ties the game 1-1, Charlotte should have been already up like 3-0, right? So I think that sometimes when you're winning 1-0, right, and you have Chicago in front, like that, you get too cute, too comfortable, right? It's like the game is done. We're done.

We're home. 1-1-0. It's Chicago. They're playing for nothing, right? They're playing for nothing. And that thing that caught up with them, It's unacceptable that Chicago scored three times on you and that you barely win that game. Do I think Charlotte is going to make noise in the playoff?

No, they're going to be the seventh seed. They're going to get probably Columbus on the first round, and that's going to be boom, boom, gone. The other two big games in the Eastern Conference, Columbus hosting Philadelphia, obviously no Rudy Camacho off the back of the red card. Columbus sitting in second place, so what they have to play for is that home field advantage over FC Cincinnati, who host Orlando. Cincinnati losing on the road to NYCFC, another really good game from NYCFC, another good performance for that team in back-to-back

games. Oddly enough, a home game at Red Bull Arena. So they continue to score at Red Bull Arena. But for NYCFC, Alonzo Martinez scoring again. Another true striker's goal. Santi Rodriguez coming back in the team, helping them. Their best chances are coming in transition right now. But I don't think they're going to complain because those chances are going to be there against a lot of the teams they're playing.

So Cincinnati, without a Woozium, we expect once again, they're going to try and bounce back at home against Orlando. And Columbus and Cincy, that's all they have left to play for, right, is that standings and the ability to host the conference semifinals to probably face off against Inter-Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals. I have a question for you about Philadelphia. But first I want to say I love the chaos that it's New York City FC. Every year feels that it's the same thing with them.

Like, they struggle for like two, three months. They're absolutely terrible during the summer. And actually, Nick Cushing was saying post-game last night that it feels like it's 2021 when they won MLS Cup in 2022 all over again. Like, they're getting results at the end of the season. They're getting in good form, good momentum for the playoffs. And they're a great dark horse team. If that team is healthy, that team can make a run like they did in 2021 to win MLS Cup or in 2022

to make noise in the playoffs. I think it's, that's, if there's ever been a definition of a dark horse getting to the playoffs, I think it's, that's, if there's ever been a definition of a dark horse getting to the playoffs, I think it's New York City FC. My question about Philly is that if they don't make the playoffs, which I think they won't

because the schedule is just brutal, is this it for this Jim Curtin era, this Philadelphia Union that has been probably overall the last, what, five years, four or five years in MLS, the best team overall?

Is this it? Like, is it done with Jim Curtin and this and the Philadelphia Union as we know it? Because I think it is. I just can't see it. I can't see Jim Curtin not being the manager next year. Like, if they don't make the playoffs, they're not going to fire him. I look at the openings, and if we're to believe what we have heard on Vieira,

which Tom has done reporting on, going to Atlanta, that to me puts Greg in Chicago, and there's just not an obvious opening that Jim would leave for. Now, I think Jim could be convinced to take Chicago. It's where he played. It's his legacy. I think Jim could be convinced to take Chicago. It's where he played. It's his legacy. I think he could be convinced maybe to take Atlanta as well with the size of that club. And you talk about the limitations that Philadelphia has in spending.

Those don't exist. I don't think that happens. So I don't think he leaves. If he doesn't leave, Ty Burribo is not going anywhere. Daniel Gosdog is not going anywhere. They've brought in the center mids. They've in and Danley and whatever there'll be there. Like, I just don't see them flipping the roster. I think they look at things and say from July 15th on, we were a top four team. We went to a league's cup semifinal. Once again, that's who we really are. The first half

was an outlier and let's roll this back one more year that would be my guess is this is not the blow-up year you give it another year yeah that would be my guess i could see that i could see that give it another year to see what you really are are you top four or are you this right and i think in all of that is the fact that they're a team that could steal points off of one of these two teams towards the end of the year you You expect Toronto to lose this weekend. Now you are in a race with two other teams to try and make that last postseason spot. And I think Philadelphia, if they are able to sneak in here, that will feel like a huge victory for them. Out West, the two best games, I think, Vancouver, Minnesota, and Colorado, Seattle. Minnesota continues to put space between them

and Portland, playing some pretty good soccer, feeling pretty comfortable with the way they are playing. Vancouver, they've had some up and down results over the last few weeks outside of Canadian Championship. I think this is sort of a get-right-game opportunity for them. And for Colorado, they need a bounce back. They took the lead against the Galaxy, playing LA Galaxy at home, and then over the course of that game, when Colorado pressed numbers forward and tried to attack, they left these gaps that the LA Galaxy are so good at taking advantage of, but in a way in which it didn't feel like Colorado was conscious and aware

of their opponent. It felt like they were playing the way they were going to play, no matter who's on the field and you're playing, the best team in the West who specifically want those transition spaces to take advantage of. So it felt like a very odd game from Colorado, especially a team that I think their little tweaks of how they play people have been really good over the course of the last few weeks. And it was surprising to see from that team because they know that they have to, to some extent, be conscious of the matchups. They are not just a pure talent team that can go out and win it. And Seattle continue to try and bounce back off the back of, shockingly, Paul Rothrock

and the guy who's leading everything, which has been crazy to see for this Seattle team. All right, Michele, thank you for taking the time to join me. It has been a blast. No, thank you. Thank you for the invitation. It's an honor to to be here thank you um i had fun i miss talking to you seeing your face and working with you because i guess this is work although it's it's very fun and i will do this um every day and and yeah i'm

super happy to be here and and yeah it's yeah, I'm watching you all the time, following you on all the socials of Soccer Wise. And no, I was just going to ask you, what do you make of the Galaxy? Do you trust them in the playoffs? Zero chance. Me neither. Sorry.

Michele, the best in the game. Follow him if you don't on all social medias and keep an eye out for him and all the work he's doing. No show tomorrow as I am moving as well. It is the new year. So Shana Tovada, everyone celebrating. And I'll be back on Monday, though, with the normal slate and schedule. We will have the weekend recap.

We will have more guests coming up to fill in for Tom Jordan Angeli back as well. So thank you to all of you for watching live. Thank you to all of you for listening. And we'll talk to you again very, very soon.