SoccerWise - MLS Edition: Playoff Biggest Storylines + FC Dallas Head Coach Hire

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

The MLS playoffs are finally back so Tom & David get you set with the biggest storylines of the round! Is LAFC building a dynasty? Is this the biggest Hudson River Derby all-time? Best Upset chances? And of course not to be forgotten FC Dallas name a new head coach & Montreal a new Director of Soccer. 9:45 Breaking News Charlotte Not Triggering Pep Biels Buy Option 17:00 Hudson River Derby Preview (The Biggest One Ever) 27:30 LAFC Building A Dynasty? 33:20 Seattle’s Last Hurrah 40:00 Oscar Pareja’s Big Chance 48:30 Are Atlanta United Back? 58:00 LA Galaxy Trying To Break Bad Streaks 1:01:55 Minnesota Playing With House Money 1:07:30 FC Dallas Hire Eric Quill 1:14:50 Sporting Changes In MontrealSoccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

bang the table right before the intro soccer wise is back baby that's how you know we are in the zone david goss and tommy scoops with you for another episode to get you ready for the MLS Cup playoffs returning. After, of course, a seven-year hiatus, we are so excited to have Jon Snow back with us and ready for the postseason. Tom, you've got the beanie on. Winter is coming up on the Jersey Shore. Yeah, winter's here. It's finally rained for like the first time in, I don't know, so that was nice it feels like fall is outside like most people dream of uh florida weather what you have in the winter where it's no warm and things are nice even in november

december me it was drizzling windy as hell because i live on the beach a gray outside cold and when i when i was walking my dog down and coming back the other way when the wind was in my face i was like hell yeah fall weather we're here yeah let's go um my dream is the fall's the number one season so winter's not my ideal but my ideal with winter is when you get the like freezing so there's like a little bit of ice mist thing on the ground but not pure snow that's like my perfect in between i disagree i like snow because it's the worst when it's cold as hell in january february but it doesn't snow because then it's just cold for no reason right i don't like that i want it to snow i don't want snow on the ground i love when snow falls and the moment it touches the ground i'm done with it i would like it to leave and so the longer snow stays the more i hate the ground i'm done with it i would like it to leave and so the

longer snow stays the more i hate snow unless i'm like skiing and on a ski trip or whatever then i'm like let it snow baby let it snow uh did i say my jersey shore thing right did i say up on or whatever you're supposed to say so i don't have to be a purist about this and uh there are there what is correct down down the shore on the shore anything anything works um yeah down the shore that's the bruce springsteen lyric what i will say is the locals we like to say down the beach because down the shore sounds like somebody like you coming from long island coming down for a little beach trip so strong island but my my best man college roommate he was from strong island as well and i learned very very early that it's on long island um so i know that

that's a thing too so real recognize yeah there was like some video that came out when i was in college about um long island succeed succeeding to become its own state and they wanted the official bird to be they called it the sioux bird and it was just the middle finger which was one of my favorite things that's ever happened and then i I got to explain to everyone what Long Island is like, the culture and everything around it. We are two low-functioning adults. Me and Tom have spent the last 20 minutes discussing all of the ways in which we are pathetic.

My big one is that I'm going to Kansas City this weekend for NWSL Cup, which I'm super excited about. So if you're in Kansas City, hit me up. I'm just going to be hanging around and then going to the game. But it's going to be cold, and I live in Florida now. So I was just getting my jacket out as I packed. And I bought a new ski jacket last year that's like, you know, thinner, but keeps you just as warm. So you don't have this big bulky jacket and everything. And I could not find it anywhere. And my wife was like, you probably left it in New York at someone's house thinking it was

like such a great idea. Because then it would be there when you go somewhere cold. And I was like, you probably left it in New York at someone's house thinking it was like such a great idea because then it would be there when you go somewhere cold. And I was like, I didn't do that. I know I didn't do that. And then I texted a friend today about something irrelevant. And he goes, by the way, you know, you left your jacket at my place in March of 2024. And so if you want it back, let me know. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me i ripped this place apart looking for that so that's my pathetic uh experience uh tom i need to lament that i'm

just not a functioning adult human being and it's embarrassing and frustrating all at the same time i've had a phone sitting in my desk for like 12 to 18 months i didn't need it my phone was fine i'm reticent to change things were working well but my my phone was kind of hitting it's like the battery wasn't doing great it's being a little buggy it was like all right clearly if i didn't have another phone i would just march on with this until it fell apart but i was like all right dude like you have a phone in your desk it's 2024 it is not that difficult to activate a new phone yes it is yes it is for me took a couple mental breakdowns i was trying to back up my phone um my like personal laptop tried that that's the big tried that a couple times you're gonna lose stuff it said there

wasn't enough room deleted everything in my trash and download still not enough room getting angry and angry i get quick i have a quick trigger for anger particularly with technological stuff that should be simple and then okay it's bubbling up trying to not scream and lose my mind and my dog go walk into another room because he's like okay he just needs to be alone for right now then other computer finally that worked and then i'm plugging like i i completely just screaming my computer alone by myself because i'm a lunatic and just embarrassing and upset with myself after from the way i'm reacting but plugging it into the computer and the thing coming up on the phone is like plug this into a computer as the thing is plugged in and charging and i'm like it is plugged in it is and i'm yelling at the computer as if it's going to be like oh you're

right my bad thank you for telling me now that you explained it that way It took like several hours And it's just So embarrassing And just not like again From not being able to do it to my reaction It's just All I know how to do is tweet about soccer news And talk about soccer that's it

And walk my dog And blue sky about it And take care of my dog And make him happy and a living thing And pick up food that Sky about it. Blue Sky. Follow Tom on Blue Sky if you're into it. And take care of my dog and make him happy and a living thing. And pick up food. That's about it. I can't do much else. I can make a quesadilla.

That's about it. I made quesadillas last night. I did too. Just throwing out there. A little ham and cheese section. Mine was a whole battle and war and now my entire kitchen smells like gross cheese, which is a bit of a problem. Tom, I feel you. I'm here for you.

You are supported in this. This is a good platform for us to take to any main sources. If you don't hear from Tom the way you normally do, it might be because Tom messed up his phone. So this is a good place for us to blast that out just in case. No, no, we're good now. It's in the past. We're all good. We got the phone.

So when Mbappe's agent texts you about him coming to Colorado Rapids. His agent's his mother. So now that makes it sound weird. Oh, I didn't know that. Mbappe is just my go-to joke now when it's who's the unreasonable person that's coming to Major League Soccer. Before we continue, though, because me and Tom are low-functioning people, we have to give a happy birthday shout-out to one of the regulars on this show who normally brings calm and focus in Bobby Warshaw.

So happy birthday to Bobby. You hear him regularly on this show where he explains things to us and he lays things out so it's not just us screaming from two sides of, I don't know, Grand Canyon about everything that's going on. I think he last came on to talk a little bit about youth development with us. We had him on to talk about the coaching hire in San Diego, which was a really fun segment. And we're going to have him on more going forward to explain things to us. So happy birthday to Bobby, one of our favorites in the soccer world, one of our favorites in the world in general. I will, after this show, go and just do like 47 leg lifts on each leg casually throughout the day just to keep my heart rate high in honor of you, Mr. Bobby Warshaw. And also, we will now know if he hears this because if he doesn't message us and check on us,

this is the canary in the corner. What I'm going to do, Goss, is I'm going to text you in honor of Bobby Warshaw by just asking you questions to poke into. Like, hey, how's your day going? It's good. Is it good? Why is it good? What makes a day good?

What do you mean by good? Can you lay out exactly what makes a day good? What would make a day bad? Can a day be bad? So that's how I do it. Bobby, we love you. Shout out to Rich and E eg in the chat two of our favorites uh and morgan of course uh adrian gandhi in the chat asked if i'm on blue sky i am

someone messaged me about this apparently if you search my name it doesn't come up i tried i'm under empire goss like i always had a g-a-s-s as the last name so i need to clean that up and there's a reddit post i have to go through about how to fix it. So I will get on that. But I am on there as well. It's become a great spot to find soccer news, content, engagement. If you want something like that, but you don't want to be out there on a social media platform, our Discord channel is one of the best places to talk about soccer and engage about soccer.

So you can subscribe to our Patreon. You can get that. You also get access to our depth charts, which is really, really cool. They are going to be vital as we go through the offseason. I just finished updating the NWSL depth charts. So when you look at the rosters there, you'll see every player who's available for free agency. We don't know specific contracts in NWSL like we do in MLS with how much they make per year and all of that. So it's not laid out the same, but they both give you the same idea of like what teams are going to rebuild.

For example, we are going to go through the biggest storylines for each team going into this playoff round. In the Seattle one, I pulled up the depth charts, look to see which of the players that are going to be available for free agency. And that turned out to be the storyline by itself. So we've got a lot to talk about on this show but that is a great resource for you uh and i think as we get into the off season we're going to be able to do more fun stuff and sort of explore some bigger topics and the discord's a great place to engage with us there ask questions and all that type of stuff all right all right were you ready digging the post i have a little uh breaking news that uh, I derailed the show already.

Charlotte FC will not pick up the purchase option for attacking midfielder Pep Biel. That move opens a DP spot. What I would say is I'm expecting this club to try to take another big, big swing on that DP spot. And also, this doesn't 100% rule out Pep Biel's Charlotte career because they'd be open to bringing him back on loan again next year if there's a way to do it without him occupying a DP spot so that's TBD but again the bigger news is that the designated player spot is open and look this club looked for Giovanni Luxelso they looked for Kelvin Stangs they looked for Miguel Amarone this summer I'm expecting something in that ballpark again in the winter for for them to be attempting or trying to sign rather than,

you know, a couple million dollar sign, right? Like, we'll see what happens. But I know this club has a lot of ambitions for this spot. And hopefully, we'll see what comes in the winter. The other thing as I jump over to our depth charts, which is perfect tie in here is that Carol Swiderski is the other designated player alongside Lea Labada for their three. We have heard, I mean, they shot Swiderski. They loaned him out. They have tried to move on from him. Do you think there's a chance they go 2-4-2 in this,

which is they bring in a DP to fill one spot alongside Abada, then they bring in a fourth under-22 initiative player to get the more money as well. You get extra TAM to spend in the roster. So that's interesting. I'm not sure. I haven't directly asked this question, so this is what I'm about to say is all speculation.

But I assume that this is a team that wants to be three DPs, three U22 initiatives. They want to flex their financial muscle and have three senior DPs. Again, I know Lee Albata, I think, is technically a young DP still. But regardless, like having senior players rather than another U22 initiative player. And if it were me, yes, I would be looking to move on from Swierczyk as well. I wouldn't want to sign a DP9, though.

They may, and I understand why they would, because most of the best teams in this league have DP9s. But for me, I wouldn't want to block Patrick Adjaman. I would want to bring in another veteran forward, because one, you're going to need rotation competition in depth. But something that's not a DP, that's not going to block him something that is a player who can either play uh who can spell him who can rotate who can compete who again could win the the starting job but it's different than it being a dp where even look at swiderski this year we were talking

about it for months like it was very clear for me that uh ajim was the better option, but a DP is always going to get third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh chances. And for me, if I was running it, I'd find another way or probably look into another way to use that DP spot, but I digress. No, I think looking around the league at some veterans maybe, about someone who's going to get moved. We saw like a Dombaji get brought back into the league for DC United. That's sort of like the type of name I would think in a spot like that. I will connect Rory Diaz as a veteran if he wants to.

We're going to talk about Montreal coming up a little bit later. There might be a veteran available there who's less of a high profile DP now in his career in Joseph Martinez. But I agree with you on Charlotte. For them, they need to strengthen in central midfield and they need pure chance creation so if that chance creator is a 10 if the trans creator is a wing whatever it is but I think you're right in the three DPs because if the names they were connected with those are record-breaking signings and if they're going to

be in that stratosphere especially with the way the roster is already built, they've got such good deals at center back that they don't need maybe that extra $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 to sign. That's normally where that money goes, right? When you talk about the extra TAM, you're talking probably a lot of either veteran wingers, central midfield support, or high-level center backs. They're kind of set in those spots on good deals, so they could afford to use the third DP in an attacking spot. It'll be interesting. I liked what I saw from Pepiel for stretches. I think the red card was like offensive to the club of, you know, you're out of the game.

You played poorly already. Now you get yourself red card and that probably sways a little bit. But if you could get him back on a non DP deal, it's a no brainer. This is one of the players for me that it is really difficult with the roster designations and how pivotal they are in this league because this is the same player, but if he's at 1.7 max TAM, I love that.

If he's at 1.85 DP who can't be bought down, I kind of hate it. It hates probably too strong, but you know what I mean. This is the type of player where it's unfortunate where the roster rules because he's not quite a DP, but he is overqualified to be a max TAM. So it's almost unfair to the player. And this is what's coloring our discussion about Pepio.

And I kind of want to go macro where I think he's a very good player. I think he's a very strong, solid player. It's just you look around the league at the other DP10s in the league, and it's a different kind of level of both spend and quality. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Galaxy right now, it feels like they have more than three DPs on their roster, but that's because you have the U22 initiatives and all these other little aspects that you can use to bring in players of that quality to affect your team it will also be interesting to see if pet bl becomes someone connected to other mls teams as the window goes on where we've often seen this emil asad has become

one of them of like okay this player's knows mls they're fine with it if you can't get your other deals done you kind of know that they're in a bad spot with their current club so does another team panic late in the window and say all right let's bring this in so we don't get we get we can't get your other deals done, you kind of know that they're in a bad spot with their current club. So does another team panic late in the window and say, all right, let's bring this in so we don't get anyone at this spot and move from there. So big news for Charlotte FC. That's why we love to do this show live. If you are not watching live, you can watch us on YouTube. We went live a little early on this Thursday. We'll be back next week, of course, with all your coverage as well. If you want some tactical breakdowns of the series coming up,

we have Luchi Gonzalez, former head coach of FC Dallas in San Jose, three-time playoff appearance, as well as the 2022 World Cup assistant coach for the U.S. He joined me on Tuesday, second half of that show. He did a tactical breakdown of all four of these matchups. So you can go there for that we're going to talk story sort of storylines and get everyone settled back in to the postseason in this show but if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty there and talk

about some of the things from his point of view you can jump into that show as well we also talked about Tata Martino leaving Miami which you broke the news as we came on to the show of that. And Kevin Denkay. Is that how we decided that? Yes. You don't even know. And I got a tweet from somebody that Kaveen. Oh, don't even. Yeah, yeah.

So just when I thought I corrected myself and I felt good about it, apparently I didn't get it all the way right. So that's on me. We're going to go back to the lab and we're going to work hard to try to put it right on the training ground. And, you know, we'll take our opportunity next time. The grind is real.

Let's get into these matchups, though, because we've got a Seattle fan in the chat already saying they're here to hear negative news and predictions. We've got an Atlanta fan as well. So let's start to dig into these. We're going to go in schedule order. And that means we're going to start with the Hudson River Derby. 2015, the first ever Hudson River Derby. 2015 the first ever Hudson River Derby. NYCFC. New York Red Bulls. They play every single year in MLS play. They've played a couple times in competitions but never as big as this. So I said I would do a storyline

for every single team as we go through this and you can choose to accept them or deny them and then we can talk from there. The problem with this one is the big storyline is the same for both teams. This is the biggest Hudson River Derby match in the history of this rivalry. They have played four times ever in a knockout, only won this late in a competition, a.k.a. a quarterfinal before, and none of them were in the MLS Cup playoffs. So they played once in League's Cup last year which was a round of 32 the Red Bulls won 1-0 and they played three times in the U.S.

Open Cup two round of 32 matches and one quarterfinal match so 2022 was the closest we've gotten to this and of course in typical Hudson River Derby fashion there was three red cards in that game John Tolkien got Tiago Andrade to pick one up and then a Maxi Morales Tom Edwards double red card in the 96th minute as well. The Red Bulls have gone 4-0 in those official knockout competitions between these two teams but never as big as this. As I said none of them as late and even the U.S. Open Cup at that stage of the competition most of these teams are still deciding whether or not they're going to play their full teams. This is

the MLS Cup playoffs. This is for an opportunity to go to the next round. For these two teams, it might be a chance to host the Eastern Conference Finals with Atlanta United still in it. All time in MLS play, it's 11-4-2 in favor of the New York Red Bulls. So if NYCFC wins this, they would tie in MLS play. And NYCFC has swept it so far this year. Reminder of the Blue Lagoon that's already occurred this season. So that is the storyline for this one, Tom. It's for two teams that, you know, have measured themselves against each other over the course of the last 10 years since NYCFC came into the league. With NYCFC potentially on the verge. It feels like on the verge, maybe on the verge of their own building opening up in Queens.

This is the biggest time they've ever matched up. And I think you can feel that from the fans. Absolutely. The storyline is absolutely correct. This is about the matchup, the rivalry. I will say that the Red Bulls don't get the fortress that is Montclair State University to play at this game. It's going to be at Citi Field with a circus happening in the parking lot, which is unreal. Yeah, this is the biggest Hudson River Derby.

I'm very excited because both of these teams, we were both down on them. They were not playing well down the stretch. They changed that in round one. I'm curious to see what stars show up. I will say Sandro Swartz is having a press conference right now. He said Lewis Morgan is fit and able to play in this game. I'm not sure if he specified starting or not or what kind of game. Like, if he is indeed 100%, I hope he is because he missed international duty with Scotland.

If Lewis Morgan is 100% and if Emil Forsberg is 100%, this Red Bull team is very good. But they need every single, like single percentage point of both of those players to be at their best, to be a team that we say, oh, we could see them in the Eastern Conference final, right? One of these two teams is going to play in it. As you say, there is a chance that one of these two teams could host, depending on what happens in Orlando, Atlanta. This is a huge, huge game.

These are what rivalries – this comes to rivalry lore. This is what fans will look back on. This is what fans will look back on. This is what fans will be talking about. This is what we will be talking about next year for the first Hudson River Derby of the 2025 season. Hey, remember when whichever of these teams won, and then, hey, maybe it led to an MLS Cup. Who knows?

This is absolutely huge. I'm very excited for this game. Guys, where on the field are you looking for this one to kind of be decided? I think the Lewis Morgan news is huge because Van Zier has played okay over the course of the playoff run. And he had some nice moments against Columbus. But he's not a threat the way Lewis Morgan is. Lewis Morgan, with his speed, has the ability to beat your best player with the best thing he does. Where Van Zier finds gaps and reads the game well, and he's not that quick side to side, and he's not explosive in the open field. And that's, of course, where the Red Bulls

are at their best. And with Emile Forsberg in the team, the north to south attack has been really, really impressive. Morgan gives them another dimension that no one else gives them. So I think that, for the Red Bulls, is the crucial part. I don't think you're going to go to Citi Field and shut out NYCFC it's like you need to score goals you need to create chances and my assumption is if Morgan's available they're more dangerous they have more of an ability to do that on the flip side for NYCFC to me the whole thing falls on santi rodriguez i've said it a ton this year maxi morales has blunted a little bit of like okay we go as santi goes which is inconsistent but he is not the pure chance creator that he used to be and for nycfc if their attack is going to flow

especially in a game where you think red bulls will cede some of the possession and like the expectations are on your shoulders, Santee has to be elite and he has to elevate. And so I think to me that's where this game is won or lost for NYCFC. And I think it's where it was won in Game 2 against Cincinnati. And I think they were fortunate to hang on in Game 3 and get to penalty kicks because he was invisible in the game. And they didn't really create chances in that game until they got into the shootout and I think that should be a worry for NYCFC they've been good at Citi Field yeah it's kind of like a clean setup from a neutral point of view

it's a better broadcast setup than Yankee Stadium so I'm here for that as well and as you said like the magnitude of this NYCFC have won both these games. And I think that that September win, when you look at the matchup or the rivalry, and you talked about this and like the history of it, Red Bull fans will scream we've won Shield. NYCFC fans will scream we've won MLS Cup. And the Red Bull fans will come back and say the Red Wedding. That's kind of the debate we see over and over again. I think that September game took the Red Wed wedding as like a trump card off the table and now if you sweep the red bulls this year including beating them for the first time ever in a playoff matchup like that is set but this i think this win or loss for either team will be the card that you play when you are debating with your friends or debating with random

fans over and over again and that's where you feel the magnitude of like what it could mean for these two clubs i couldn't i couldn't agree more this is what it comes down to this is again all these games are huge they're quarter finals right it's nice to have a rivalry like this it's nice to have like another kind of layer and again for these two teams like i'll just kind of repeat myself that that really really struggled down the stretch but looked much better in round one. The Red Bulls more so than NYCFC, though not to take anything away from NYCFC's win, but just the performances that the Red Bulls had against the Columbus crew and the way that they fully, fully earned that win over the crew. The Red Bulls hadn't kept a clean sheet for months, and then all of a sudden the defense was really good again against the crew if that continues and again emil forsberg lewis morgan are at 100 i would put the red bulls

as favorites even on the road against nycfc just because we've seen the red bulls hit a higher level than nycfc this is again it's been it's been really really elusive for the red bulls they have not been anywhere near consistent. Like, that is not mostly who they are, but they have shown that they have this top gear that I don't think NYCFC has shown, though NYCFC have been more consistent. But in a one-off, like, I'm looking at the potential,

the best-case scenario of, okay, what if everything goes right? Then it's the Red Bulls. Interesting, yeah. I had not gone there yet. I hadn't really thought about that. I hadn't thought of a prediction at all. So I hadn't thought of that. I think you come down to,

and we say this often with MLS playoff series, Emil Forsberg, if he's healthy, he's the best player on the field. And often the best player on the field wins you a series or has that special moment. So in that case, I agree with you, and I think that's fair. I think, though, below that, you're talking NYCFC for a large stretch when you're talking about quality and consistency.

I mean, their central midfield alone, Keaton Parks and James Sands, is one of the best in Major League Soccer. If it's Maxie in there with them, their spacing is really clean. They can move the ball through midfield. But this is an odd matchup. Red Bulls give you something a little bit different. But we saw them all over FC Cincinnati in that second game at Citi Field against a team that also plays north-south and high-pressing.

So I think NYCFC is going to get through this one. I think it's super tight. I don't think it'll be an obvious finish of like oh this team was so much better than the other team because as you've said both teams have had inconsistencies and i don't know that you see a perfect match across 11 players from either of these teams one of the big things for red bulls defense has been coros carlos cornell elevating his game lucci talked about it on tuesday if cornell plays the way he has that gives them a different element.

He just had been playing poorly for large stretches of this year. And that was a Red Bulls are set up in a way in which they're going to give up some shots because they're going to sell out on some pressure moments and get some one V one defending. Andres Reyes has a few mistakes in him as well as we've seen this year. And so those opportunities will be there. So are you saying Red Bulls? Sure.

You hate predictions. I thought you were going to rip it and grip it. Rip it and rip it. Other way around. That's tough. That's really, really tough. And I think that we need to clip that and just make sure that we have that ready to be played at any time. Okay.

Good to know. So Red Bulls trying to keep it undefeated and knock out single eliminations against this NYCFC team. I think we mentioned this in the last playoff round. Nick Cushing has said to media that he expects to be the NYCFC coach next year. We had brought up there were rumors connecting him to the Arsenal women's job back in England. So that I think is settling for the club, and that's probably a positive thing

going into a big game like this sandro schwartz in year one was not the best regular season but if he wins this game it is you know a victorious year one for this team no matter what two teams that uh had upsets in their first round knocking off the ohio clubs looking to do it in the second round as well let Let's continue on. So Saturday, two games, the Hudson River Derby, and then we've got LAFC against Seattle. This one has a little bit of history. LAFC, of course, knocking off Vancouver in the previous round.

Seattle back-to-back shootout victories over Houston. Both games, Seattle finished playing up a man by the end of the game because Houston could not keep 11 players on the field because of red cards. Let's start with the LAFC convo. Then we'll go into Seattle. For LAFC, I put down, can they be a dynasty? 2022 MLS Cup and Supporters Shield double. 2023 Western Conference champions.

2024, so far, U.S. Open Cup champions MLS Cup it would be the first MLS Cup US Open Cup double since 2005 when the LA Galaxy did it and it would be the first two trophy double with US Open Cup involved since 2016 when Dallas won the shield and MLS Cup. Seattle did it in 2014 as well. That would be, what, five trophies across a three-year span? Are you here for my dynasty conversation? Yes, I think it's a fair conversation. So it also depends on where you land on what a dynasty is or isn't. So I think in modern soccer, they are three-year windows because there's a lot more player movement.

A lot of things change, and particularly in a salary-capped league, that's just how it is, right? Look at 2022 LAFC. These are the top six minutes played in the regular season that season. Maxime Crepeau, not on the team. Iliye Sanchez.

Kellen Acosta, not on the team. Chichua Arango, not on the team. Carlos Vye Sanchez, Kellen Acosta, not on the team. Chichua Arango, not on the team. Carlos Vela, technically on the team, but you know what I mean. Diego Palacios, not on the team. And then it goes, Jesus Murillo, injured. Jose Cifuentes, not on the team. And then, you know, you kind of go down further.

Opoku, blessing, fall, Franco Escobar, Sebastian Ibiaga, Brian Rodriguez, Jesus, this is even longer than I thought, Giorgio Chiellini. You go and down the list, that's like three players. Again, Danny Buonga joined during the season, but he wasn't this Danny Buonga. That didn't happen until 23. He scored the goal that won them the shield, yes. He played well in the playoffs, yes. But this was Carlos Vela's team. This was Chicho Arango's team. This was the MLS veterans that they brought in of Kripo, Sanchez, Acosta, Guantanamoist so Steve Shrondo was a head coach yes by the end of the season Buongo was on the

team yes but it is a different evolution iteration of this club as we know it like this this 2024 team is much much different and I'm circling back to the Columbus Crew conversations we have about, is this little run over? And the way that I've broken it down is, if Nancy, Kucho, and Nagby are all here, then kind of around that, things will change, right? Things change every year. But as long as that's the starting point, then it kind of counts as the same run.

This one is more on the line for me. But again, you look at it, same head coach, handful of the same players. And again, because Buonga was at least an important part of the playoff run, I'll give it that. And so I'd be fair calling the Dynasty because they've gotten to a ton of finals over this run as well. And there's enough continuity, even though, again, I think it's right on the line. I think that's fair. You pretty much talked me out of it

while talking yourself into it, which is an ideal scenario for this show. So now I'm angry at you. I'm against you for agreeing with me as I disagree with myself. I think the player turnover is fair and I agree with you on the like three years is going to be the max we see in Major League Soccer for a quote-unquote core. Although Seattle continue to try and change that every chance they get, which I think is fair, but we'll talk about Seattle in just a moment.

Though I guess the thing that stands out to me is the opportunity that's been laid for them, which is the chance to host all the way through and the fact that i don't think they're done this year because jerud was brought in mid-year to be a part of this group for a year and a half two years i want to hope that that wasn't right well no i'm just saying i think a lot of this group will be back next year and therefore i don't i think if they win they set themselves up to be a dynasty and be in that conversation. I also think it takes a ton of pressure off next year. Because if they lose the way it's set up, where it's like, you're going to be a home team every round. You go into next year and it's like, the conversation will be, well, Giroud didn't work.

Can he work? Who else is going to be a part of this group? What's Bogus' future? What's Kike Oliveira's future? Like, how do we, you know, what went wrong? I guess will be kike olivera's future like how do we you know what went wrong i guess will be the conversation so there's a little bit of that but to do the double this year for toronto to have done two doubles then at that point right shielding cup and now open cup and mls cup that will so that will so yeah a lot of cups that will solidify him we'll do flip that after

we get done with the championship a lot of uh that will solidify him i think that solidifies his legacy and i think for this club it puts them in a really clean spot they have shown an ability to challenge year after year there's no reason to believe they're going anywhere but this is a unique opportunity to come in to have what third hosting rights and now you are in a situation where you could host la galaxy in a semi-finals which or conference finals which will set the city on fire and like re-establish the fact that these two teams are major teams in a big market and like all of that and then to host mls cup once again and like we saw the show they put on last time the 3252 just like physically

on fire as that game kicked off. And you know, all the pomp and circumstance they put around it, like that's a big chance for them. And that's sort of what's on the line for Seattle. As I said, you don't see cores and dynasties a lot. This is the last hurrah for some of this group. Raul Ruiz Diaz, Albert Rusnak and Jao Paulo are all in the final year of their contracts they don't have options for next year you can see this stuff if you go to our salary cap tables most likely they are all gone I think Rusnak's probably the one who would come back although it's probably dependent somewhat on whether he wants to take a contract or a lower contract, whatever it is,

that group, this team, since João Paulo and Rusnak joined, have only won one trophy. It is the only MLS team to win a CONCACAF Champions, at the time, League, now Cup. So it was a big one. But they have not won anything in Major League Soccer, like MLS competition. And they go up against an LAFC team that in Major League Soccer, like MLS competition. And they go up against an LAFC team that in the last 10 games, they are 8-0-2 against.

They have not beat this team in 10 competitions. U.S. Open Cup semifinal, they lost 1-0 to LAFC. 2024 League's Cup quarterfinals, they lost to LAFC. 2023 MLS Cup playoffs, they lost 1-0 to LAFC in this round. So for this group, this is their potentially last chance, and it's to do it against the bogeyman. That's exactly where I was going to go, that this is the big villain that they can't get past. They haven't gotten past.

They've struggled really, really badly against this LAFC team. They beat LAFC in their 2019 Shield run where um when seattle would go on to win mls cup so it's that's not a distant past but pretty much since then uh they've they've been owned they beat them they beat lefc in the playoffs in 2020 in the covid season right but since then i guess they've been absolutely owned by lefc this is really important for seattle to show that they can push this team that they can beat this team it's not easy it's going on the road it's it mirrors a lot of what we were talking about with lafc struggling against columbus like that doesn't make you a bad team

because you can't beat lafc on the road in a playoff game right but the longer this goes on the more of a thing this becomes and with this team with those key players those important players those incredible players that are out of contract or have their futures up in the air after this season it's really important for them to potentially get through this and we'll be talking about the seattle team in a completely different light if they get through that's what sports are these one games these are huge huge legacy defining stuff i'm really curious to see how this goes i'm worried about seattle and that they haven't threatened lafc too much in terms of like attack it feels like lafc have kind of had the control again and particularly those those last few he

said one nothing one nothing and three one in those knockout competitions and this is seattle coming off the the round against houston where they where they were up a man in both of those games and they still needed penalties. So that's a worry, but this team absolutely has it in them. They have enough quality. This is going to be a really, really good matchup. And I'm not entirely sure what to expect other than like stylistically we kind of know what to expect. But you go back to last year, talking to people in Seattle, they lost that game. They felt like they controlled. They felt like dominated was the word one person told me it was like yeah like denny buonga had an incredibly special moment on the counter and

that was it so they were left frustrated like damn we should have won that game that's how the feeling was in seattle whereas i'm sure lefc felt yeah this is exactly how we wanted the game to play out you know so both things can be true both teams gonna be feeling it but the whole point is is that a year ago it's not like they were like oh my god this is the bogeyman we can't get past them it was like damn man we were better than them today what happened there's a lot of interesting questions of how these teams will line up lucci talked about it on tuesday where lafc has gone into this five in the back and then swapped over to four in the back. We saw the halftime change against Vancouver. Giroud coming on, going 4-3-3 from that five setup. They don't have to do it against Seattle

because they're not mirroring them like they did against Vancouver, where Vancouver play with wingbacks and LAFC was trying to get enough width defensively and have that positionally set up. And so it's kind of false to Steve Tarunzalo to make the decision of like, how does he want to set this game up? How does he want this game to play out? But I think when I think about this matchup, it falls to like two or three Seattle

attacking pieces, whether or not they're going to show up. Like there is space against this LAFC team. That's what Vancouver showed. And even if LAFC are going to sit deep and try and counter, there is still space to attack. Vancouver showed that. Is Pedro de la Vega, is Jordan Morris, is Rusnak, if he's the one on the field, are they going to be able to elevate and have special moments to win this match? Because that's what it's going to fall on in the end.

And like you just said, in the Houston series, they didn't. And they still were able to get through. Partial of that was Houston shooting themselves in the Houston series, they didn't. And they still were able to get through. Partial of that was Houston shooting themselves in the foot. Part of that was, I think there is a little bit more of a talent gap there. There is not a talent gap here. And so you're on the road in LA, you need to have your big time players elevate in their big moments. And for Seattle, that's been the problem. Outside of CONCACAF competition, that has been the problem. And this is the last chance. And not just for those guys, but for a lot of these players to sort of say that they're

capable of that. Because I think as the years run along, you start to take away the like, well, you know, Seattle, they could show up anytime in a knockout and like make a run. That is 2019 conversations. That's 2020 conversations. Like we're now four years past that and Schmetzer resigned and this will be the Seattle team going forward. But as the years run along with that, like you stop having that confidence that this team can turn it on in big moments like this. And so they have to step up, improve it. And as you said, this is the big villain for them to go through and do it. Do you have a prediction for this one? I'd still mean LAFC.

I'm going to need Seattle to see Seattle beat them to think anything different. And they have, again, I don't want to boil all of these down to, well, who has the best player? Let's lean that way. But the difference in match winners and attack, just look at, again, Belonga is the obvious one, but Matty Bogus was the guy who stepped up with an incredible play to win the last series so there are three of those guys four of

those guys that lfc could have and i'm like seattle do have kind of the idea of that because i think that jordan morris roosnack those are all special but don't think it's in the same way of like things break down individual individualism, bang. Blanca just comes out of nowhere and scores. Bogus comes out of nowhere and scores. It's not quite the same with Seattle, so they need it to be more within a structure. Yeah, I agree with you. I'm leaning LAFC in this one.

Henry Elliott also in the chat asked to come on so that he could hear us pick against Seattle, so we're both doing him that favor there. Obviously, the Seattle team loves to prove everyone wrong. So when they win, we will hear about it. And we are always appreciative of that on Bobby Warshaw's birthday, especially. So a big one for him. As long as you're better than Bob, you're feeling pretty good as we move into the Sunday. So on Sunday, we've got two games as well.

Orlando City, what a week for Orlando, by the way. I was texting with some people who work in the Sunday. So on Sunday, we've got two games as well. Orlando City, what a week for Orlando by the way. I was texting with some people who work in the club. They're going to have to fly to Kansas City on Saturday for an NWSL final to fly back to Orlando on Sunday for an MLS Cup playoff home game against Atlanta United. Luchi Gonzalez, who has worked for Oscar Prey for about eight years, I think

in Dallas, was on the show on Tuesday. He said this is Oscar's best chance to ever win MLS Cup. I don't think there's a storyline past that. Oscar is pretty much an MLS lifer. A little bit of time coaching Cholos. Obviously, he was born and raised in Columbia himself. But he is this league at his core. He has put together some of the best teams we've ever seen.

Dallas, as I mentioned, 2016. Shield MLS Cup double. Or sorry, Shield U. Shield US Open Cup double. Mauro Diaz gets hurt on decision day. His best player unavailable. Last year as a two seed, not able to put it together where you thought they would get to host

for a ton of the way down the stretch into MLS Cup. So this is all laid out for them. They could host the Eastern Conference Finals. If Minnesota wins, they could host MLS Cup. They've is all laid out for them. They could host the Eastern Conference Finals. If Minnesota wins, they could host MLS Cup. They've won the U.S. Open Cup, so they've shown a little bit of metal. But I think Lucci said it right. This is the chance, not just for Orlando, but for Oscar to finally get over the line. I totally agree. And we'll start with, I believe that you

feel the same. We both have the utmost respect for Oscar Perea. I think he's a wonderful coach in this league. What he's done with Orlando has been very good, as has CSO Luis Muzi and assistant Ricardo Moreira. This trio right now is the longest-serving CSO through head coach in a league after he fired Jim Curtin. Because unless you want to say – You would not have guessed that was coming from Orlando a few years ago Peter Vermees CSL Peter Vermees head coach a good relationship there but I don't think that counts so this is the consistency Orlando have had and a lot of that's

with Prey a lot of that's the front office as well this has been a really good relationship this team didn't make the playoffs before Prey showed up and this front office showed up this team was a bit of a joke before this happened right like you kind of go on down the line so whether or not they win MLS Cup I want to say that out of the way in terms of their opportunity to win MLS Cup it's it's obvious right they were the fourth seed and now the east runs through them what were the chances that all three of the top three seeds ahead of them all lost um i was i was interviewing louise moosey for an article that should go up at some point today about this and talking about the season the run he was just like let me be honest we didn't expect to be home we're happy about it like we're they they have a lot of respect and they know it's going to be a difficult

game against atlanta but they're like yeah we we weren't expecting to be home because i was a big upset so we're relishing the chance to be home at the beginning of the season they were like, yeah, we weren't expecting to be home because that was a big upset. So we're relishing the chance to be home. At the beginning of the season, they were second to last in Eastern Conference after 18 games played. That's more than half the season. They had 18 points after 18 games. The only team below them was New England, who had a better points per game. They were the worst team in the Eastern Conference for more than half of the season. And he didn't point to any, like, one thing that changed it.

But just looking at the results, they tied Charlotte FC 2-2 in the middle of June. They were up a man for most of that game. They went down 2-1, and they ended up getting a draw. I went back to watch the end of the game. You see Duncan McGuire, the camera goes on McGuire. He's just hands on his knees looking forward, like, how the hell did we not win? Then pan the facundo torres sitting on the bench by himself ominously staring into space like what in the hell is going on with this team

since then they've been really really good they've won 11 of their 16 regular season games since then and around that time is two things happen three things happen Facundo Torres has been thermonuclear he's went back to I'm the guy like I'm gonna win his games two Martino Heda was put as as a number 10 which again I'll give credit to Doyle's been saying this for a while that's where he should be playing and they finally did that and committed to that over those 16 games he started 14 of those all of which through the center and that's what helped fugundo torres as well the other side of that that's that's when they said okay luis muriel you are benched he has started twice since then nico ladero also benched he has not started a single game since then in the regular season of playoffs and that's not easy on a locker room luis muriel is our

highest paid player he came in with big expectations. Niko Ladero is an absolute legend in this league. That was a big free agent sign. And these two players, and Duncan McGuire is another guy who hasn't started a lot of these games. He's been mostly Ramiro Enrique up top, but he's played a little bit more than the others. All three of those players come off the bench essentially every game, and they're all bought in. And that comes down to Pereja and the staff of keeping everybody bought in I want to read a quote from Muzi today because I asked him about that like how difficult is that to navigate and he goes like he immediately goes look it's important that nobody's happy to be on the bench they all want to play we don't

want little sheep they all want to play but they also understand that a team is more than just 11 players that is such a difficult uh needle to thread for a team to bench your highest paid player and probably your most experienced player and they've done it and it's been seamless and it's been really good so Orlando has a really strong squad because those players can come off the bench and make a difference more than what Atlanta have in their kind of squad depth and the top end quality so this is the best chance for Orlando to continue advancing in the playoffs. The East runs through Orlando, and this absolutely is their best chance to win in Moscow. Yeah, that's, I think, really good context for both the opportunity here as well as for the

success they've had. I think you go to a couple things. I think Ramiro Enrique's movement is different because he's more of a mobile center forward so i think that's changed the shape a lot and i think having ivan and gulo on the field to work has changed things as well when ojeda is the winger and nico's on the field ojeda has to do the defensive work on that left wing he doesn't have to do that anymore and he likes to float and find the game a little bit more i think when it's like we know where you're going to get the ball and you have to make something happen against a set defense from that position, he's not as dangerous. But when it's, oh, I floated into the left half space this time, that's where I pick up the ball and surprise everyone. Then he's able to take

advantage. And as you said, he and Facundo Torres have really turned it on. I will throw this in there. That stretch since that Charlotte game, they beat two playoff teams in that entire run. One was Charlotte, who they then went and beat in the postseason. And the other one was Cincinnati on the road, which is a good win. But that also was part of it. And that's like, that's the reality. You got to play the schedule. You got to play everyone who finishes high in the standings. They racked up points against lower teams. So beating those teams is not anything to sneeze at, and it's not useless. But I think you saw a little bit in that last playoff round of like, okay, but this is their level, and this is where they sit.

Except then everyone above them fell out of the bow season. So they could play at that level and still make it to MLS Cup and be in single elimination time. Lucci talked about as a player or as a person around Oscar, you don't want to let him down. That he talked about sort of like the environment he builds is this intensity and like that, you always see Oscar putting the work in and therefore you don't want to be someone

who doesn't do the extra run or doesn't do the extra work or watch the extra tape and let him down because you know he's putting the work in. And I think that's where you come back to. Oscar Zbeck's chance is positive for this team because I think these players play well when they're playing for him. One of the issues that Oscar's teams have had in the postseason is they tighten up. They don't play loose and they don't play to win. A lot of times they play not to lose.

And I wonder if now this shift in mentality if this conversation is happening internally which i can't imagine it's not changes maybe the way the players come out and play on the front foot rather than trying to avoid losing it's what we saw in portions of that open cup run and it's what we saw in that first playoff win if you remember all the way back with nani on the field, the Schlegel PK shootout, like that year when they finally made the postseason, they went out and played to win rather than not to lose. And I think you saw the difference. And I think that should be the hope for Orlando fans. I think the atmosphere is going to be wild for this one.

And that has been a huge positive for this club. When they play at home in front of the crowd and everyone's there, they normally get the extra one or two percent they need to get over the line and i think that's going to be pretty big for this one that's the orlando side for the atlanta side it's a little bit different but this stat popped out to me when i was going through this atlanta won their first playoff series against inter miami for the first time in five years. 2019 was the last time they had won a postseason series.

That is a massive amount of time, especially in this league, when you talked about two, three-year spans, dynasties, non-dynasties. Like, one of the interesting things about this conversation today, as I put it together, is how different the playoffs are this year from last year which is an MLS special because of parity and all of that so to not have success for a long time is actually kind of hard in major league soccer especially when you spend at the level Atlanta spends you talked about it before we came on we were just having a conversation and you were like Atlanta is still what six of the top eight all-time buys in major league soccer history yeah so now so denke is now the new club league record signing but again he hasn't played right so in this time frame tiago amada pt martinez ezekiel barco i know he's a little bit earlier alexi maranchuk this summer and louis arujo a couple summers ago

all of those like yeah it's been a failure that they haven't won a playoff game because they're spending as much or more money than the rest of the league and they have all these expectations everything else so yeah it's it was when you shocking to hear and then when you remember it's like oh yeah like they've been pretty bad for the most part like other than a strong run during the second half of last season and obviously now this yeah coaching churn has been a big part of that the inability to use those expensive players i think has led to some of that coaching churn front office churn now as well with darren eels originally leaving and now carlos bocanigra out and garth lagarway coming in and a lot of change going on there um and yet we had sam jones on last week

right after the the win to talk about atlanta and i think he said you know they hosted inter miami in the second game of the postseason 70 000 in the building and he said it was mainly black and red like this is a club that has dominated in their market one of the largest in major league soccer and have been super successful you had seen the atmosphere and the you know the enthusiasm wane the inter Inter-Miami series was huge. And now the question is just, is Atlanta United back? I don't think this group is coming back next year to be a dominant team from the first whistle

to the last whistle in MLS. This is not a supporter shield contending group. But you are in this position. You got a chance, one, to keep Atlanta down, or sorry, Orlando down. And two, to continue this run. If you push into an Eastern Conference Finals, you're like, for these players, Orlando down. And two, to continue this run, if you push into an Eastern conference finals, you like for these players,

especially a Brad Guzon, we don't know if he's going to be back. And some of the other pieces that have been around this, you have reestablished Atlanta United. And that is massive. That was the best you could ask for this season as they built on the fly. And that's the opportunity that's out there in front of them. Exactly.

So that, that's what's so interesting about this is like you could say like is atlanta back whatever right there is going to be so much change from this roster between right now and opening day next year that it's almost as if it's a it's a false conversation because they're gonna have two dp and two new dps in probably a new head, or at the very least, if it is Rob Valentino, then he won't be interim anymore. So that will be different. So there's going to be so many changes with this team. All this is bonus, all of it.

And this has been a much-needed boost for the fans, who, again, have mostly still really been showing up, just like they were in 2018-2019 when things were really, really good. But things have been bad for a while, and obviously they voiced a displeasure. This was a much-needed, much-deserved positive run from this club. And, again, if they – I don't think this is going to happen, but if the outcome were – let's say they lose 3-0.

Still, this is awesome. The fact that they're still playing. The fact that they won – they got into the playoffs and got to the wild-card game, let alone won the wild card game, let alone beat Inter Miami. This is all gravy. This is all a bonus, and I don't think it changes anything for the expectations next year, which were already going to be very high. It'll just bring better vibes with it in the offseason

and probably give a little bit more leeway to the front office, the coaching staff, and the players at the beginning of next season if things aren't perfect immediately. You look at the salary cap table that we have for soccer-wise, two of the highest paid players, two of the above-tan players on this team are Santiago Sosa and Frank Uybarra, who do not play for this club. They both finally come off the books in this offseason. So, yes, change is coming.

Positive change is coming. But this, as you said, is like a huge opportunity for them and a huge platform. Let's talk about the series. Let's talk about the game. Atlanta, it's a different test than Inter-Miami, right? Inter-Miami was, can you withstand this attacking force? But also you know that they are going to leak opportunities the other way. Orlando is not the same conversation. It's not the same case. And so I think for me, one of the big question marks is like, how does Atlanta create chances? Because you're going to

have to do things out of your own shape that creates opportunities. They're not going to be gifted to you like they were in the previous round. And that's going to be the whole question mark for me in this one is like where do goals come from where are they able to create opportunities lugius talks a couple times about saba lopes and nitsa going up top don't make him defend at the wing back position and his run is the one is the moment that created the winner for shleesh in the last game now tomas avila is deciding to go down at the end of that run helped but like it was a deep run from Saba centrally that pulls everything apart. And so I think that's an interesting conversation. Where Maranchuk goes then is a little bit tough. And is it the air that comes off the field? Does Maranchuk go deeper? Do you trust him to play deeper for you? That's going to be all the things that Rob Valentino has to figure out. But I think for Atlanta, it's like, how can we generate enough attack besides just Amador crosses that you know are going to be pinpointed?

That's what I was going to answer. Play through Amador. Like, it's funny, man. Just play through your left back. So, yeah, but they do still have those attacking pieces. Again, Maranchuk hasn't been like, oh, my God, this guy's incredible. But between Amador, Maranchuk, and Lobo Janice, they have enough creativity. Whether it's – like like amador has been the most consistent attacking outlet

as long as between the three of them if they're generating a few chances or enough chances the way their path in this game is making this game frustrating as hell for orlando gumming up the center of the field try to limit martino jada and facundo torres up the center of the field, try to limit Martino Hedo and Facundo Torres getting the space between the lines as they do, and then say, you know, Lopo Janisse is really good in transition. Pedro Amador has been really good with his quality and choice of pass, and then I think Maranchuk is still good for popping up for big moments as well, and you just gotta hope that everything kind of plays away.

Like, look, don't want to be disrespectful. I mean, there's a reason this team was the ninth seed. There's a reason why this team, I was planning to write their off-season guide before the playoffs started because I was looking at it. They were the fourth most likely of all the teams to get in the playoffs. And then they won and several results.

They beat Orlando on the final day of the season to get in the playoffs. So that's going to help them as well. But again, Orlando are the heavy favorite for good reason. Lucci said for Orlando, they have to come out and have a quick start. That was the problem on decision day. They went down 2-0 in the first 15 minutes, and then they had to work their way back the whole game, and they pushed. They had opportunities. You could argue they should have had a penalty kick um or was it i think the goal

went in and they called it off for duncan mcguire it potentially it touching his hand whatever dc united fans are more mad about this probably than orlando fans are um and that led to them losing to one they have to come out and they have to score in the opening 20 25 minutes to make atlanta open up and chase them to not have to chase the game. Like for Orlando, the whole like play to win, don't play to not lose, that gets shown right out the gate. Can you put Atlanta under pressure immediately? Can you play downhill? Can you play aggressive?

Can you force defenders to make decisions? Because I think even with Miami's attacking quality, you still didn't force enough of these defenders who have struggled at times this year. And with the injuries, there have been different pieces moved in and out of that defense now ronald hernandez a big part of it when he wasn't for large steps of the season make those guys make tackles on around the box or in the box make amador a defender don't let his game be through possession and i think that falls to the two fullbacks and of course the attacking core for this team I am going to be picking Orlando to get through in this one I don't again I don't think it's going to be a blowout I

don't think this Atlanta team is going to turn into a pumpkin in the middle of this game but I think the home field advantage and the overall top to bottom-bottom quality of this Orlando team, the strength in midfield, the strength at goalkeeper. Man, by the way, the Lataro Martinez goal to beat Cahese in local qualifying was nuts. Sorry, just to throw that in there because of Peru. I think this Orlando team gets through. Yeah, I'm with you there. I think that there's just too much quality plus home field advantage.

But again, playoffs are chaos. It doesn't mean... Playoffs are chaos. Let's close out with our last game, and then we'll get into some big news. Tom's already broken news on this show with the Charlotte-Pet Biel move, but we've got some other news coming out as well. Let's start with the LA Galaxy. I talked about history with Atlanta United.

Five years since a playoff win. It has been 10 years since the LA Galaxy have been in a Western Conference Finals. That means they have not been in a Western Conference Finals since Robbie Keene went into full-time drinking and stepped away from the soccer site or whatever it is he does with himself now. Low blow. Yeah, it was. But, you know, he's one of us we we feel him uh on that

one he's still in way better shape than either of us were ever in our entire lives at our peak uh they've won three playoff series since 2014 two then playoff runs of those three ended with lafc so that's something to remember if we do see an El Trafico in the next round but like the Galaxy are the giants of Major League Soccer and they have now spent almost 50 percent of the history of this league or whatever it is 40 percent of the history of this league being uncompetitive and this is their chance Tom to get back get back. Exactly. And so the last time that they kind of advanced through was once in the Zlatan era, where they lost to LAFC. It was like 5-3.

And then once in the Chicharito era, they lost to LAFC. So this is very easily the best. This team is much better than both of those two teams, particularly the Zlatan one, which just kind of revolved around vibes and Zlatan. This team is complete. There are still worries about them going defensively, defensive transition. All of these teams have big worries of like one potential fatal flaw, if not multiple

fatal flaws. So the LA Galaxy performed the best in round one. They have the best attack. They have several match winners. They've been much better with defensive shape and posture, other than it's again decision day, to lose home field advantage by giving up a goal in the

101st minute. So expectations should be super high for this LA Galaxy team. They are playing Minnesota United, who are set up to, like if this game was in June or July, when the Galaxy were really struggling with defensive transition and balance and everything,

like, I might be saying, dude, Minnesota United are going to win. Like, they have a real chance. They can kill you in transition. They can defend really well and then hit you in an instant. That's what the Galaxy have to guard against, but they're coming in with such form, playing incredibly well with so many incredible attacking players it's difficult to see past them it is um yeah it it is a mismatch

for sure but i think some of those holes for the galaxy will be exposed and i think we had will coons on the show and he talked about possession and what they're building i think he would admit like this is year one of this project and so they are not fully there yet um but this again like we've said with all these teams with the top three teams in the east losing this is a huge opportunity and a big chance to try and get back to the western conference finals reset yourself you just mentioned two errors that there's nothing to show for it like we're just using the term error because we don't know what else to use. That's not an error. It's just, yeah, it's just, it's just the time they were living.

Chicharito was on the team. Zlatan was on the team. They didn't win things. They were not super competitive. They were not MLS Cup contenders in any of those points. In reality, they are one now. Second in the Western Conference, hosting in the Western Conference semifinals. They have to get back there.

They have to make this one work. And this is their huge opportunity to do it. The worst case scenario for them is that LAFC wins and they don't. And that the city is still dominated by LAFC and the storylines are still around them. After the year they had, setting records with their goal scoring, with the killer peas and all of that around it let's talk minnesota storyline and then get into the game um this one was one of the harder ones because they're kind of a year early and there isn't really expectations for this minnesota team so i leaned on you for this one tom what do we got i was gonna say this one was easy just because this is all house money. You're playing with house money.

That's the storyline here. This is a year early, as you say. That doesn't mean that they're just going to be happy to be there. They're going to be disappointed if they lose, of course. But I feel like I've said it so many times about this team. Being competitive in the playoff race was a successful season. Getting out of the wild card game, avoiding it, was a successful season.

Beating RSL, all this is like bonus. All this is extra. The fact how quickly this has all come together is extremely impressive. It's super exciting for building for the future. So go into the LA Galaxy. Go in there. They have nothing to lose.

Take your best swing. And if you don't advance, you're disappointed because you want to win everything all the time. But it's not a failure. It's not a huge disappointment. It's what a great season. What an awesome season.

Yeah, I think a lot of that makes sense. And I think a lot of that is fair. Yeah, there's no losing for this team because they are ahead of schedule. They've got big expectations and they can make some more moves to continue to grow this thing as they go along. It's not common to figure out Major League Soccer very fast. But that takes us into the matchup and one of the storylines that I was going to say, which is I think there's like two paths to Minnesota winning in this. And one is Kelvin Yeboah enters 2025 as an MVP shortlist player because of the performance he puts on.

I think he's good enough. And I think the way he plays specifically is what can trouble this Galaxy back line. He's a center forward who can win his physical battle 1v1 if he gets isolated, but is comfortable dropping in a little when your team is higher up the field, helping receive the ball and lead transition, whether it's for himself or for his teammates. And that hole where he can live, where a center back has to decide, am I going to track with him, knowing that he could also spin you and then you're in a foot race in the open field, or he drops in, now you've got wingbacks flying forward, open field or he drops in now you've got wingbacks

flying forward runners off of him and now you've got to make decisions at high speed that is all a reason that they could win this and i think you saw against rsl his ability to do it for like 90 minutes at a high level now galaxy are a higher level and this is an even tougher opponent but in that 1v1 battle, this is not. I don't know that it is actually a worse matchup for him. So I think that's one, and the other is the other DP, Pereira, who we haven't talked a ton about. I disagree.

Sorry, I don't mean to cut you off. Well, I think Ludd's a bit of a given in this, but the way this Minnesota team has set up, it is going to be Pereira in the left half space where Mickey Yamane will attack and if he can be a difference maker in possession or hold Yamane because of the way he's playing that changes things because John Nelson's not going to fly forward and like Ludd over there with Bongi can create some overloads and some danger and Ludd's a great player but like they

need one more yeah and I think if Pereira elevates and plays close to what they think he is and bring him in as a DP and whatever and it's been a slow start for him which is acceptable and fine if he does that I think that's a huge opportunity for Minnesota in that left half space to create chances to help Yeboah to either force the Galaxy to make some decisions to stay a little safer or to take advantage of the numbers that you can get in the attack. Yeah, that's fair. I see what you're saying. Like, for me, even, like, Yeboah is awesome, and they need him to be really good to win this game.

For me, it all starts and centers around Robin Lode because I just think he's one of the most underrated great players in this league. So that's kind of where my biases were revealed, where I was like, wait a minute, we've talked about Minnesota for six minutes and we haven't talked about Robin Lode yet. So I wanted to rectify that. Yeah, I think that's fair. Who are you picking?

The Alexi, again, they're susceptible. I understand it, but they just have too much of an attacking tsunami right now. Did we pick Chalk the whole way so far? had red bulls no you picked the red bulls yeah like dude like we're playing it out in the probabilities in our head right like that's what a favorite means is just you're more probable that doesn't guarantee anything also you go into single elimination where i think home field advantage becomes even bigger because you're not going to go back to another building if minnesota was going to host the game in the series i think it's completely different because of the fortress that allianz

has been in the atmosphere and all of that um i'm gonna go galaxy as well but once again i think it's i think this minnesota team has has more danger than expected bongi is going to be really interesting like how much does he get forward how does he get into the attack where does he get his openings um and i think that's going to be really fun to watch and for the galaxy it's like a lot of it falls on ricky's shoulders he loves it he's there for it but if the game gets hard for him because lucci mentioned all four of the midfielders that minnesota plays are like naturally center mids they're comfortable in that space blocking gaps and making the game hard

if ricky has to drop even deeper to get the ball and gets frustrated where does he start to find the game and who elevates otherwise or does he start to break the shape and make things even harder for the galaxy than easier which we saw start to happen at times against the rapids but then they consistently broke through the big goal i, in the second game was pain cells, like an individual moment of excellence that put them ahead and then allowed the game to get easier for them. And if someone else can do that, that'll be really big for this team. All right, let's finish up with our two pieces of news from the week so far, besides what you've already broken and we've talked about on this show.

One being FC Dallas has officially hired Eric Quill as the new head coach replacing Nico Estevez right as the last permanent head coach and Peter Lucene who was the interim in between Eric Quill is a name very familiar with the Dallas area he's a Texas native he played for the Dallas burn he coached North Texas SC when they became a team for the first time. At the time, USL League One, now MLS Next Pro. He won USL League One in the first year it existed with North Texas. I believe Pepe was on that team and some other really big prospects for FC Dallas. He then left to become an assistant coach under Caleb Porter in Columbus,

worked for a little bit of time under Wilfred Nance after that change, and then left to become the head coach and technical director or just head coach of New Mexico. He said just head coach. Yeah. Head coach of New Mexico United. They put together another really good season this year. And now he is taking over as full-time head coach for FC Dallas.

When Nico Estevez stepped away, this was one of like the first three names we brought up on the show because of all of the connections. What have you made as you've covered this and heard about it and looked at it? And now with the official announcement of what Eric Quill means and sort of what this signing means for the Dallas. For the Dallas. What FC Dallas wants is somebody who has a player developmental background and wants to play attacking soccer. And again, a lot of teams always say this. Nobody's like, you know, we really want a defensive-minded coach

who's going to only have 40% possession and we're going to get a couple of 0-0 draws. But this is a guy who knows this team, knows the system, and has that developmental background that is absolutely crucial to be an FC Dallas head coach. They, again, very familiar with Andre Zanotta very familiar with with Dan Hunt this is a guy who was on the short list when they initially named Nico Estevez the head coach of FC Dallas a few years ago and then he left to become an assistant at Columbus and as you say then a head coach in Mexico

so this is somebody they've had on their minds for a long time. And I know Peter Luxon was the favorite frontrunner, I think was the word I used in September. So I don't exactly kind of know what happened or what Eric Will did in these interviews to really wow this front office and ownership group. So well done to him. Well done to Dallas. I'm very curious to see what's going to happen.

This is, on a larger note, I'm expecting a lot of change from this FC Dallas roster this offseason. Yes, Peter Moussa, Jesus Ferreira, and Alan Valeska are DPs. That's all set. There's going to be a lot of movement, I think, underneath them in the squad. And again, maybe even with Jesus. I don't know if I would go as strong as to say I'm assuming that he's leaving this winter, but this has been on the docket for the past year.

This has been something that both sides are working collaboratively for. Okay, what's the next move? Is it time? It is time. And let's see what can come out. So if this winter is that time that happens, then maybe another DP comes. But again, I'm expecting a whole lot of change up and down this roster beyond that. Jesus has an option for 2026.

So if he plays out this year, he would go into his final year of his contract. That is not normally where you have negotiating power to sell a player. If that's like the future for FC Dallas, you assume it's going to happen either this window or in the summer to make it as easy for him and a solid going forward. This has been the issue though with FC Dallas.

There was a stretch where it was next man up from the youth academy ranks that's not the case anymore and i think that's a big part of bringing eric quill into this project and that goes heavily to recruitment like you can't generate you don't just generate talent they dominated recruiting in the region tanner tessman from alabama or chris richards from alabama like came to f to FC Dallas so that he could play because that was the place to play they went and got Ricardo Pepe from El Paso like they stretched out across all of the region and they were the dominant team now Houston has put more resources in Austin has Sporting Kansas City has you've got the more Florida teams coming in you potentially

have regions going away and then you have to go out into the field and everyone's coming into your space dallas has taken a step back and all that and i think some of that goes to that oscar pareja was very focused on it all the way down through lucy gonzalez i didn't talk to lucy about this but that's what i saw from the outside um like i tell this story all the time oscar had the depth charts through the u13s up on his walls. So as pieces moved, he knew who moved up, but like he could go to U13 training and know the names of all the players. And I'm not saying that other coaches aren't focused on that or should be focused on that because you have your job.

But I think there was a real strength there in Dallas that's gone missing. So to bring a guy in who's worked in your academy, is from the area and has had success in your pipeline in the past during your golden years, I think is a smart move to make. And one that has a cohesive soccer idea. That's how you build through an academy that once you recruit the players and you have your training set up, the best way to promote players successfully is to have a style that they are comfortable with as they move up the ranks. And so I think it makes a ton of sense. And as you mentioned, with the top end talent on this team, it should be competitive next

year. Like this is not a wholesale remake of next year. The expectation is that they just start to put together a plan. Like you've got high end DPs on the top of this thing that you should be able to play behind and you should be at a minimum playoff competitive. You should probably be out of a wildcard conversation next year. And I think you bring in a coach with experience, having the head coach job in USL and having the assistant jobs in MLS,

who sort of can understand that. I completely agree. And going to the expectations part, yeah, I totally am with you there. And playoffs has to be the goal. You look at, speaking to Lucio Gonzalez, like when he went to San Jose his first year, that was a bit of a mess. And in his press conference, he was like, the playoffs has to be the goal because the playoffs has to be the goal for

every single team. Like, I don't care kind of thing. Yeah. And that's like, this is a much better situation that Eric Quill is entering than say what Lucio did in San Jose, or you kind of go on down the list of some of these other teams. So, for me, that's obvious. Peter Moussa is one of the best forwards in the league, bar none, straight up, period. Alan Velasco, he was very encouraging in his minutes with Peter Moussa down the stretch

and with Peter Luxon's tactics. They need an overhaul defensively for sure. They need to rework central midfield because E.R. Amendi, they're in negotiations, plus Paxton Pomichael, who knows what they're going to get from him next year. Yeah, it's really sad, but they do need to rework central midfield because E.R. Amendi, they're in negotiations plus like Pax and Pomichael, who knows what they're kind of going to get from him next year. Yeah, it's really sad. But they do need to rework a lot of that. But the top end talent is what's really difficult, and they have that. Yep, absolutely.

So FC Dallas finally make the decision. Head coach Eric Quill will be joining MLS. Let's finish off with CF Montreal, who made an announcement today. A couple announcements, actually. They made some roster decisions, so they put that out. And then they put out a press release about their sporting structure in it. As you get through the 7,000 words that were written in it about Joey Spudo's children who are a part of this. You finally get to the nugget, which is that Corey Ray,

yeah, Corey Ray, who had been working as a consultant for the club, sort of leading their sporting direction over the last few months after leaving Columbus, has now been put in charge as the director of soccer.

So for the most part, he is their CSO underneath a president slash GM alongside Joey Saputo's family, which are a part of all of this. They then proceeded to announce the decisions they made with contract options and whatnot. And they have 16 players under contract now going into next year. One of the players that will not be a part of it is Joseph Martinez, which you reported this week. Yeah, so I'm going to start with the front office.

I'm just going to say that this is bizarre. This was an announcement, essentially, to say that consultant Corey Ray is now director of soccer Corey Ray. That's an awesome move. That's excellent. You and I both have a lot of respect for what Corey Ray did in Columbus. He's got a lot of respect around the league, people I talk to, going back to when Corey Ray began as the consultant and talking to people about, hey, is that who you're talking to when you're discussing moves like they did

several trades like Caden Clark, Shaquille Marshall Ruddy like are you talking to Corey or is it Jermaine and it's like Corey is a point man for a lot of people because Corey is somebody that people know and I think he's really good at his job that's awesome why he was the 17th person mentioned in this press release is bizarre to me. Like, this sort of triumvirate of Saputo children, Corey, and then underneath Treve, who then goes to Papa Saputo. I don't understand it. What really makes me worried, and I've said this, this is why Olivier Renard left, was the strife managing upwards, where he'd agree a contract with Mathieu Chouinier, and then Saputo comes in and says, no, we don't agree to that.

And then that was the last straw for Renard. He's like, this is a joke. I'm not doing this. That's my only worry here. Corey Redman, director of soccer, awesome hire. If he doesn't get to act with autonomy if he's getting undercut by the whole saputo family and treve around him then that's going to be an issue because this team is just going to continue to suck and be irrelevant if that's the case it's going to be a circus if it is cordy ray and kind of a good sporting structure if all these people are working

together in the same direction this this can be very good. So for me, I'm very worried because of gesturing at the entire history of CF Montreal for the last eight, 10 years. Why would you expect it to be anything less than chaos? But at least they have some of the right people in the building. So that's where I am on that.

And then yeah, Joseph Martinez, they discussed a potential return. Joseph wanted more security, both financially and in contract length, which I totally agree. If I'm Joseph Martinez, like I don't want to go into an option year. Like, hey, if I'm your leading scorer, if you want me here, let's talk long term. And they did. But both sides couldn't come to an agreement. And then both sides decided, hey, you're right. Like, if we're not going to give you that extra year security, it just makes sense for us to decline your option. And all sides kind of came to an agreement.

It wasn't acrimonious in any way. And that's how that happened. For me, guys, looking forward, I don't know where the obvious Joseph Martinez fit is. Atlanta United is one that most people replied to my tweet with. A lot of fans, I think, are totally back in on Joseph. It's been so cool to watch Joseph in the last half of this year. Again, it's unreasonable to expect 2019 Joseph Martinez to ever show up again. He wasn't far offph in the last half of this year again it's unreasonable to

expect 2019 joseph martinez to ever show up again he wasn't far off i don't think this year like the way he was playing down the stretch he was phenomenal and the way he moved through his fire everything else that looked like the joseph that we that we knew and loved so that makes it much more interesting than this time last year when i didn't see an obvious landing spot for him at all and i was surprised when he went to Montreal. He's rehabbed his image goal scoring performance, all that quality. This has been a really successful for both parties. And I'm, but like,

I'm still kind of not exactly sure where the fit is around. Like what is, are there obvious landing spots? There are teams that if you said Joseph's okay with being a backup and a rotation player, there are teams that I would look at and say, if Houston gets off Sebas Ferreira, that's a reliable goal scorer if Ponce doesn't land or just over the course of minutes. And I think there are teams like that, that you could look at and say, they would take the shot here and he would make sense. I can't think of a team where they'd be better off this year with him as the starter going into the year. And I can't think of a team that I would consider competitive that's that case as well.

So it's going to fall on him or a different team to sort of make an outside-the-box decision here and say, like, we want to take a risk. I've got – so the first kind of team just scanning the list, Portland Timbers, because Mora was healthy for the first time essentially in his MLS career where he did a full season. He was really good. I'd be worried about that continuing. And kind of the same thing with Joseph.

So you kind of tell the thing with joseph so you kind of tell the both of them you're both going to get 2 000 minutes and we know phil neville loves joseph martinez he was the driving force of getting joseph martinez into miami in 23 so i think that's a potential does does he not also like san jose earthquakes let him play san jose i thought about but is he not a bruce arena guy doesn't that seem like a bruce arena signing no maybe but he doesn't have a connection and bruce likes bruce arena guys who are bruce arena San Jose I thought about. Is he not a Bruce Arena guy? Doesn't that seem like a Bruce Arena signing? No? Maybe, but he doesn't have a connection, and Bruce likes Bruce Arena guys who are Bruce Arena guys.

Well, a lot of them are retired. Yeah, for sure. But normally that's where he leans. San Jose was one that popped up for me as well. His movement is similar to Obobese, right? If Obobese's there and you're looking. But again, as a backup, not as a starter. I don't know if Ob Bubba season will be back.

And so then I think you are in a dangerous spot if you go into the year because what Joseph's asking for is security. Are you giving him a multi-year contract? Like are you going to start your tenure with that? Or do you say, all right, we'll pay you out one big year and we're not going to give you guaranteed years? I can't imagine Bruce doesn't think he's going to give you guaranteed years if i can't imagine bruce doesn't think he's going to get money though to sign other players to come in from outside the league portland i thought about i just i wouldn't spend more money on the attack if i was portland

we don't know what's going on with evander but like fix the back line so i would not go out if you were telling me joseph level signing i would spend that month resources either in central midfield to help Chara or replace him eventually or at center back um that's where I thought about them and then they kind of went away for me and that's where Houston was pretty settled and like seemed to make the most sense if they wanted to try that but there are not there's every obvious team if he's willing to not be a full-time starter if he doesn't think he's a full-time starter i can't imagine a team really in the league that wouldn't take him but as a starter it is hard to see uh let me throw out this with montreal because you sort of went through it uh what two years ago they were the third best team in major league soccer and both the cso and

coach left because of their interactions with the ownership group so to have two members of that family in the press release is a little worrying. We got a comment from a Montreal fan on Twitch who was like, I've been a fan for 10 years. It's hard to think they'll be good with Sabuto involved. Yeah, having that last name back into the releases all over the place as you bring in a new CSO is tough. Because you talked about Renard, but Wilfred Nance, we feel left for a similar reason. We know. We know he did yeah okay yeah i don't remember what was reported and what has been discussed but like having saputo be overbearing and engage with the team while nonce was coach was a big part of why he left and proceeded to now become coach of the year so congratulations

to wilford nonce for the award um which i don't think we had mentioned you're right i don't know that we've mentioned most of the awards now that they've finally been given out, so we'll go through all of that. Yeah, exactly. The reality is the worst part about the whole thing. And I think that takes us to our end. So some big-time games coming up this weekend, two really good days. We'll be back next week with all of your coverage as we get into the

conference finals, which are going to be super interesting. I think we're both planning to go to MLS Cup. We don't know where that is. We can't really plan anything around it so far. But that's something that we will have news as it comes out. We would love to see as many fans as possible. MLS Cup is special. I'm stoked right now. I'm going to the NWSL Cup and it's soccer specific stadium, the first ever women's soccer specific stadium built. And like, I have memories of all these moments's soccer specific stadium the first ever um women's soccer specific stadium built and like i have memories of all these moments i've been to the first soccer specific stadiums i've been to and all these finals and like there's nothing like a final and there's nothing like the week and build up for it and the atmosphere for those teams columbus last year i

always go back to toronto atlanta seattle like these have been some of the best days We've ever seen and so we're going to get another Good one this year, we're pretty much guaranteed Of that with all the atmospheres that potentially Could happen with the teams that are left Can't wait to see where the Eastern Conference Final Falls, Western Conference Finals And then into MLS Cup So thank you to all of you for watching along live

With us, thank you to all of you for listening To the podcast Remember to subscribe Go to our Patreon, leave us reviews watching along live with us thank you to all of you for listening uh to the podcast uh remember to subscribe go to our patreon leave us reviews follow us on youtube and everywhere else and we'll talk to you all again very very soon Thank you.