SoccerWise - MLS Edition: Sir Minty Lovefest, The Perfect 5 + The Scoreless 3 & CCC Preview

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Two matches into the MLS season and there are 5 perfect teams left in the league. Tom & David talk through who they think are the biggest surprises. And then go to the other end of the spectrum to talk about the scoreless teams left in MLS. Finally they preview a huge week of CCC action coming up and look at the road to glory for all MLS sides. 1:20 Tom's Trip To Cover CTL v ATL15:00 Perfect 517:46 San Jose's Defensive Turnaround22:08 Vancouver's Strong Start26:11 DOOP DOOP DOOP DOOP29:32 Nancy Keeping Columbus Afloat33:04 LAFC One Goal Dominant35:05 Scoreless 3 In MLS35:40 STL City SC Slow Start39:35 Nashville Attacking Struggles44:18 CCC Preview  Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What's up everybody and welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Goss and Tommy Scoops with you for another big episode to talk about all things Major League Soccer. We've got Concordia Champions Cup around the corner once again. It's a good time to be alive and Tom, I did my weekend review and I didn't touch as heavily maybe as I could have on the biggest moment in North American Soccer, which was the fusion of you and Sir Minty in one space. So first time anyone's ever actually seen you guys in the same space. So first official proof that we know you're not the same person. And it was I could see the love in the eyes on all the photographs. I don't even know where to start with that.

You were not the only person that made that deduction to say, you know, we're technically this is the first time. I was like, no, the first time that he and I were in the same room together wasn't a room, it was a field. I that was before he was announced as the mascot And I took a picture of him and said this is the greatest thing I've ever seen more or less So we have been in the same space together before but I get it It's gonna be well that was before existence though like doesn't totally count

It means he is omnipresent. So I'm there is no before existence and this is a there's no big bang situation Yeah, but that was always exactly That was the stuff of dreams. I Got a couple questions of were you that happy on your wedding day? Those were people were putting up the pictures of me and minty just they were just pointing that out So that that was what that was like and I got to the press box and for those watching along on streaming I got a handwritten note from Sir Minty With my initial tweet as the as the front of that. So I have a new most prized. Let me see again

There's glare Wow, that is a Extremely handwritten that is like full on message. It's nice to see you from the very moment you laid eyes on me That's the first one All right Tom has that's real. Is that too real? No It's not too real. I think it's it's more that it's worrying because obviously I Don't know how much room you have in your heart and therefore I worry about the space inside of it for others of us

Here at soccer was where you just trying to go into a Friday Night Lights? You know, my heart is full gentlemen. Clear eyes, full hearts. Talking about the movie. Yeah, that's fine. I don't love the movie. I'm gonna be honest with you. What? Yeah. Yeah. What's wrong with it? I read the book. I read the book. Oh sick. I've watched the movie, I've watched the TV show. Yeah, I know how to read So this is like quick humble brag on that one And I think the movie is a little underwhelming at times doesn't mean I haven't seen it 500 times so it just it's not perfect to me like You're in sermenty experiencing each other. That is the absolute perfection We're gonna talk about some of the undefeated teams left in Major League Soccer, or some

of the perfect teams, sorry, left in Major League Soccer. It is a mistake I will make again, and there are more mistakes I will clean up as we get into this. We're going to talk about the scoreless teams left in MLS two weeks in, and then we, of course, are going to talk about CONCACF Champions Cup. And we've got a massive week of games coming up. Leg one for now every team that's in it. All the teams that had that first round by in the galaxy and Columbus are now entering

the competition. We get our first taste of MLS versus Liga mechs in this whole thing and we get some big time matchups as well as potentially messy on display against a Caribbean side from Jamaica that is going to be awesome to watch. Leg two is what we're really looking forward to there. They have moved that game from their home 3000 person stadium to the office that we all know very well from World Cup qualifying in Kingston, Jamaica, which holds 35, 40,000. I guarantee you,

there will be millions who will say they were in the building that night. If he does end up playing, it is going to be one of those legendary moments. But Tom overall, Charlotte, you got there on Friday. You did a live show I think with our friends at Topp in 90 who were kind enough to come on this show for our season preview. And then you went to the game overall the weekend. How was the experience? Oh it was unbelievable. It's been a whirlwind just in general in my life, work life, personal life, everything

else. So it was fitting that I went from CBS in the morning. So I was up at 430 a.m. that day, go to CBS, go straight from CBS to the airport. I had about 30 minutes at my hotel room before my good pal Eric Krakauer, the legend, picked me up and then we were at the Mint City Collective event. Everybody there was brilliant. They were're so nice so much fun it was a really really great vibe they had all of their all of their banners and all of their passion they even welcomed some Atlanta United fans so that thought was pretty cool it was some playful banter but that was all

good and yeah got to do the show with top in 90 those guys are great that was a lot a lot of fun again I can't tell you over that four hour three hour whatever it was that also felt like a whirlwind. It absolutely flew by. I had so much fun. We were lucky enough to have Jorge on this show to do that preview and he had said like, Charlotte loves a little soccer wise. Did you feel the love all weekend? Oh my God. I felt the love all weekend. Absolutely. He's taking pictures, talking to people, listening to their fans' stories, everything else. It was, okay, 10 out of 10 experience for me. I was very excited.

And the good news is, is I think Charlotte is going to be very good this season. And as you know, dear listener of the show, I've been saying this before my trip to Charlotte, so this isn't anything that I was influenced on. But this is not a Weeby March situation. Because I think that they're going to be among the very best teams in Eastern Conference and probably MLS this year. I might have another excuse to go back down to Charlotte. There's going to be more games and consequences as the game as the season goes on.

So I'm excited about that personally and selfishly. This is one of the worst conversations for two people from the Tri-State area to have. But did you get a feel for the Charlotte vs Atlanta, I'm just going to do the MLS cliche thing and call it a rivalry that could be brewing. I think that was a large reason for you of going down was the matchup, obviously the debuts, the potential and what we saw of the big crowd as well. Yeah. I mean, look, it doesn't matter kind of what we say, right? It's how the fans feel. And I talked again, mostly because interacted with short of see fans at the

short of see event but then we're Atlanta fans there and I was trying to ask both sides of like hey like is this your rival and on Charlotte like they kept pointing to like you know like we have more juice with Orlando because of the playoff series and and that's kind of the thing is that these two teams haven't played those games of consequence and it wasn't as much a natural rivalry like LA Galaxy, LA FC Red Bulls NYCFC there didn't need to be games of consequence there didn't need to be moments to build that rivalry because It was just obvious right and I still think Charlotte Atlanta is obvious and the cities themselves

Can feel that but in MLS to the Charlotte FC fans, to Atlanta United, Atlanta United fans probably still look at the Red Bulls from going head to head for those early years in their existence. And then quite frankly, it just haven't been that good since then. So I think both sides needed more games like this. I do think that Saturday was a game of consequence. It was a big one.

It was both teams coming in with high expectations, high stars on the field, a lot of money spent. And again, both teams coming in with high expectations, high stars on the field, a lot of money spent. And again, like both teams think that they're going to be two of the best in the East in the league. And that's how you build these ravages. So I think that was a good start and we'll see what the return game shows. And maybe if they find themselves in a playoffs or another knockout competition together. Yeah. I like that you call it game of consequence and not just playoffs because these games have consequence that happened in these other rries, many of them were regular season games, but you had stakes because

Red Bulls were a perennial supporter shield winner and then NYCFC comes on the block. You get the red wedding, but then NYCFC pushes for MLS Cup and then on the flip side, LAFC being a shield contender basically day one, but really two years in and the galaxy's history. And it was a little bit of a different time, but like those, I think led to those and Atlanta being bad, I think has made that a little harder for it to jumpstart. And now you get both teams heavily investing. The fight around Miguel and Miron, I think helps a little of like,

I assume Atlanta fans were just, were annoyed about hearing his name connected to that team for a year. And then the flip side is you get him, but then they get Zaha and everyone's got their new toys that they're excited to put on display. And that's what this game was. Tom, it was the first time we saw Zaha and MLS because of the birth of his child missing week one.

And then you get to see Latelof and Almiron out on the field. Zaha gets the goal, gets the assist. Does he end up getting credited with the assist fully? Yes. And when it was announced in the press box, I turned to Com Staffer of Charlotte and I gave him an eye and I was like, do you guys do this? Who is the official statistician here? And he put his hands out.

He's like, I don't know. So he is still officially listed with the assist. Credit to Wilfred Zaha. First of all, a couple of things after the game before we even get back on the field. He's a superstar. He was on superstar time brother. He did not come out for the avail. One, he deserves that you're a star. You get to go on your own time. Two, credit to him for coming out and talking. Not everybody does. So that was really cool. But three, he did the star thing where he was like no you know I meant to shoot it But so when I kicked it he kicked me he was like, you know, I can it was still an assist

I still kicked it to him But I respect it. Yeah. Hey, listen, we're cooking those books. Let's get everyone assist. Let's get everyone goals We'll make sure to check my golden boot team and get those players goals first notice Since Doyle has drafted Patrick Augemange, he has not scored a goal, which is tough for all of us. So maybe I'll try and figure out a way to trade him off that roster and get him into a more comfortable safe place. Danny Higginbotham said this during the broadcast. I had to go look it up because

I didn't believe it. He said, he said Wilfred Zaha. Did you hear this? No. He said Wilfred Zaha was one of the most fouled players in the history of the Premier League. I went and looked it up. He is the most fouled player and it's like by a huge margin. I don't understand fully maybe how that statistic is like maybe maybe not everyone does record it the same way, which wouldn't make sense because it's probably off to someone who's pulling that data. He's like 150. The next person was like 670s and then no one else was really close. And I think Bukai Osaka will be the one to pass him because he's already pushing up the list. But it's wild to think he hasn't been in the league for such a long time. And while he did play a bulk of his career there, he is still fairly young. He did not play there

for 15 years. And I know the league is new and all of that. But you would have assumed in the last 25 years that there was other players who played in the Premier League long enough and got fouled often enough to be on the top of that list. But as you said, Zaha is a superstar. Well you know why? It's because they didn't count fouls in the old day back back before the game was gone, mate. They just rubbed some dirt on it, got up, took their red card, took their punch to the face and, you know, limped back to the game was gone mate they just rubbed some dirt on it got up took their red card took their punch to the face and you know limped back to the locker room and had a cigarette and a couple beers.

That's absolutely true you know just go big little up top. Yeah stopper sweeper. Exactly stopper sweeper. Emil Heskey wouldn't call that a foul. No way. Before the game was gone and now as you said it officially is. It was a big result for Charlotte. We were talking in our group chat and I sort of said similar in the recap and I know Doyle has written similar as well. It was not an

Un-Charlotte like performance. So it showed the potential which is maybe last year that's a tie, maybe it's a 1-0 win, maybe it's a 1-1. Zaha gets you the two goals but it's not a different style of dominating games yet under Dean Smith. Correct and I don't know if it's going to be that different you know and I will say Dean Smith in his press conference when he was like yeah like as you were saying that like you know the first half wasn't necessarily great or maybe Charlotte didn't really implant the game.

Dean Smith kind of pushed back on that a few times and he said I think that just both teams did really really well defensively to cancel each other out and then Zaha said after the game he had a go at his teammates Which I have heard some stories about him having already done in preseason of like when the standard isn't high enough He lets them know and he lets them know very directly and the way that he described it was it was constructive criticism I was yelling but and I'm the way that he described it was it was constructive criticism. I was yelling but and I'm sure that that was probably undersold it but his whole thing was we're not passing a ball quick enough.

It's not crisp enough. By the time I get the ball there's a defender on my back. Matt Edwards did awesome in the first step completely pocketed Wilfred Zaha. Huge story. And then Zaha exploded for 10 minutes in the second half. This is what they needed and I want add, he didn't train all week. He was with his with his family. They just give him birth. He flew back to Charlotte, no jet lag. And like he's probably at like 60% of what he could be. But like in terms

of even just fitness and freshness rather than like this was a you know, X percentage of a top performance so i think that's really encouraging like you said goths last year that's a game that probably ends nil nil it just is so for them to get three points and for it to be za on both you can criticize like maybe guzzan should have done better on the goal or maybe you know uh the defenders could have done better on the first one right like doesn't matter that's immaterial at the moment because no matter what this was this would be a game that that this team were more likely to draw than to win so that is the biggest and most important takeaway for me.

Matt Edwards you mentioned the homegrown getting the opportunity to start in this one. Louis Abraham getting the start on the back line as well. Basically all the fullbacks that you thought would be a part of this group are injured. Maybe that opens the door to the Julian Gressel move. If there's question marks around how long these injuries last for and you see a little bit of the fall off for this Atlanta team of you need players

pushing out of those positions and possession to help create chances. They did not have that in this game. They looked much more toothless than they did in the first game. Now of course on the road in MLS, it's always going to be difficult. Over 50,000 fans in the building as well. Tom makes it a pretty nice environment for Charlotte to play in. That it does.

And again, that was one of the biggest crowds in the league, if not the biggest, I guess. I don't know off the top of my head. Probably the biggest. But even at at that it was kind of like some fans were like, ah, you know you won We had 70,000, you know Hey if this if that like the people around there were like a little bit disappointed that it wasn't more which just goes to Show the growth of I'm like this is sick. And that's what I was saying too I was like, this is awesome. Like I was talking to some of supporters It was like my view was maybe more families would be able to go to this one because in the afternoon they're like no no no youth soccer is in the late morning early afternoon here like they're like anecdotally they were saying you know

there's so many people in my life that their kids have games when they can't go so that's super encouraging. It absolutely is a good win for Charlotte to get their first victory of the season so now they are sitting on four points. If you listened to my weekend recap show which you should not go back and listen to at this point if you haven't, because what we're about to do will be better anyway, I recorded it on Sunday. I mentioned that two weeks in there are multiple clubs that have won both games they have played. So they sit on six points. They are perfect, not undefeated because there are other teams that have drawn and have not lost,

but they are not perfect. I said there were six and there are only five. I fell to the same problem that we all faulted, which is I got messy obsessed. I got goat brains and all of a sudden I added into Miami, even though they drew at home against NYCFC and we're probably lucky to do so the first week of the season because I was watching them without messy mall the Houston Dynamo on my television while preparing for this. And so I added them in. So I would like to apologize to the many people who tweeted at me and got into my mentions to ask me how I did my math. One, always assume I just didn't. I make it up and I guess. I have no idea how to do math.

And two, just always assume I made a mistake. I don't know better than you and I'm not figuring special things out behind the scenes. I am bad at math and I am absent-minded. We have four our perfect teams. The Philadelphia Philadelphia Union who have been flying, Columbus Crew, LAFC, Vancouver, I should probably delete Miami from this list so I don't make that mistake again. Vancouver and San Jose earthquakes. Did I hit it? Did we hit that number right, Todd?

You hit five. You hit five. We did it. How many Soccer Wise hosts does it take to count to five? We now know the answer is officially two of Those five the perfect five Let's start with this question, which are you most surprised by? We're gonna have time to talk about all five in some capacity, right? Tell me to do whatever you want. So but let me let me start with this.

I think to power rank the level of surprise and I'll start with least surprising. Yes, we are power ranking surprise. Let's go. LAFC least surprising again, and they were probably the least convincing out of all of these five teams on in their games. But like we know that they're very good. Columbus, given the opponents given how institutionally really great they are, and Diego Rossi's still a star, I don't think we were talking enough about that, they'd be second-least.

The next three teams are different, varying levels of surprising. For me, Philly's probably the next one because I was high in them coming into the season. Vancouver, I just straight-up wrong about, I was very pessimistic, that is misplaced, I'm sorry. And then so I think that the most surprising is there's a earthquakes they were the worst team in MLS last year they they conceded more goals than any other team in the league they conceded one over their two games and yes you can talk about the opponents they got two CCC teams whatever man they won both

of those games last year didn't matter it didn't matter if a team played 48 hours prior it didn't nothing mattered they didn't matter if a team played 48 hours prior. It didn't, nothing mattered. They were going to give up goals and probably lose. So what Bruce Arena did and all of our critiques, I won't rope you to this, my critiques, I was saying, like, I love the idea of Chichorongo and Joseph Martinez. I hope it happens. I don't think that they're going to play three at the back and if they're not, they have no chance of making that work and it's probably going to be tough. Well, they have been playing three at the back or some variation of it, some lopsided formation where stay at home left back with Rick, it's playing as like more coming up the wing and Espinoza as you know,

I guess technically a wing back in a back three, but he's playing that like Bariol does did for Cincy. So all of that random being said, San Jose is the most pleasant surprise of these five teams. It's hard to disagree with you. I think if you, if we got, went back two weeks and asked like, okay, for putting odds on this, Vancouver would probably have lower odds because of like schedule. They were in CCC.

True, also true. On top of, that's true. They played at Portland and then they hosted the LA Galaxy who at the time we didn't know would start the year by not knowing how to find the back of the net and all those issues and all that other stuff. Either way, those two are clearly I think in their own category on top of this. I have to put put Philly a little closer as well because I didn't anticipate all of what

they've done so far. But this San Jose team as you said, they've been structured, they've been sound defensively, even with Hernán López picking up like a pretty early red card in this last game. They're able to get 30 minutes on the road without conceding a goal to an SKC team that has many holes as they might have. Manu Garcia looks good. Like they're going to create chances. They have Dejan Jovovich. Goal scoring isn't exactly what we think is the concern for SKC either. So to be able to, as you said, have that defensive base, Danielle looks back towards what he was. He probably doesn't finish top three keeper this year,

but you are talking about someone who's in the top 10 conversation and probably ends up with plus on his XG post shots and probably ends up being a match winner overall for you more often than not, which was a huge part of their playoff run two years ago and a huge part of the fall off for them last season. So you add to that all of these attacking pieces coming into the team. And I sort of set it in the, we can recap that I did, but the goal specifically is exactly what San Jose wants, which is you're going to make mistakes because there is so much elite talent just being shoved down your throat down the middle of Lopez slides a pass into Joseph. Defenders are all over the place because it's Joseph Martinez on top of the 18th.

Like this is the alarm bell and Chicho Arango is just sniffing around. And the moment you make a mistake, he pops up, he takes advantage and now they're playing from a 1-0 lead. And that's going to change the ability to defend. The game is going to become easier for them if you have to come and chase them. And now San Jose in two weeks has been able to play from ahead. Yeah, exactly. And I think that's going to be a sweet spot for them if they're not chasing the game.

Right, like, look, they're not going to win the supporter's shield. And in the chat, correctly to point about, hey, they're outperforming expected goals themselves. Like, week two is too early to look at that. But yes obviously they're not going to continue this on they play minnesota at home this weekend i think three weeks ago we would have been like oh it's going to be an easy minnesota win and maybe it still will be but san jose we need to recalibrate what we thought of them because to your point goss they're going to be sound they're going to be hard working and and they're going to be solid and whether or not that's playoff good enough

I feel much better right now with six points in the bag because of how tight this is gonna be and particularly like let's Say RSO I had them kind of on the bubble there in the preseason of this of this like, you know Whatever like fourth to tenth. I think is gonna be really tight RSO probably aren't closer to fourth or more so towards the tenth So you get three points against a team like that like these all count in the end man like how many? How many play playoff places are decided by a handful points a year over here? We see it all the time so San Jose starting the season you can't take away those six points They're very clearly on to something. I'm not expecting it to be great all season long

I still would be leaning Minnesota this weekend, but very, very impressed by San Jose so far. For Vancouver, coming out of last year, I was obviously high on them because I love Vancouver and I love everything about it and I always want to be. And everything about the offseason was step back, step back, step back. It felt externally for a club that was saying, just maintaining last year for us is going to be good because other teams are gonna fluctuate and then we're gonna find little half ways to take small steps forward.

And so for them to be here right now is massive because not only have they not taken a step back, but there actually is a path forward for them to be better than they were. And then you get a coach becoming more familiar with the group and the league. You potentially might get more signings or ads coming in to replace some of the big pieces they lost mainly being Stuart Armstrong but at a minimum right now I think they are who they were last year which is a really high floor. They have a clear style of play It works at home

So they're going to get a ton of results to be in a playoff race because they're gonna pick up home points Which is what you need to do in this league and so to start here Tom feels big for them I couldn't agree more and then yeah, like I'll eat crow right now like I was too pessimistic on this team and Jaden Nelson has been awesome to start the season. Pedro Vite is contributing more in the final third. Like he's a player I've liked a lot for a while, but last year I was disappointed that we didn't see more in terms of-

That sounded like Christopher Walken. Bless you. I know you could. Anytime you want to get at a Christopher Walken joke, I'm in. Don't ever apologize. But I wasn't like, I was disappointed get it a question for walking joke. I'm it don't ever apologize But I wasn't like I was this I thought so much from that I thought if he was gonna take a jump was gonna be last year. Maybe it's this year He started off very very well Brian White and New Jersey Mario Gomez. He's the man He's a dude and this defense is untouched from what they were last year, which is that times elite It was a little inconsistent and so a coaching change

Maybe that makes it more consistent again like it's it is silly to like we're gonna look back on the show particularly these five teams that we're talking about and we're obviously gonna be positive because we should be they've earned that but yeah early season what's the data point and what's a red herring we are drinking the Kool-Aid today particularly that there's not even a label on this coolool-Aid. It's just like the thing that comes in the little plastic fake looking jug in the back of the bodega. There is dust all over this thing and I'm drinking seven of them.

I need you to, by the end of this Caps discussion, be on the record and say that they're going to beat Monterey. That's what I need you to do. I'm not going to get there. I'm already there. Hell yeah! I'm already there. It's not even a question. Here's a few things that pop up thinking about them one Sam Atacube injured early in this game at Aero Campo

Who was brought in as like the eighth try at a U22 attacking piece that becomes elite Played pretty well in his spot There is a mistake interest in Blackman Like there's no way of avoiding it at this point in his career and a lot of people know that he has elite qualities. He's an elite athlete. There are times when he's on the ball where he looks like one of the best players in the league. If it was consistent, I don't even know if he'd play in MLS anymore. Like that's how good the other stuff is. The mistake on the goal is I think he thinks he's going to shield it and then realizes he's too far from the end line and sort of stumbles and falls and it's like it feels silly to blame someone for falling except there's enough of these now over

the course of his career that that's one of the problems and I do wonder if Sam Adukube at center back ends up being an option or if Ocampo plays well enough Laborda as a full-time starting center back becomes an option but we're talking about changes in half chances Overall they fit in well under a new coach They're pressing high the game opened up exactly how they wanted to against the LA Galaxy and they played transitional Jaden Nelson looks awesome in all that setup and so they've hit the ground running this season And yes, they will be victorious over the highest-sp spending team in the region. They will move on

in CONCACAF Champions Cup, which we'll talk about coming up from here. You had the Philadelphia Union third. I've already said my Mia Culpo is like five times, but let's give you a chance to celebrate on this one. You were excited about what they'd be under Bradley Carnell and they've hit it. Yeah. So again, it's going gonna need a lot more of positive performances and results for me to change my mind to move them kind of up another tier in the East. I think they're a playoff team and I think they're kind of just that. I don't think that they have the top end potential or top end ceiling to really challenge above that and hey, maybe I'm wrong, but I will say the floor of what this team

is going to be I think it's going to be very very high and they're not going to score four goals a game don't want to break anybody's heart but this this the way that they're playing is sustainable whether ball goes in every single time they shoot on target is a different story but dude beating beaten Cincy like they did this weekend that's a that's a real result like that's beating, beating Cincy like they did this weekend. That's a, that's a real result. Like that's the performances and I like the four triple two. I like what Quinn Sullivan is doing more and more in the attack. I think that there's room to grow a little bit with, you know, Indy Vasilev. And as long as Andre Blake stays fit, there's going to be a really solid team. Yeah, the, um, the pieces up the spine have hit fast. Dan Lee, obviously we saw last year, but to bring in another center back in another center

mid and have them hit this quickly, like it's the right game states for them, which is they've gotten ahead not against Orlando early, but they were able to get the two goals quickly. They got ahead against Cincinnati, but they didn't concede a single half chance going into the second goal. Like that's that perfect 35 or so minutes for them to play. If they can do that stuff, I think enough of the goals will be there. Yeah, Tiberibo maybe shouldn't look off passes and then get lucky to get tap-ins on the far post as often as he is. But like, but you love it. All of those chances are there. Like all of those chances will be there. They were there last year for this Philadelphia team.

I think there's enough attacking talent and I think the system will make enough sense as long as defensively the base is strong and I think that's what's been really promising for me on top of Quinn Sullivan's play, which I know you noted on social and I talked about it last week and shout out to our very own Morgan Tenza who was texting me about it week one and or I think in preseason maybe. And we're all excited to see him do his thing. And I think he's fit in really cleanly. And so that's exciting to see for this team

because they need some Academy pieces to hit. And the idea with Carnell is to play more kids, but like they're not gonna perform yet. And so to have Quinn Sullivan in this gap in between and Nathan Harreld, when he comes back, like those need to be the ones who are key parts of your best 11. Did somebody draft Ty Burrivo in the Golden Boot draft? Did you?

I don't know. Can we do we have to look it up? I think he's on team Tom and Kalin but I can't be told. Oh nice. Cool. Yeah. I don't know. I was we I was winning after week one so I haven't checked back.

I haven't had time this week to check to make sure that I'm still up there. I know everyone's been waiting on pins and needles in the Discord because I did send last week that obviously I took down down in fantasy basketball pretty easily. Update, I dominated Doyle as well this week. So I will be sending the exact scores into the Discord as usual and I know everyone's clamoring for it. So I just wanted to like put at ease some of the hearts for some people who feel like they haven't gotten there quick enough that gets us into our final two undefeated teams You said the the two that were least surprising

Lafc I think was or you know Columbus was the the fourth team that you said now, I think it's Fair to say this now. I think two weeks ago. We would have, Oh no, no, Cucho. We're so excited for Chicago. Um, week one at least. And then now you've get the revs, which will be a conversation we'll have in a little bit as well. But clearly the excitement with Columbus is just that without Cucho, it just all looks similar. And Wilfred Nansay's just pure ability to make people believe in themselves remains. Yeah. And look, the attack is still thin. They still need to bring players in. But as long as Rossi Chambost and Jason Russell-Roe, probably, I mean, Rossi the most important

because he's the best player in that trio, but they don't really have a center forward that they can turn to if Jason Russell-Roe goes down again, like a senior player, right? You can bring in youth players and maybe Chase Adams. That'll be his chance if something like that happens. But at some point you're going to need another center forward. But with this 11 on the field, I don't think that you and I were doubting that they would be really good as long as

all 11 were there. Probably the top end stuff because how hard it is to replace Cucho. And I bet like we've been we've been super positive on Jason Russero. We've been super positive on Diego Rossi and everybody else in this team. So in a macro sense, like yeah, two good performances, two wins, isn't shocking, but this is still like, not gonna do revisionist history. I was down on them coming into the season. Like I still thought that they'd kind of be there

at the end, but I thought that they have more work to do. And they do still have more work to do. But once again, you can't take these six points away. And this reinforces, and probably I overlooked a little bit about the Wilford-Nance system, the Wilford-Nance beliefs, the Wilford-Nance tactics, everything else. And Diego Rossi getting to be the guy again. And he's, what I really like about him is he'll fit in next to a Cucho Hernandez. He'll fit in next to a Carlos Vela.

If the Carlos Vela's hurt, okay, I can go win the Golden Boot. No Cucho, no Ramirez. All right, I'm the guy in the attack. I'll score a couple of goals. Yeah, I think I drafted Diego Rossi in the Golden Boot race, and this is not me doing a flex. I'm actually trying to remember. But I drafted him in saying, like, in that moment, he

was technically the best attacking player on this that team. And like, I straight up the reason I'm good at fancy basketball is I normally try and pick the best player on worst teams because like, every team is going to score 97 points and get X amount of rebounds. That was more my thought process with Diego Rossi than I think Diego Rossi can be the best attacking piece or best player on a genuinely competitive team. I didn't think that. I'm not sure that I even still do, but it's exciting to see him perform in this way. Because if you go

back to LAFC, which obviously he was young, he won the golden boot in a year. They didn't make the playoffs. Like that was, it was COVID, it was a weird year. Yeah, for sure. But like, he could be the best player every once in a while, but it wasn't the things that the top tier of attackers do. And so he looked like maybe the best second option in Major League Soccer, which is an awesome place to sit. Now he's being asked to be the first. And a lot of that goes to non-save system, right?

Shambosa has stepped up. The way Mo Farci has played with Arfsten, both of them have stepped up and the confidence they all have has led them to grow as players. I think Farci now you look at a guy two plus years into doing this just has pure belief in what he can do on the field and how he can affect the game and so all of those things continue to sort of push this Columbus group forward and a pretty good set of matchups as well which which takes us to LAFC. As you said, we're the least surprising team to get here.

Also because they played at home their first two games, which is a nice little setup. But it has been underwhelming. I said it last week and I think we were challenged at one point on the show where someone I think was with Joe on Thursday where I was talking about Minnesota and they were like, you you guys were like well you don't think well of this and it's like well I don't think great of LAFC right now like to lose 1-0 at LAFC is kind of standard base um and it was another game like that for them where you see some flashes in the attack but it's just not consistent from them and it probably never will be except for those moments when buong is taking over. Yes. I would push back to say Cengiz Under is something like this is a Turkey international with

51 caps I think he was sold to Fenerbahce for like I forget if it was to Fenerbahce or to Roma but whichever it was he's like a 25 million dollar player. That's a significant piece to be missing. So I think that there's more to come. I think that we can see more creativity from the team and then yeah like they're in the CONCAP champions cup too. They've had that fixture congestion and then they've won both these games and yeah like maybe to your point it's not going to be as open or as entertaining or as free flowing or as whatever that we want. But you just have to accept that this is a really strong defensive team, a really structured team that has special players in the attack that will make the difference. Yep. It's a good point. They've scored four goals in four games. That's who they've been

so far, but that is a huge name to come into this as like straight up Our hurricane gets blown into my face right now Was that was that your code for me just talking? No, that's my code for the like Ominous sky that is blowing into my face right now in Miami Let's go to the other end of the spectrum before we get into LA of seas Match up against Columbus crew because those two teams just happen to find each other over and over again with the three teams that have yet to score in MLS. That is the New England Revolution, Nashville and St. Louis.

It is easy that two of them played each other the first week. So Nashville facing off at home against the Rebs to start. Then the Rebs faced off at home against the revs to start then the revs faced off at home against columbus this weekend snow i think a little bit before the game so not ideal conditions in that one zero loss which of these teams are you most worried about or which are you most surprised let's do that one which are you most surprised is here right now so of these two teams or of the three three um So of these two teams or of the three? Three. Um, poof.

I'm not... So you can make cases for all three of these teams. I think I'm most surprised at St. Louis. But that doesn't take away my surprise for the other two teams. Because St. Louis have, again, they play the high pressing style. I thought that they were going to dial that up again as well. They have three attackers that I really like led by Marcel Harto and Cedric Teutard and Simon Becher is starting and whether it's Simon Becher or Joao Klaus,

I'm comfortable with that with those other two players and they just haven't looked great. They haven't done much. They haven't scored a goal, two draws at least, so they haven't conceded a goal. That's kind of where you point to. But again, I'm disappointed for all three of these or I guess surprised because of the attacking talent at all of these teams, but I think I'd lean st. Louis. What about you guys I Would lean st. Louis as well one because they had rapids coming off CCC at home week one two because I would have guessed that San Diego would give up goals week two like if you asked me this question before the season started because I didn't think San Diego would be this controlled and like you talked about the big ads for this team happened last year we saw it in MLS so in the whole who hits the ground running like I wouldn't take the refs because the revs I already knew were putting together a new

roster on the fly Nashville as well well. Most of the pieces that sit underneath the two DPs are all new in central midfield for sure. And those two attacking roles, whatever you want to call them behind the two center forward. So like St. Louis was the one where you're like, this was built to hit the ground running. That's the point. I'm not unhappy about it, but I'm surprised that Simon Becher has gotten the shot at the role just because of the spot Shao Klaus holds in that team and you know, on the salary cap and all of that. And obviously, Torchert clearly not ready to go from the start week one. So that puts them a little bit behind things, but they were easily taken out of the game

by San Diego in week two. So in week one against the Rapids, I thought they created some chances. I thought you saw the ideas from them. Week two, San Diego looked good, but like it's on St. Louis to be able to push that game and create opportunities. And right now they are not getting out into transition moments.

They're not being able to press teams into mistakes and there's not a ton in possession. And that's what Hartle was supposed to fix. And that's what Toy Chart is supposed to to help fix and that we haven't seen yet I think that's a little bit unfortunate for a group that one of the big reasons I thought they were a playoff team this year was because they were bringing so much back that had been built up over the second Half of last season exactly like you were expecting them to hit the ground running and even with a new coach like that There's we should allow for that. But as you said all

Most of their key signings were here in the summer and not just in theory, Harlow and particularly toy shirt look really good. Simon Vettel look really good at the end of that season. So I thought it was going to be pretty seamless and we know how this team wants to play. Every coach is going to see the game a little bit differently, but generally speaking, it's not like they, uh, Olaf Melberg was going to see the game a little bit differently. But generally speaking, it's not like they Olaf Melberg was going to turn them into a possession based, you know, call a possession based team that that is going to play slow like they're going to play a similar way. I think that he's going to be more defensive. And I think that's pretty clear. I know from what I'm from talking to people during preseason, that was the focus. But that's not abnormal

for a new coach who coach comes in, get the structure right, get the defending right, then we figure out the attack like that's normal normal too. So I'm not worried about them yet But this is this is not the way that they would have wanted to start But I mean I saw the other like and and probably that I just think that this is the best team out of these three clubs Like I think that they're going to finish ahead of New England and Nashville in the sport of shield race Table, yeah, I just have more point. None of these teams are going to be in the Shield Race. My point is that they're in different conferences. That battle between 18 and 19 in the Sporters Shield Race is going to be hot and heavy. I will say I like a lot of what I'm seeing

from Nashville. They are one piece short right now in the attack, Hany still has to drop in and do everything to set up the Hany spot at center forward. Like Serge's not touching the ball because Hany has to go get it and has to create chances. A lot of it's down that right channel where he's trying to find some space. That's what it was against the Red Bulls. And there's not enough other focus

for defenses to have to go for Hany to either stay high or if he drops in to have someone else run in front of him. Like I would be fine if this team went and got another second forward to run alongside Surge and say Hany's full-time job is that underneath attacking role alongside Tagseth or whoever it is. And that's like the spot he plays for this team.

And he might not put up the same number. He will have the same effect that he had two years ago when he was an MVP finalist or the other way around. I can't get away from this clearly to me being the Julian Grassl team. I know that that's not exactly clearly what he's asked for. And that's where I think a lot of the Atlanta rumors come from and the familiarity and I don't know

salary cap structure for Nashville if it works, but like imagine him in that underneath spot, being able to play off of a honey spinning his man and running into the space Or surge coming deeper to connect and then when he floats out wide he's serving crosses in to Sam surge Like it seems like a really good fit for them But I like enough of what I see from Nashville that I'm not super worried about them and the revs It's early like it was gonna be tough. Anyway Campanhas had some huge chances blocked off the line. Like that actually is not horrendous for them.

As you said, it's early to totally go on that. But this is a club, when we talked to Seth McComer pre-season where it was like, there's not a lot of leeway for them to say, oh, just keep waiting, right? The weeks start to rack up for a club that flipped the whole roster to say, these, just keep waiting, right? The weeks start to rack up for a club that flipped the whole roster to say these are now our players. Yes. But I still think that I'm, I have higher, more stock in New England than Nashville.

I don't think either are going to be particularly great, but I think that the high end for New England is higher than what the high end could be for Nashville. So again, and we're probably splitting hairs here, but I think that just goes back to my disappointment with Nashville. My questions about them were about the center back pairing, not either one of their profiles, but it's not easy to adapt MLS as a center back. How many max-tam-ish center backs have we seen just complete swings and misses in a league?

So that was where my focus was because I looked ato, and I'm saying, if he gets chances, he's going to score goals. And they're going to create chances, because they have these attackers. I was impressed by my initial impressions of Kanago, that it's disappointing that they haven't scored yet. And yes, like you said, there have been some close moments. And look, it's a two-game sample size.

I think the attack is going to be fine but like still the way that you start the season and these points all matter particularly for a team that again like probably gonna be on the playoff bubble whether they make the playoffs or not like it is more likely they fall away from the playoff race rather than that they go past the the playoff line and don't have to worry at the end of the season or just playing for seeding. Like I think every point is going to matter. So yes, it's a lot of new players.

But this like Caleb Porter to his credit keeps coming on saying this, this is my team. No more no excuses, whatever. Right. So it's got to happen soon. It's got to happen soon because last year was disastrous. If we're having this conversation in three weeks, he's on the hot seat. He is. Yeah.

Let's move into CCC action as Tom boils up with a little bit of that CCC CCL fever. Before we get into it, let's talk about a team that was eliminated because we do have a question from Jace Garduno in the chat who was kind enough to contribute via super chats. So we're going to read this off, which is what are the names RSL looking for as a DP striker? Do you have any ideas for RSL and if there's anything real there or is it, let me ask you this, is it still the expectation that they get it done before we go out

into the summer window situation? I think that the expectation is that they are going to get somebody in before the end of the primary transfer window. I wouldn't guarantee that's gonna be be a designated player because again it depends on target. Like again I've reported that one of the players they called for was Tani Oluwase. I think we'd all agree, like again this is all hypothetical because Minnesota aren't

trading him. But I think we could all agree that would be like a really good signing. I think he'd fit this team very well. But he's not a DP. So like I don't want to say just because it's not a designated player means it's a disappointment But I'm not sure is a long-winded way of answering this question But I do feel strong that they're still gonna bring somebody in before the end of the window Let's move into our CCC action and we have to start here

We mentioned last week the investigation into the actions in the Colorado Rapids LAFC match. So it was a investigation after Chadozie Awaziam said that there was inappropriate racist language used by Sergi Palencia of LAFC and Concaf has come out with its findings saying while the evidence confirms that the interaction between Palencia and Awaziam involved inappropriate language. It is clear to the committee that the word reported by the Colorado Rapids in its official position to Konka Caff was not used. So there is no punishment or suspension

for Sergi Polencia off the back of that. He will be available now for their match going forward against the Colorado Rapids. That's the official language from CONCACAF. So now we go into this week where we have now the big MLS teams that were on buys from last year entering the competition. And of course, as I said,

now we get into the Liga MX MLS one-on-one matchups. So across the board, we've got LAFC against the crew, Inter Miami playing Cavalier of Jamaica, Vancouver against Monterey, the Seattle Sounders against Cruz Azul, FC Cincinnati against Tigress, and the LA Galaxy facing off against Eridiano because of RSL falling to Eridiano in the previous rounds. If you had to pick many MLS teams do you think we see in the following round? It's a good question. So we know we're getting one from Columbus L.A. FC. So that's one.

I feel pretty confident Miami over Cavalier, though I do appreciate the fact that Cavalier were the seeded team in this bracket just because of the tournament they won. So that's why they have the second leg. You never know what can happen when you go down to Jamaica. So I think that that's two right there. I don't see it for Vancouver versus Monterey because of how big of a club Monterey is. I wouldn't rule them out. So I'm sticking with two there.

Galaxy over, Eridiano. Dude, I'm taking Cincy over Tigres. I'm in, I'm all the way in. What does that make, four? I think that makes five. I forgot to keep counting apologize now one two three No, that's four. Oh, sorry. I know that'll cruises rule is the last one. Yeah, I Think that goes either way well and truly

You know, I think Seattle built for this I'll take them to This is okay Let me just say this out loud before you even respond because you should be telling me I'm a moron to be assuming that Cincy and Seattle are going to beat T-Grey's and Cruiser Zulu. Never in the history essentially of this tournament have those kind of results happened. While it is more likely in the past that Eridiano beats the Galaxy rather than Cincy or Seattle beat T-Grey's or Cruiser Zulu. We would be happy to get past Eridiano and like i think it's there there there the giants we get

it's difficult but i truly believe particularly those last year uh... and i was a doctor vulnerable to tick like i feel really good about since the in this matter that's one is the toughest one just because i'm not sure where on since C scale they're at right now. Yeah.

When you look at the Red Bull game and how much is that having played CCC? Sorry, not the Red Bull game. When you look at the Philadelphia game, having played CCC, having the focus on this, but I still am sort of wondering the Vanderdin train preseason with this group or a Jano has not fully been there. Matt Miyazga is not back. Not questioning that they're sealing and this group sealing can win this matchup,

but that how close they are right now. And I think that's the concern for this club where Seattle I think are a little bit closer in my mind, even with the results against RSL and Cruz Azul I think are a little bit further down and more attainable. So I would take Seattle more than I would take Cincinnati. I would say four teams plus of course Vancouver has like a golden ticket.

They're the one I'm fully guaranteeing over Monterey and then the other ones are like maybe. It's like I think there's a bigger chance that both LAFC and Columbus lose to each other and no MLS team goes through there, then that Vancouver doesn't go through against a club like Monterey in this one. It is, I think, one of the most fun parts of the year. For whatever League's Cup tries to be and has attempted to be and whatever, this is the juice.

This is the MLS first league MX opportunity to test yourselves. The time of the year sucks, the setup sucks, but the atmospheres are on point and it's going to be some massive games. And there is not really a super clear path for an MLS team to get this done without facing one of the big teams. In Mexico, the clearest one would be the winner of LAFC Columbus will play the winner of Inter Miami Cavalier and then Vancouver, Monterey, Pumas and Aloe Helente are the four other teams on that side of the bracket. Seattle, if they were to get through against Cruisesville, they'd play the winner of the derby between Chivas and America. And then Cincinnati, of

course, facing off against T-Grace right now. So if they win, they would play the winner of Galaxy Eridiano and then whatever's coming from that other side of the bracket. Or if since he loses the Galaxy, if they were able to win, would face off against Tigran. So it is not straightforward anyway. It does not set up right now, I think in a year in which you're like, this is the year for one of these teams to get it done, especially with the way a lot of these teams are coming into this moment. Yeah, but I would go back to what you said so the winner of Columbus LFC in

Miami like one of those three teams gets to a semi-final without having to play a league I met key steam and unless you know a look at Monterey upset then the mighty Vancouver Whitecaps then that is the first time that they or you know Pumas as well in the semi-final, but you look on that side of the bracket, Monterey is that team. So let's just say it's Miami-Monterey in the semi-final. I think if you're putting on the MLS logo

and looking at the bracket, because if that's one of the semi-finalists, I'm totally good there, right? And then you hope that it's Seattle or Cinti or LA as one of the teams in the semifinal on the other side. And then you say you feel pretty good about it. Yeah, I think that's fair. I just if Cucho was still in Columbus, I feel differently about this, right? That would be a situation which then I'm looking at all those three MLS teams in the best part of the bracket. And you're saying like, whichever one gets out

is a genuine contender to win this whole thing. And so having that team taking that half step back makes me a little bit more questionable than Miami. They're just a box of unknown. Like, I don't know. I don't know when Messi's available now. They just put up four on the Houston Dynamo without him. Maybe that doesn't matter.

Maybe that's reading too much into some of that stuff. But I think that would be the big worry with that group. And then on the other side, as I said, you know, Cincinnati not starting the year exactly where they want to be. Seattle have not hit the ground running the way I thought they would. And the Galaxy are not the team that finished last year. Like if you had Ricky available for this, if you had been able to keep a little bit more maybe of that midfield

intact coming into this year Okay, fine but if you get into a situation where you're playing a high leverage game whether it's against eridiana or against digress and You don't have Ricky and you don't have pain still then you're in a really tough spot At this stage of the competition and so I'm not sure that I see an obvious team or an obvious way For an MLS team to break through on this one. Either way we're gonna continue watching it. It's gonna be a ton of fun. I can't wait to be in the Discord throughout the games over the course of this week. We will come back on Thursday

myself and Tom I think we're gonna do an early show on Thursday morning to help preview the weekend of MLS action and react to what we've seen in CCC. We have a huge NWSL season preview that we're going to drop tomorrow morning. We had two of the best analysts in NWSL and Laurie Lindsay and Jill Lloyden join myself and Jordan and we hit every single team. We already have an interview for the NWSL Challenge Cup that's going to be coming out later this week. Aubrey Kingsbury joining us from the Washington Spirit to get ready for that game as the season is just around the corner there. And as I said, we're going to cover everything CCC and MLS here at Sakawa. So thank you to all of you out there for watching

live. Thank you to all of you for listening. Thank you to you, Tom. Once again, we'll talk to you all again very, very soon.