SoccerWise - MLS Playoff Feast & Wilfred Nancy Moves On

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

After a weekend of breathtaking single elimination soccer it is time to take a second to talk soccer before turkey. Tom & David dive into everything we saw from the stunner in Vancouver to the upset in Chester. Then they preview the upcoming round of games as the conference finals are set for Saturday.

The chaos machine has lifted off early, David Goss and Tom Boger, it's holiday week, AKA we are mailing it in here at soccer-wise. We've got a big episode coming up for you. We are going to talk about all the playoff games we saw. We're going to preview the conference finals coming up in Major League Soccer. We will be talking about Wilfred Nonse, of course, and some other news going around, Tom. It's my favorite week of the year. It's Thanksgiving.

I'm in my sweet spot right now. I'm in New York. It's cold. I went outside this morning to go get egg and cheese on a roll from the bodega on the corner. Sun wasn't out. The leaves are falling. People look miserable. I was in bliss.

Yep. When it's gray outside, this is play. off weather this is this you know dude anybody can go down to miami they can go to la and they could just enjoy it and like life is good and it's and it must be cool to have warm weather all the time this is where you earn it you earn it in the fall this is playoff weather and this is where you make the best of it david goss let's uh everybody listening it won't be us because we work in sports so it's not quite the same as a normal three-day work week for uh the regular nine to fives but um everybody listening to this run out the

clock on this work week right out the clock take the knee we're going into prevent defense slow it down go to the corner two clock try and shield it fake some injuries oh no the throw in that's my I thought it was yours oh you threw the ball back to me I didn't know I had arms so I missed it let me go grab that while I grab your expense reports for the next 24 hours it is back on this one yeah it's a great time I love when people are off, even though we work through holidays. Man of the people. What a good guy. The tenor and the energy just comes down to a different notch, you know?

And that's what I, like, really, really enjoy. Like, I used to have to broadcast a lot of games on Thanksgiving because I did a lot of college basketball. And it's just, like, good vibes around. I'll be comatose at some point on Friday off a sandwich. That's going to be good. And then we'll pounce back for Saturday. I'm actually into the schedule, by the way.

Saturday evening, tonight, MLS playoffs, like, I'll need something at that point to watch, but I can still, you know, get out and run my five and a half, six miles early on Saturday to a couple weight training workout, maybe get a high-intensity class in as well, and then, you know, lay back and enjoy a little bit of a major league soccer playoffs at the end of it. With a protein shake, yeah. Do you think it better than me? Are you thinking better than me? I'm just going to overload on carbs

It is going to be a complete You're going no protein But it's just going to be this roller coaster of So every year I do the Bogart tradition of Organizing a pickup game on Thanksgiving morning And Christmas Eve morning So it'll just be a roller coaster of like

These nights, bad food Seeing family and friends And then the morning A little soccer with the friends And then Thanksgiving you just eat a thousand things it's just going to be from napping to trying to go full tilt and then napping. Tom, I'm going to throw an unfounded theory out there. Let's see how it lands.

Okay. You seem like someone who is a big Wednesday night, local bar, before Thanksgiving event. Listen, when I was, when I was a younger man, last Thanksgiving, yeah, now that I'm a father to be. Father to be. Andrew Eby can understand. Yeah. You know, you just have different priorities in life. Okay.

Oh, no. Okay. Not this year. That is one of the great events in American culture. And the best is when you go to other people's ones, like when I'd visit people in college or whatever. Little road game, silence the crowd. Just throwing out names. Like, can you believe what happened in game?

Yeah, no, I can not believe what happened to him. Did Kelsey break up with her boyfriend? Do you know that? Yeah, yeah. And I'm just throwing out grenades. Left and right and then getting out of the situation. Pointing of people. Yo, let me get another round, bro.

Yeah. Morgan tends to through a question in the chat that we've had brewing since Kickback Committee show yesterday because we're doing a five-aside for Thanksgiving food. So turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie locked. The question is the fifth member of our five-aside team. And we're between gravy and cranberry. Easily gravy. Hearing that a lot.

And you know what? Persecute me. I don't care. I'm a cranberry guy. And it's only out of the can, and it's the jelly one, and it's the high fructose corn syrup. That's the good stuff. That's the stuff that I eat. But, okay, another vote for gravy.

It seems like Morgan was a gravy as well. Susanna was a gravy as well. So it's not going well for me right now. Yeah, yeah. We've had a lot of coverage of the NWSL championship, myself in Jordan, on Sunday. How was it? It was great. Hung out with Jordan, saw Mark Anthony Kay after the game, one of our committee members, as well, saw Brianna Pinto

in the skills challenge she got robbed i'm required to state that she got robbed and she feels that way as well uh and it was awesome time it was the biggest nws l finals ever felt like as an event it felt more like the championship with the events around it and different companies doing stuff and all of that but neutral sight you know like that's why you need to have as much as i hate an all-star game, and I hate an all-star game, that should be your 10th poll event that you have the year to plan for because it's at a specified destination you could go big with. Championship should be about the atmosphere in the crowd. And like, at gaming at Audi Field, even with Washington losing, would have been one of the

best. And I know we've both experienced MLS Cups at home venues. And like, it wouldn't, you know, it wouldn't be the same at Carson this year, whoever it is, although maybe messy changes that calculus a little bit. but like it's just i remember watching them on tv i don't think i ever went to an mLS cup that was a neutral site actually my first mLS cup was columbus in 2015 when it became a home team host and i thought it was the coolest event i'd ever been to and everyone else was like oh crew stadium it's such so bad i'm like i don't know this thing is sick and since then all the atmospheres have

been like high level and elite and like the events are there so it sort of reminds you why but um but it was a big event it was really really fun to be around hanging out with bobby Warshaw a ton so I've got wild takes to throw out over the course of this show as the gravy fans come in but Tyler maybe says cranberries are their number one is the number one seed hands down nobody believes that you don't even believe that and you're a cranberry guy no I believe it it can't be a one seed I need sweet and savory together gravy doesn't provide a new thing It just provides a liquid. You know what I mean?

What? No, I don't know what you mean. It moistened things up, but it doesn't add an element. It's the same flavor profile as stuffing and turkey. Putting water on it? Oh, I'm just saying. It's not like, Tom, I'm going to choose to move on from here because there's a chance that this starts to get aggressive.

Roll up. Let's talk MLS playoffs. Let's dig into it. And let's just ask the big question out the gate as I throw my pen off the side of the table. Is Vancouver, L-AFC, the greatest playoff game in MLS? No, no. Why do we have to start this by me having to downplay the game?

Can we just talk about how great the game is? No, the MLS Cup, the Philly LASC with a bullet, is number one. And I don't think that this one, it can't be because that, that was a final. Okay, non-final then. Non-MLS Cup, playoff there, not non-cup. It's up there. Yeah, it's up there. What an unbelievable, incredible game.

I was such a first take conversation let's not talk about the game let's talk about was this actually the best Vancouver L-AFC is LeBron James one of the greatest of all time and did Thomas Mueller say it after the game or was he whispering about something else that's the debate I like this one it's debatable of Vancouver L-A-F-C is even the greatest game in this playoff run so far is that for Vancouver or L-A-FC or I'm assuming the Minnesota, Minnesota, Seattle, 3-3-8. Yeah, that probably would be it. This was unreal, and this was the game, I mean, we had set on the show last week. It was the game we were most looking forward to. 50 plus K in the crowd.

You know, stars with Mueller and Son, styles, defined styles, belief, a dream season, Vancouver trying to overcome the demons of L.A.F.C. from multiple competitions over the last few years. Steve Toronto, could it be his last game ever? Like, it had everything. And through 45 minutes, it was just Vancouver to script, open, expansive, consistent chances, that thing they do where they play through one side, the cross goes through the box, now they're on the other side, they're playing through you again, attacking

from a ton of different positions, the ball moving quickly, Brian White emerges as a starter, and maybe wasn't his true, you know, at his best self, but was still an element to, in this game, and they're up to zero on halftime, Tom, and it's like, this is the dream scenario. This is exactly what they had built for for 12 months, and it had all come to fruition. And they were playing, you know, the hits that we thought with Vancouver, except for the opening goal was just a direct long ball over the top.

It was an excellent fit. It was like, that is the smart play. Like, if they're going to try to choke off your possession, the whole point of possession is to leave space in behind. And if they drop off, then you kill them with intricate passes. but at any point the best pass is the forward pass if there's space if it's on if you're forcing it then that's not the ethos and i thought that was really well done by vancouver in that regard because we we see like possession teams that just want to live and die by the no no no we need to pass it all five yards when there's no

ability to kind of adapt and be like oh no no like that forward passes like those are the best and most dangerous teams the Columbus crew and we're going to talk about woodford noncy and celtic later but that was one of the things that i loved that i love about them that was one of the things I loved about last year's LA Galaxy team. Like, yes, they want to play the ball, but Ricky Poohs, when the ball hits his foot, if there's a diagonal on 40 yards, he's hitting it.

So it's not just possession for possession's sake, it's possession to break teams down and to exploit spaces. Vancouver showed that in this game at the beginning, and they go up 2-0 by half-time, and L.EFC, they do a lot of things really, really well. What they don't do well is coming from behind against a really good team

that knows they need to be broken down. to know at half time, I was thinking, oh, man, this might be over. I wouldn't go as far as to say, it's definitely over because of how good this L.A.F.C. team is, but my God, this script is playing out the exact opposite that L.EFC would have dreamed or hoped or anything. And then Sondiangman. Which is, as an individual special, but I think overall is the culture of L.A.F.C. Of, like, since Buhang has been there, they've got belief that they can win any game, they're going to create chance. is they're going to stay in games like they're not going to beat themselves um but sun was that

special piece that opened things up and sort of got them driving forward and then that free kick is one of the great moments in in in soccer history right it's it's like a walk off equalizing free kick there are no words to describe because anything that comes out of your mouth in that moment is not words. It's just inaudible noises, ineligible noises of, oh my God, like you're forming sounds. They're not coherent thoughts, they're not coherent words.

It is the most visceral. The most beautiful thing in professional sports is moments like that where there are no words. It's just noises and sounds that your body feels compelled to make. In that moment, Goss, did you think it's a foul?

So I didn't watch it live because I was at the NWSA final. So I went back and watched this later and I had seen the free kick. Oh, so you're the other, okay, okay, okay. So it's kind of like in that moment, because I had seen the free kick and I had seen illusions assuming what it led to,

but I didn't check the actual score. So I'm watching the game and you get to that stage of the game and you're like, where is this thing coming? Like, were people recycling a highlight from earlier in the year that I don't remember? So I was like kind of in a weird spot and not like looking at it that way. So I didn't have a strong take around it.

and then I finally got to watch the goal. Okay, so I think, I think it was, I thought that was going to be a quick yesterday. That was definitely a foul, is how I viewed it. I don't know if it was definitely a second yellow. Yeah. I would probably very slightly lean, yes, that's a second yellow, but if it was just a foul and no second yellow,

like this wouldn't be a talking point, I don't think it was one of those really, really close 50-50 calls. But still, even when Blackmag gets shown the red and you're thinking, this is from 30 yards out, there's a couple of minutes left in stoppage time this could be special but like this is more about oh no

now Vancouver will be without Blackman in the next round and my god what a moment I was in Cincinnati this weekend so I was out at the pitch it's a bar right across the street from TQL and we were watching the NWS they had the NWESL final

they had the Cincinnati Bearcats football game as well that didn't go super well because it was local but so I wanted to go to a place that I knew MLS would be on obviously there'd be soccer people in there and the NWZL final was on which was cool to see and this game it the people went insane just complete limbs nobody in that bar is rooting for LAFC I'll take the back there was one person in the bar there was somebody somebody's fiance who was an LACC fan everybody else were just neutrals that were like pure limbs

and and that is the mark of a game that like again I don't know how many people came specifically there to watch this game or they were just there everybody went like nuts and I lost for words On the blackman yellow card It's a bad tackle It's not an offensive tackle It's not violent But like he steps forward with force

Gets none of the ball And takes him out And I am a proponent Of Penalizing players For killing attacking play For the sake of killing attacking play Like I think not enough cards are given

When people drag people back That are in transition In their own defensive half to just kill the play early. And I think that, and I think this came up recently, right? When you follow that and do it again, you could get two yellow cards. Like, I don't see why not. So I'm in favor of those being made.

I don't know if you're shifting that perception or that philosophy in the 93rd minute. So that's the thing, like, context does matter. So, like, that's why, like, I think if that's the 42nd minute, he's not on yellow, they give a yellow. We don't think about it. It's just, right? But it's in that moment, in that stage of the game. yeah so but even again like the debate about whether it was or was like again yeah son

scores a exquisite free kick in the top corner in the 95th minute um to to rescue or at that point at least extend oafc season when they were on the brink when they they had chances but before the final whistle it's not like they were creating things left right and center um in regulation right right yeah yeah we'll talk about like extra time was a whole different beast particularly given those the context there but that was it's not as if l a fc were creating a bunch of moments before that free kick and that free kick is such a low quality chance given where it is and where it's from and i've seen some like tottenham fans like laughing like you know sun scored more free kicks with lafc than he hit then he did this like entire like spurs career um it's what a special

player he's injected with confidence right now and he's loving life um elevating in a moment i mean him and buonga are going to combine for 125 goals next year like it is going to be outrageous to hit this quickly this fast as a duo to fit together the way they do and obviously a coaching change coming up we'll talk about that in a moment but you just like walk away from this season it's like the got theorem version for them is breaking records next year so it's going to be and like takeaway they don't get any better just son plays a full season yeah it's just going to be absolutely ridiculous um what they're capable of doing so then they go into extra time up you know up a man with blackman off the field um halbuni comes on howbuni ends up tearing his ACL

as our understanding so they play lafc plays up 11 to 10 for a large stretch of 11 to 10 for 5 minutes 11 to 9 for like 25 and it was bombarding from lafc everywhere that vanc turn there was an lFC player popping up making a quick pass and one of the unreal moments i've ever seen LAFC hits the post on the cross then Buong on the far post tries to put it back in he hits the outside of the post which bounces back out into the box and then I don't know who hit it that hit the crossbar on the third chance but they end up hearing that was Buonga again to Bwanga then pop back out and get back on the ball yeah yeah yeah so and they hit the crossbar on the third chance all in the same eight seconds.

Like it was an unreal segment of time. That was like, I'm pulling it up just because there's so many things in this game. I'm fairly certain that was stoppage time of extra time. Of the first half of it. I don't think the game ended on that. I'm pulling up the highlights now because, again, I'm going a little bit crazy on. So many things happened. Yeah, LAFC was getting whatever they wanted.

What, it was Jaden Nelson playing sort of up top alone. got zero touches, Vancouver had zero chances, no outlet. It was everyone defending, and you could see what it meant. Like, they were making saves and blocks, and said Burrhalters turned into the crowd, screaming, cheering them on, the crowds behind them, yes? Sorry, my recollection was correct, and I got scared by your confidence. That was the 120 second minute was when they hit the triple post gross bar. Yeah, and then coming out of that, then the whistle blows, crowd goes nuts,

You know, the Vancouver players are screaming with the crowd. I'm trying to figure out rules because who's allowed to shoot. Because, well, no, mainly who's allowed to shoot in that scenario is the big one. Because there are 11 players on the field for L.A.F.C. And nine for Vancouver. So at some point, is that, I think, is that a rule? I think what they said was I'm pretty sure two players wouldn't have shot for LAFC if they'd gotten that far. Okay.

So this came up in the last round. when um when in when uh yeah in seattle minnesota yeah i thought that he just went ahead of a of a field player well he technically did but but i who didn't take care right yeah yeah because minnesota yeah i thought i thought i thought dain went ahead so i didn't know that they that they well dain can shoot whatever he wants no no no so dain so dain goes went 10 or whatever the number was and thomas then shot after and missed yeah i thought that they just preferred him to another player i didn't know that like somebody had to drop out okay but i think they still chose thomas i think but that hypothetically if they went on it would have gone back around to one i'm not 100%

short i remember an afcon game a long time ago where one team had 11 players shoot and the other team went back to one and had a guy reshoot earlier i had multiple reps i could have asked this to over the last three days i've talked about this for three days and chose not to ask any of them ignorance is bliss baby in our defense one it didn't get to that stage of the shootout and but i'm pretty sure if you were deciding to ask referees about a hypothetical that didn't happen rather than talking about the sun everything else in this game i'm pretty sure you could see the ref mouthing to steve trondola when they cut to him and he was talking about the number two and i'm pretty sure it was saying pick two players who aren't going to shoot and if we get through nine you would

restart with your first shooter either way maybe he was the same piece brother Yeah, I think he was probably saying... Thank you for the courtesy. Mark Delgado. I didn't deserve that. I would not let him shoot because that guy's going to put it over the goal. Maybe one of the worst penalty kicks I've ever seen. That was tough, man.

Vancouver comes out. They score. Sun hits the inside of the post as tight a miss as you could possibly get. And like, it just felt like the crowd rose and rose and rose as this shootout happened. And Vancouver are able to survive. They get through. And it was just awesome. Yeah, it was one of those things like Vancouver, again, when they go down in nine, first of all, 10 men, they were probably thinking, let's just hold out for pens at this stage.

But nine men in particular, getting to penalties is a win because you go from a very, very small chance of winning to, at the very least something around 50, 50. And Sun was the first pen. And Taco Oka goes the wrong way. And Sun, even if Taco Oka went the right way, if that was six inches in, like, he has no chance. Yeah, it's untouchable. right he put a lot of pace behind it hit the inside of the post and didn't go in that was one of those where you're like oh man like is this is this fate is this wow like you think about their best player missing a pen on the first one the guy who had that incredible moment and then all of a sudden they're they're playing from behind at that stage that you just feel like wow like it must be Vancouver said Burrhalter of course bang in set pieces anything from a from a set point of view is going in for set Burrhalter so he sets the tone for his team And for LAFC, you know, I made a joke that Mark Delgado Miss is one of the worst that I've ever seen. It's like a half Panenka that blasts over the crossbar.

And you're losing a shootout, you lose in a shootout. Like I think for LAFC, they come back from two zero down. They put their foot on the gas up a man or up to, try to get the goal. And then they lose. And Vancouver are going through the next round. They exercise the demons. The atmosphere is epic. They sort of push the pressure to San Diego.

in Minnesota, who we'll talk about in a moment, and this is a special team. Like, they have persevered through incredible things this season. They have competed on multiple fronts in ways we've never seen with the success level that they've done it at, and they have changed over and over. Ralph Pryso is the starting centerback for this team. He might be the 1A going into the conference finals. Emmanuel Sabi has come on as the season has gone along. Thomas Mueller's come into the team.

They've had to rotate at center forward. They've rotated at left back. Same on a coupé's been out pretty much the entire year. Like, they have persevered through a lot of stuff. They've changed the way they played at times. They're just getting Ryan Gould back. But the moment the game turns on, it's Vancouver identity. It's their DNA on the field.

And it's a credit to that, I think, that they're able to get to this point of this season. exactly the again what jester sworenton has done with this team the double pivot of and jubas and sebastian burralter is where everything has been borne out of this team we can name 15 players who i think have been awesome for this team what they do better than anybody else it all starts from the engine room

with those two players and then thomas muller for the second half this season and pedro vete for the first half of the season it is that trio that is what has gotten this team to where they are, and they underpin and typify what Jasper Sorensen wants from the game model, how he wants this team to play, and what are the most important characteristics, qualities, and pillars of this team. For them to be able to not sacrifice those pillars, those ideals, when I'm trying, off the top of my head, so Ranko Vesselinovich, who was,

we had him. You would probably been in the conversation for Defender of the Year. So he's out. They signed a couple centerbacks. And I don't know, or a couple of them injured. So Pupay hasn't played. No, like one of the centerbacks they signed this summer is injured, and it's kind of escaping me for a second.

Ralph Pryso goes from he's never played centerback to, all right. He's not even playing center mid for the last two years of his career. Right. Yeah, like he has been a bit part player for the last couple years, even in his first year in Vancouver. And he was a guy that was in Colorado. And we've liked him for a long time, a talented kid from the Toronto Academy.

We've been waiting for him to have his moment, have his chances and it just hasn't come and it was one of those things where you think all right maybe it just kind of won't ever happen and for it to happen in this team in a different position in this way again you look up and down this team at a Cube

that's a tan player that was one of the like that's one of the more expensive leftbacks in terms of salary cap hits in the league I think he was a TP when he originally came right was that just rich he was oh yeah he was he was he was a fake DP right right but but still even okay so you're missing that player that shows the extent

But, like, I don't think that people have made it out to be that, like, they go, oh, like, oh, he's out, like, whatever, like, kind of, because he hasn't made an impact on this team as, as expected. That's a large salary cap hold. Most teams, if you're missing these kind of people, again, if they lost, we would have been like, what an incredible season. If only they were healthy and they would have been fair excuses. They have overcome every obstacle in front of them. The only one, and it wasn't a do-or-die obstacle, it was Decision Day against Dallas. where they were missing five or six starters and they go down a man early

and they were still the better team in that game. And that ends up being the difference why this next game is in San Diego and not in Vancouver. That's the only time that, like, and the Champions Cup final, the only two hurdles that they didn't clear. And they've had about 75 hurdles

that I'm going to keep repeating myself. Starts with the owners put the team up for sale before the season started when they didn't have a coach and it looked like, well, the BC place lease ends in a year, they're going to move yeah that's how the season started i can't say it enough yeah um now don's playing hardball with real estate agents and city city ordinances and whatever to be fair at least he

went into like he's at least doing the pressure on keeping like rather than i don't know i think build your stadium out of your own pocket or shut up no no no my favorite my favorite was you know we would just take over bc places like oh yeah yeah here you go for no money thank you yeah oh you want a free building that we all built? Cool. I would like a free soccer team. So if we're doing it both ways. Again, it's a low bar to clear, but I'm trying to be fair. There's, um, when the Montreal Expos ended up moving, um, the president of operations

was a guy named David Samson who works on the Dan Lebertard show now. I think he's really awesome. And he's talked about his, um, awesome in terms of his insight. I want to be clear for people who listen to that show. Um, he's, I like him though. He's taken, he's talked really. honestly about i he goes when we were putting pressure on them to like build a stadium i would show up in like at a baseball i would show up somewhere in a cowboy hat of like i might we might

move the team here to texas or we might do this like yeah the bare minimum at least don garber is going there saying we want to we want a solution here yeah um take away all of that so for vancouver the trials and tribulations do not end they will go on the road as we know to san diego in the next round tristan blackman who just returned from injury will be uh suspended yep we now know how booney tore's acl so he will not be an option for this team thomas spieler was taken off in this game i think he's okay take johnson did not appear in this game played 45 minutes against dallas and across the two games yeah wasn't up wasn't up for it was kind of the wording we got back so there are like huge question marks of how this vancouver team

moves forward. My guess is Matias Laborta plays centerback in the next game from the first kick and whether it's an Emanuel Sabie or Jaden Nelson, it's probably Ali Ahmed at left back if Tate Johnson can't go and then you bring Jayden Nelson into the starting lineup unless Ryan Gould is capable of going from the start and then we saw him finish at wingback because they were just trying to defend. I'd assume Gould comes into the starting lineup and then that's, that's sort of the swing and Ali Ahmed pushes a little bit deeper. But the core of this team will still be there, which is Seb Burrhalter and Kubas and Mueller and whoever else

in that central area that dominate the game. And then Sabi and Ocampo. And the, you know, I think we've said this already, but like the thing with Sabi and what they've gotten and Jane Nelson is like, a lot of MLS teams have tried this, which is a player that you thought had potential, went to Europe, didn't really work out. can we resurrect their career and be the right spot for them?

And it's worked in places. Sebastian LeJet had a long time ago. Like it's worked with other guys, Mike Grella, like it's worked with other guys, but we rarely see it hit and to have it hit twice with the same team, you could argue even more than twice

with maybe some of the other players in this group. It's just really, really impressive what they've been able to accomplish. Let's move on because we've got a lot to talk about. Yeah, yeah. We correctly went long on that game. Yes. Steve Duranlo, it was his last game ever for L-AFC.

So he finishes his head coaching career for the club. He won MLS Cup in his first year with the club and the shield in the double. And then proceeded to make final after final. And I think sort of what you see in the second half of this game is like go into every game with a belief that they could win. There are, I saw the happy foot, sad foot pod. I think of the next day it was congratulations. on no more dolo-out conversations. It hasn't been straightforward with him,

but you could understand where the success came from and why Mokto Santos is the clubhouse leader to be the replacement because not a lot is going wrong. Exactly, but this also served as a microcosm for that conversation that people often have around Steve Frundlow of, like, all right, so they ended up losing a penalty, so it could have went either way or, you know, some of those posts and an extra time,

but it's the frustration that this kind of team needed a one of the best moments at the time in league history, it felt like, when Sanjong Min scores that incredible free kick. Why was the club down to know? Why weren't they taking the game to Vancouver? Why is Vancouver playing the way Vancouver is? But LFC can't replicate that with a much larger budget and much higher expectations just generally. So it was a neat microcosm of the good and the bad with team from. Again, they're in a conference that was.

was a conference semifinal. Again, zero disrespect to San Diego and Minnesota. A lot of people telling me that, like, they thought this was a de facto conference final. Weird shit happens in one-off playoff games, just to ask the Philadelphia Union, because a lot of those same people who told me that they thought this was a conference final,

essentially, probably all thought Philadelphia are going through. I understand all of that. So he still gets very deep into a knockout competition, and then you're asking questions of, well, why weren't you taking the game? game to them earlier and it it's difficult to really critique the overall picture of this team and of the success and everything they've done but they're always leaving you wanting a little bit more and that was the story of his last game as the club set coach so it will be potentially the last

home game of the season for vancouver they will head on to the road to san diego for this next matchup as san diego knocked off minnesota late last night um that came ending around 12 p m eastern time and um san diego outlasting minnesota it was a minnesota game through and through it was a field that seemed to play worse than it looked and looked looked as bad as a field as we have seen stated by their own team captain who said the field was garbage uh to andrew we be in the post game hit on the field two college football games in eight days the last one being two days ago you could see and it's what we always see with this which is the sidelines are actually the worst part because that's where the players all stand for the whole game and it was like

they were brown patches throughout and I think for san diego what really hurt was the game played slow like it just looked like they couldn't water the field in a way that got the ball moving and it didn't run true and so it slowed down their past passing ability. It slowed down their ability to move the game the way they wanted to. And it allowed Minnesota to stay in front of the ball a lot. And it played to Minnesota's strengths. Minnesota almost took advantage.

Had a ball cleared off the line. You can argue they had the better looks up until the goal. And they know who they are. And they stepped into this game once again playing that exact way. Talking about the field, it looked like a 2007 MLS play a cup playoff game. Like, that's what it looks like. Andy Dorman ain't coming through that door

Christian Gomez isn't walking through that door Bobby Boswell's not walking through that door Chris Corb is not walking through that door I try to think of a new team Andrews Byer or whatever his name is the New Zealand center back for the Red Cross

Well done Well done Exactly and like Last year there was an NW I forget it was I believe it was a playoff game if not someone corrected me thank you Mike I love our fans that was in the live chat for people this on our podcast we got a name correction there from goss's rant um but so goss last year uh NWSL I believe was a playoff game if not the final it was decision day which ended up not counting and they literally moved the game

to the opponent's stadium because the field wasn't good enough yeah and then that was before San Diego FC ever played a game. Honestly, I think the miracle is that it didn't pop up till now. Like, because last year, the season, the field was a mess the whole season for San Diego. And adding a third team, it was like, okay, this is, this is going to be a train wreck. And it's been fine until this, this game. Yeah, we could, we could look at it positively or, or I'm going to look at it critique. Again, when the captain, what was the direct was something about like the field was dead?

Something, is that what he said? Destroyed, maybe. Just, again, this is their captain, one of their two best players, two three best players, and I appreciate that he didn't hold that back. I appreciate that he was just super honest. Anyway, so this game, Goss, played out in some ways how we expected. It was a lot of San Diego on the ball. It was a lot of Minnesota dropping off.

And it's like my defining moment of the game was Tverskov picking up the ball between the centerbacks, looking up, watching Minnesota drop, and then him just jogging. vote with the ball until they were in the final third he put its foot on it and then they'd play they didn't create a ton of chances they really didn't minnesota did very very well they also attacked decently they found a lot of moments in transition that they it was like the seattle game was just so weird right um it was set pieces and there's some transition but i never felt like they were threatening in transition yet they still anytime that the ball went out for throwing or a corner kick or a free kick felt like they

were going to score because that that was how they were playing. But in this game, there were several really dangerous moments in transition as well as the set pieces. But Robin Ludd on that ball that you're talking, it's nil-nil. He chopped off of Monodua after he gets in to get to his favorite

left foot. Ian Pilcher, a fantastic sliding, sprinting back to the goal line saves off the line after Robin Ludd beat Sissin Diego. And then he saved it. And as he's like his hands are near the ball like on the ground if he doesn't touch the ball again it's going to roll in yeah and he's trying to figure out the math of like well my hands are down if it hits

my hands as a penalty um if i go put my hands away i'm not going to be able to reshuffle my body to block it and he kind of like just moved his knee at it and that was an well it's an excellent play kelvin yoboa got in behind one or two times one of them he took a heavy touch and cisternaego made a very nice play. And it's unfair to think of because I think Minnesota did the right thing by selling Tani Olosei to Villarreal.

If Tani Olosei is in this game, I think they at least go out extra time. Yeah. And again, San Diego didn't create as many clear-cut chances as I would expect from this team, how good they are attacking. And their goal comes from a back-heel assist

from Corey Baird, a player who was waived by FC Cincinnati and picked up for nothing from San Diego. And Amal Palgrino was picked up for nothing from San Jose. And Chuky Lozano, a $12 million transfer fee, one of the highest in league history. And their highest paid player, one of the highest paid players in the league, is on the bench. And it's Corey Baird flicking it to Andres Dreyer. And when we talk about poetic moments, that being the goal, pretty poetic for how special

the San Diego team is. It's funny. Someone in the chat brought up Laborta's goal line clear. on that sun goal he doubled did it when he was laying on the ground similar to pilcher he just couldn't keep it out yeah but it's set sun up yeah where you're like thinking the only thing you could do is lay your head on the ball and see if you can get like the whistle blown for killing play but then it becomes i think an indirect free kick on the line um or like a goal like in hockey went like us just put it under you but this san diego this san diego roster build it's it change i think

it will change the conversation of how you build rosters in major league soccer of what is key to successful teams like all of this to me different than the way st louis was two years ago all of this to me is something that reshifts mLS because they had two dPs one hasn't been on the field in the playoffs the backline is two draft picks an academy kid loan from a team as you know another team in california the front line is the newcomer of the year and then second place in MVP and two retreads who their teams who are both out of the playoffs didn't want anymore in the attack but it was about fitting the identity it is about the DNA of the team the style of soccer and like that was the number one attribute and that isn't just a pressing attribute

this is a conversation we've only ever had really about pressing in mLS about red bull about st louis about philadelphia that's where it's like oh you can overcompensate and maybe they're not the most skilled and maybe they don't fit every team but they fit your team in san diego zagged the other way they didn't overspend they didn't get panicked to overspend early but they made pickups in the middle of the season to add to that, right? Like Pellegrino and Baird, if they're not on this team, maybe there's not enough resources for them to get over the line in this game. And I just think when we digest this San Diego season, wherever it ends now,

it's a Western Conference Finals appearance and you won the West in your expansion year, playing the soccer you play. I know it's loser mentality stuff for me because it always is. It's already a successful season for this team. It's what I put on Blue Sky last night. It already was before L.A.F.C. too. like gin yeah before lafc like if they lost lefc like this that was my feeling i was talking about st nago i'm saying that before the game against lefc if they lost it's still a fantastic season

and you're saying if they're not playing lfc they're playing vancouver and they played they just like i'm sorry i met i met before the last round i'm i'm i butchered that a little bit but my point sorry my point was if they lost against minnesota i'm sorry i came off on that pretty strong too. Elite stuff right now. If they lost the last, like, I think we were joking that if they won the first round, that in and of itself

was the best expansion season. Yeah. Right, because you would have done better than St. Louis. Yeah, it's just special. And this game was brutal to watch. Like, Minnesota has chosen identity, they're good at it. It fits what they do. It is not enjoyable to watch from afar.

it didn't but they didn't allow San Diego to play but what happened was if you're going to play in your goalkeeper's lap you can't make mistakes in the defensive third you don't get opportunities to and for all the magic of what Corey Barrett did it was a mental mistake Minnesota played that as if it was going out

no one closed no one shielded no one was around their man both for Baird and for Dreyer and it's a pile driver of a shot from dryer to finish it It's a perfect backheel from Baird, but Minnesota turns off for a half second, and you're not afforded that luxury if you're going to play the whole game in your defensive third, and they weren't good enough at what they chose to do in the end in this game to get over the line and San Diego is able to do it, and they'll be hosting the Western Conference finals against this Vancouver team. So for these two squads, they have played, I don't know where I put this up.

But they play in the regular season, and it was, I think, a super entertaining game was what I had looked up. Yes. They're both going to play the way they play. So what do you make of this matchup? I think that both of these teams are super deserving to be where they are right now.

But particularly after the way the game went for San Diego against Minnesota, Vancouver won't be the same defensively as Minnesota are, but Minnesota were able to play through San Diego a little bit more than I expected. So when you... It felt gapy in transition. And there was like...

Minnesota had like a decent number of like combination sequences where then they sprung forward, which we would assume with Minnesota it's more of a direct play, but it was a couple like quick passes and then the longer ball. Vancouver, that's how they play. Like all they want to do is get on the ball, quick combinations and then when the killer ball is there

they play it, they hit it and San Diego do the same thing as well. I think Vancouver are going to find those gaps and they're going to find them much more because they're going to have the ball more and there's going to be more opportunities for that. So San Diego's defensive unit is going to be tested in a much different way

than they were in this game. Madreux, the way that he can defend space, the way that he can track runners and keep up with literally just about every forward in this league, it's going to be a different test against Vancouver, the way that they move

and the way that they do intricate passing rather than, okay, like, Kelvin Yobo is going to check him and he's going to try to body you and hold the ball or then he's going to try to spin in and behind. Like there wasn't a lot of get Kelvin Yuboa the ball to his feet and face up. Like it's going to be Thomas Mueller and Brian White going everywhere, moving wherever they can,

whenever they want at the right times, and that is a different challenge to centerbacks than, again, I don't think Yobo was particularly good in this playoff run. I don't think he was particularly good. really good yesterday. He still poses a threat because you have to respect the ball in behind. You have to respect when he is checking because he is a good player. But Mueller and White and then the wingers are going to be just so much of a different challenge than Minnesota posed.

I don't trust either team to keep a clean sheet, to be frank. No. So it's about who cracks harder and which attacking units take the most of those chances because there's going to be a ton of chances were both teams because these are two of the best attacking teams in league. 5-3 was the game that I was thinking of in June. I can't find another matchup. I can't believe they only played ones in the same conference this year, but also Major League Soccer is broken. I'm broken.

So it's a possibility. One-one in July. That's what I knew there was one where I was hyped up about it and then I was a little bit under well. The 5-3 was first. Yeah. The 5-3 was the first game. San Diego came out.

They scored two and two. minutes from eloski had four goals in a cumulative 12 minute spans of span of soccer he will be available on saturday because he is not playing for anyone else at that point and then there was two goals in the 90th minute plus one for each team that pushed it to five three but they're both going to come out and play and do your point it's going to be about who could put their chances away who could be dangerous with the opportunities that they that they get and then in the moments that you're not in it who can keep the game in front of them you know the the weaknesses at centerback for this vancouver team you worry about them getting pulled out of position but there's not a lot of

traditional they're going to lose battles and physical battles to a center forward that's not corey baird um right really anyone else that's going to go fill that space so maybe this is a good one for that to happen because the attributes we want most are pre-so driving with the ball into midfield at times the board is passing his flexibility to fill space out wide and be able to defend one view one out wide if he has to fill in for Eddie or Ocampo and go up against an Amal Pellegrino or Luca Bombino. This is going to be fun.

Like, often in these moments, we're so excited for the matchups because of what we saw all season and then it doesn't deliver. These teams have delivered every moment in the playoffs so far. And so there's no expectation that it will be any different in this one. Do you have a pick? I'm going to go with Vancouver

I'm going to lean Vancouver because I think that they will cause more problems to San Diego than their previous opponents in this playoffs and that is not a critique or a doubt of San Diego it is much more a vote in the column of confidence for Vancouver I feel the same way so I'm going Vancouver as well but I thought Max Brando touched on it very well in the broadcast

of if San Diego goes to final if San Diego wins if they host a final it pushes you in a space for a really long time in the city that has never had this like if San Diego FC wins a championship in its year one if you think about like what

the Las Vegas golden nights are like it's Las Vegas and hockey no one cares but they didn't have a team the team came and won instantly and people are diehards for the rest of their life because of that especially a certain generation that grows up into it

and San Diego FC maybe has already done enough by hosting a Western Conference finals to get there, but I have zero doubt that if they host the final or win the championship, that it will solidify them and they've got all of this like capital to work off of going forward. Let's go to the Eastern Conference. You were at one of these games in Cincinnati for that game and of course the unbelievable upset NYCFC over Philadelphia. We went through the laundry list of players that were missing going into this game and how shocked we'd be if NYCFC were able to take care of business and they did so little do we know about major league soccer i think i word

for word said i know better than to be shocked by anything in mLS because it's mLS we've been around but i will be shocked if n y c fc of z wind it's just i i i set my i buried my own grave there like i i i opened the ground for me to go walk in and say a dumb thing and then push the dirt over me you nobody else had to do it. What NYCFC were able to do without their best and most consistent attacker because there's an argument that

Fernandez is better now, but Alonza Martinez is the heart and soul going through the middle. They don't have a natural center for him to replace him. More importantly, they were without their top three central midfielers against a Philadelphia Union team that absolutely cannibalizes you through the center of the field with their

transition with their constant pressure with their special players through the middle of the field that is where they are at their best and why cfc goes into philly and they win one no maxi morales he's 38 you could tell me he's 31 and i believe you what an incredible legend of this club one of the best players of the last decade in this league dials back the clock scores the goal he had his shithowsery dialed up to an 11 all game it was maxi going down all of the time set in the tone for the rest of the boys. I've got some friends, just like fans who were friends who were just texting me during the game, upset at all of the times that Maxi Morales and other attackers were lingering on the ground

to slow down the game, to kill down the game. Matt Fries, former Philadelphia Union goalkeeper, who was blocked by Andre Blake. Philly made the, like, Andre Blake's one of the best goalkeepers in the league. That's a position where you can't have two of them. Matt Fries pushed to leave as he should have to give himself a chance for his career. Philadelphia, credit to them for letting him go. Maybe there's an argument that you try to send him west, but they did right by their guy and Matt Freeze,

and now Matt Freeze comes back and he has a man-of-match performance. If they had sent him west, he would have come off the bench in MLS cop and beaten them in a shootout. I saw all of the Philly memes and jiffs about just former cold keepers. Yeah. It's tough for this Philadelphia team. Obviously, we touched on. on the last show, the Guardian article about Ernst Tanner, put on administrative leave,

no update since then. So anything we learn, we'll talk about on this show. But that clearly set a tenor in the building, I think, and around the team. The biggest thing was Matt Freeze to me in this game. Six big chances for this Philadelphia team, six. And over two XG, and they get shut out at home. The two backposts from Westfield, a new. another one on the back post as well he comes out he's big he reads the game he's making huge

saves it was it was like a you know he's been good for two years now yes this is a defining game performance from him and to do it now after you've established yourself as the guy to lose your job at the national team like it's only going up for him and it was a huge moment for him because he hadn't had one of these, you know, Sean Johns had one, and Steph Fry's had one, and Andre Blake's had one of like, oh, yeah, this best goalkeeper in the league.

Freeze has just been really good and consistent for a while, and this was your elevated moment. The goal is crazy, because it's a Philly moment. Philly jumps a soft pass, and they're in the press, and they're in transition. And then the turnover happens, and it's so fluid from Tavon Gray, and the move happened so fast.

It's a gorgeous goal. from NYCFC and you just felt the air come out of the building the moment that ball hits the back of the net of like, oh, this could happen. And it was like the first time anyone had thought, oh, they might lose. And it's the 27th minute. And I don't know if this was the minority opinion or the majority, but I was like, this might like, oh my God, like Philly have big, big pressure to even score a goal because you know what NYCFC is going to do now in terms of dropping off and dropping deep.

and Matt Freeze is really good this offensive unit is really good Tiago Martins in addition to just being a really quality centerback dude he's mean he's nasty like he's got an edge to him and I really like that

there's like you can see like he doesn't he's not dirty but like he's always as physical as he can be and in the age where we talk about rightfully so again somebody like Madreux and this is more of a positive thing

about we talk about the way that he dribbles out of the back the way that he passes he's a defense of midfielder and college converted to centerback. And the reason why he's going to be sold to a Champions League level club for probably $7 to $10 million at some point in the very near future is all of those qualities.

Yeah. And then we're looking at Tiago Martins and it's like, that's just a mean prick who's going to make everything difficult for you. And he's good on the ball, right? Like that is not to just paint him as some donkey who's just going to kick you and shoulder you. No, no, no. He's good at that, but he's also, my God, what a nightmare.

I was, again, I was pleasure of being pitch-side, like pitch level, watching the Charlotte NYCFC game. Dude, any time, like, there was a goal kick or a long ball in like the middle third of the field. Edont-Clamati did well, I thought, in the final third. In the middle third, any duel that was technically a 50-50, I would have bet my mortgage that Tiago Martin was coming away with it every time. That was like the vice grip he had there.

And the responsibility in this game is you're playing that position behind an 18-year-old in Johnny Shore and Kevin freaking O'Toole. And it's just like MLS to the max. And Philly can't say anything on their side. Like they've been throwing guys at, you know, Frankie Westfield's been playing, started a playoff game at an attacking midfield position.

And they went and won that game. Well, that's cute. That's cute when you're winning. It's less cute when you're losing. And it's Frankie Westwood at the back post for the best chance. And Fred Wyss-C., they had no choice, right? Andres Pereira broke his leg, Alonzo Martinez.

Tinez tore his ACL. They've already had some injuries. And then they had, wow, Aiden. I cannot remember his last name because I just talked to someone in a meeting yesterday. Oh, Neil. I was kept wanting to say O'Connell. Oh, too.

Yeah. Aidan O'Connell, what is he, the third string quarterback for the Raiders? Potentially. Really strong career at Fresno, though. Big performance at the Bulldogs. That's good program. They got a good head whistle over there. yeah so this was for n ycfc this has sort of been their playoff nature when they are the low seed

with no expectations they put together these grit performances they've done it to philadelphia before they were you know they did it to the revs when the revs set the points record um on their way to an mLS cup run in 2021 and now it's pascal yanson's team and it's it's different but maxima ralus is still that dna in the middle of all of it of like okay if we can just get around the game for segments of time and control our segments of play, we can survive the rest of this. And, you know, Sean John and Collins and, um, we're the, we're the, we're the base of that back then. And you're talking about it now with freeze and Tiago Martins and Raul Gustavo and Justin Hack, who's been unbelievable for this team at the base of it. And credit to

Yanson that rather than pull Hack out of that centerback spot and push him into midfield, where he came up, he said, no, let's keep this strength. And, then we'll figure it out in front of that and they did when i saw when i saw the lineup i just assumed he's like oh he did move hack into the yeah me too i watched 20 minutes being like yeah kevin hotel is playing left way back and then i'm like what am i watching so no man let's let's give pasckel jansen his flowers i think he's been really really good this season um it's not it's not an easy thing to walk in mLS without really any experience and the people i've talked to around the club they kind of rave about what he's like i really really question this team like late

spring early summer it's like hey we're not seeing anything like hey i thought this is supposed to be the guy that was going to get the most out of some of the younger players uh oheda and hollian fernandez they're not really stepping forward yeah hana's wolf is okay but if honus wolf is like driving your attack and and are we just going to rely on a 38 year old maximum where else that's the answer like come on it has to be something more creative um more so on the squad building side, then on the Pascoe Jansen side, he's been awesome, man. And to your point of his decision-making and what he did in this playoff run in general, but particularly in this game against Philadelphia Union,

there was no right answer. And he found the best solution. And the team, while they gave up more possession than maybe they normally do, and particularly with the game states and the lack of first string 11 around, like they kind of defended into a shell more than he would have wanted, they were still trying to be themselves at the most part and I think he's just been really, really good

and listen, sources told me when the club were making the decision to move on from Nick Cushing, it was a fight. City football group loves Nick Cushing. City football group overlords did not sanction the firing of him. I don't know if they had Pascoe Jansen

I don't know if part of the conversation was this is who we're going to get. I just know moving on from that pushin was a big fight right David Lee was a sporting director my understanding of the situation was he had to fight it for it and then they acquiesced by saying okay fine if you're wrong about this you're going to lose your job too okay and he said okay and Pascoe Jansen comes in and he's awesome and this team does not come anywhere near what they have done this season if Nick Cushing is the head coach and not Pascal Jensen.

Yeah. And they move on now to a conference final. I know I did my U.S. soccer podcast with Ali Bedoya yesterday, was injured, so didn't get on the field, and was still in a state of shock coming out of this one for Philly. And I think the main point was they didn't feel like they played their best game. And so to leave it on the field in that way, even with the chances they created, right, the Oloski shot laid on,

that freeze makes the unbelievable diving. saves on all the chances they still they never really hit the the full gear for the philadelphia union i think that will be a really frustrating taste in their mouth for a home playoff game to lose on and once again like i think this is the rivalry for these two teams you have played too many big games it's organic you have played too many big games don't throw the philly stuff in with dc and new york or the raves or whatever like to me this is the game between those two teams and obviously Hudson River Derby for NYCFC and it's been a blast every time they get on the field and now they will be heading to Miami for the weekend. I won't be there because

I'm in New York. I went in the other direction. There could only be so much, you know, between me and Justin Hack, there could only be so much New York energy in one city. So we have to swap places for this one. You were in Cincinnati for this game. Tom, what was the vibes what was the experience oh man um first of all thank you very much at all the kind people in cincinnati who i ran into i enjoyed my time in the city i enjoyed um i got to go to the training facility i got to go to the training facility on saturday after i landed it's gorgeous man whoever i'm assuming that cincinnati is going to be a base site for somebody at the world cup yeah whoever's there hopefully they get a big team because

players are going to go there and be blown away um it's unbelievable and they're already thinking about okay what's next what are we going to do next like do we need more space what do we need to upgrade so that is something to be really really excited about for cncy fans because we're going to get to the sad parts very very soon uh tql stadium is is awesome the crowd atmosphere is great i anytime that i saw somebody before the game or the night before how you feel about tomorrow how you feeling about the game coming up most people were like i don't know and like the most the most polite trying to not be pessimistic and not we're all of them there was this underpinning of yeah we're really worried yeah um Cincinnati goes to the game

and they start out thought they were the better team for 10 to 15 minutes there was a moment on on their attacking left side where they got in behind Wyngott. Wine gone, I thought if they were going to have joy going forward, if it wasn't going to come from Evander and Denke, spoil alert, God, it wasn't going to come from either one of those players.

It was going to come from attacking Weingan. Because Ian Frey picked up a little knock and couldn't go. And there was that moment. There was another moment where Echinique got in behind. And from there on out, maybe 15 minutes in.

Yeah. My God, this was into Miami dominance, Alino Messi dominance. They end up winning 4-0. Messi scores the opening goal and then assist the next three. And all three of the assists were like unbelievable inch perfect passes or the one that wasn't a throughball was the correct timing and the correct body shape that freed up a first-time finish. I think that was Silvetti.

It was Savetti-Rayende. this game was all Miami all Miami from there and out and it went from a raucous crowd to complete silence by the 60th minute so I don't know what to say I don't know how messy gets unmarked like I understand the flow and speed of the game I understand what's happening but like what is first on the I get gosh I get it I get it I get it I get it I get it I get it everybody around Barcelona would have said that for two decades

people in France would have said that about PSG we say it in MLS it's easy to say at the end moment of that watch there was

a part of those replays there was a camera that was just following Messi and was kind of from behind Pavel Buka and Hadebe but definitely Bucca

tried to front him because Messi made a hard angle towards the front post and then as he's planting his foot it's like I think more credit to Sovetti on this

I agree with you Sovetti brings the run but there has to be a moment where the understanding is I'm not going to worry about Sylvedi number one I get it. It's happening fast There's a lot going on

Well sovetti is loading his leg shaping that he's crossing the ball as Messi is darting for the front post and how many times do we see okay I'm going to play it to the front post as Messi's making his move to the back stick and he shakes two defenders. That ball is like the intelligence from Solvedi

and the way that he's already on the same page with Messi. Sovetti has been such an A-plus signing, such an A-plus signing. What a player. I think we are putting the cart before the horse a little bit here because we haven't talked about the reason he's starting is Javier Machirano had the Grande Juevos to drop Louis Suarez from the starting lineup.

I spoke to somebody in Cincinnati, a serious person around the club the day before I even said it half jokingly said do you think Swarers isn't going to say what do you think and the word for word that I got back was no fucking chance that he's not starting and Mancerano did it

I heard that there was a pregame interview in which that was the tenor of how that went that the assumption from people around you know the broadcast was obviously he's starting right yeah actually no he's not the only thing I will say on this

is whether it was Javier Maserano who chose not to start Suarez or not and who makes these decisions and who has the control and who makes the calls? I'm just saying. Yes, we made this joke last week. Is it a joke? As our way of saying no chance

that this won't happen, that he won't start. Because Maserano won't even get to make the decision. We can't make fun of him in there and then not give him the credit here. or we could by saying we didn't think he had the power to not start him and then he didn't start

and that doesn't mean he got power that might mean someone else decided not to start Suarez. Either way, either way. I think that's too surelish. Either way, there has been a change in this club and that is an example of it.

They are more connected as a unit. They are pressing cleaner. Their lines are more connected. They're working harder defensively and not starting Suarez is the example around all of that which is the focus is how can we win this game and get Tamales Cup and that's what the team has built and that's what you saw play out in this game I thought at Kanika was dangerous like I thought

there was two goals in those chances and that's into Miami you have to score your chances because you will give up the chances on the other end and as you said messy was unplayable and at the point once they go up to zero in the second half it feels like game plans out the window like there it goes and Cincinnati didn't press hard enough to close things down in midfield they're exposed because they're trying to push numbers forward because they have to get goals and they're not good enough one v one defensively to deal with a lot of the danger in this intermiami team this is the best soccer into Miami has played since Messy joined and it's coming at the right time

in the right moment and now they will host a conference finals. We'll do post-mortems on these teams afterwards because we don't have a lot of time. Can I just a really quick point on Cincinnati? Kevin Denkai and Evander looked like they play for two different teams. There was a total of three passes completed

between the two players in either direction. In 90 minutes, that's not good enough. for me that's on a vander because he's the 10 it would be like blaming hugo Kuyper's for like Jonathan Bama not passing the ball like well that's not his game you know and that is the existential crisis going that Cincinnati

has to contend with in the all season because they are an excellent team there's going to be departures because of where this team is that Miles Robinson is going to be a DP next year but if they can't get a Vander and Denk to have any sort of connection there's going to be a ceiling on the team a ceiling that I didn't want to believe how low it ended up being in the attack because

of how good all these individual players are. If they don't find a connection, that's going to be a huge, huge problem again. Yeah. This Inter-Miamy team now will host NYCFC, so that will be the early game on Saturday. I think it's a 6 p.m. kickoff, 6.30 kickoff, Eastern Time, and then the San Diego game kicks off at 9. 6.6 and 9. Pretty nice. Yeah. And that will be the 9 p.m. kickoff for San Diego hosting Vancouver.

I'll just say it. I just don't see a world in which NYCFC can be dangerous enough offensively to impact Inter Miami. You could tell me that they're a better defensive team right now than any of the teams Intermiami has played between Nashville and Cincinnati, the way they're playing. That's fine. You're not going to shut this team out. You're not going to shut this team out in Chase Stadium. You have to score goals, and I don't know where they come from.

know if they're dangerous enough against this team it's going to have to be transition moments it's going to have to be maxi you know creating two v3 3 v2s and stuff you're going to have to try and attack the centerbacks as we've said over and over again one v1 and create chances but i just can't see a world where it happens Miami beat and YCCC on the road at the end of September 4 new and this was a game where there was no Alonza Martinez obviously he won't be there anyway in this next game but for miami it was like a remake game in the middle of the week right yeah usari was still the goalkeeper which he's not now and and that is an upgrade but this

was after the centerback pairing was no owen and maxi falcon like that they figured out oh this is our best look this was around the time where masherano and miami were figuring out the best way to get rodrigo de paul yeah within the team and making it not awkward because at first it was awkward. This was one of the turning points where they are hitting the form that they're at now. Javier Macherano deserves a lot of credit for me

for what this team has done. He was criticized when he was named manager because it was like, oh, you're just Messi's friends, that's why you're manager. He was criticized in April and May when they had a bit of a swoon, including when they were eliminated from the Conquakeup Champions Cup by Vancouver.

By the end of the summer and early fall, he benched his story he put Thomas Aviolace in another realm where he can't hurt you anymore on the field Ian Frey comes in his right back from Marcelo-Lyngant

and they figure out the best role for Rodrigo de Paul after he got in the team as you said Goss this is the best that they have played in the messy era honestly I think this is better than their Leaks Cup run

where they won the Leaks Cup even better than like down the stretch when they set the points record last year it was a lot of coming from behind they had a lot of control in this game against Cincinnati and they had a ton of control against Nashville for the majority of the series,

but particularly that game three closeout. Jorge Moss, I was speaking to him after the game, he says, this is probably the best we've ever played. And he made the joke, he goes, two clean sheets in a row. Who would have ever said that about Inter Miami? He's not wrong. So I think that's a lot to do with Machuano. Yeah, the question marks for NFC and Central Midfield.

You know, you get O'Neill back. Does Kevin O'Toole stay in there? Just Johnny Shore staying there. If it is Johnny Shore, then you get O'Toole back at the wingback position. That's probably a spot you can win a battle at, I would say. On that side of the field, if you're NYCFC, because Tavon Gray is going to have to deal with Jordy Alba the entire night, and that's going to be his responsibility and his role.

And so maybe that's what you look at. If you're NYCFC, you say maybe we think Johnny Shore can hang in this game. We can play into his feet. He's really good in possession. But it's a lot of pressure to put on an 18 year old in a game like that. And they've been willing to do it to him. And for NYCFC, you've got to be Uber efficient with your opportunities and when they're able to get behind that Miami midfield and create chances. Like I said, I thought Aconique got in some really good areas. He did. And if that's Tavon Gray or Kevin O'Toole, it might be better. And NYCFC might be able to look at that and find a little bit of danger.

I don't. I thought I Kineke's final play in decision making was weird in this. Do you believe that Tavon Gray is going to fire one in the top? He has stepped up. He is, he normally plays the right play in those moments. He has not super dangerous, but he has been clean and started that Philly attack. That was gorgeous. I'm trying to find a way here.

So I think your process there is right. I think it was, again, I think I think Echinique is a good player. you want that moment to fall to Dan Kay, to Brenner, to Evander, to Bucca, to Orzano when he came off the bench. NYCFC, their goal is going to be that that falls to Nico Fernandez, that that falls to Maximuorales, and that falls to, I don't know, maybe Augustine Ojeda, but particularly those two players that I first named, rather than a Tevon Gray, rather than Kevin O'Toole. Yeah, it is going to be a big game. and of course, Miami has hosting privilege. So Miami goes into this game knowing if they win,

they host MLS Cup for the first time in the club's history. It's Messi's first shot at this. It's Bousquet's last chance. It's Jordy's last chance. And you have, you control your own destiny in all of this. If NYCFC gets a victory in the first game, San Diego and Vancouver will step on the field knowing they get a chance to host MLS Cup. So I think the stakes are going to feel.

really high. I think it's going to feel big. I love that the games are back to back. It's just going to be a nice segment of time to sit down and get big time elimination soccer. If it's tied after extra time or after regular time, it would go an extra time. And then PKs. Let's close out real quick here on one big new segment, which is your report, Tommy Scoops, that we may have seen the end of Wilfred Nonsei in soccer. And as a joke someone made in the chat, he is replacing Joe Missoula and will be the new head coach for Derek White and Payton. Richard. Yeah, he's going to need to learn Scottish because he has indeed coached his last game for now for the Columbus crew. Celtic are finalizing a deal to name Wilfred Nancy. They are their next

head coach. The Columbus crew will get compensation for this. The final details, what they're finishing up here is the compensation for Columbus and also the contracts and everything for his backroom staff that he wants to bring with him as he did from Montreal Columbus to Columbus to Scotland. There are a lot of different ways to go to. This is, I think, interesting for a ton of different ways. We can talk about his place in, like, MLS lore. I think Wilford-Nazi is the defining coach of the last half-decade of this league. What he's done on the field tactically and what he's done man-man management, what he's done developing players. We can talk about how will he do with Celtic? I think he's going to do very well. It's not going to be easy, particularly coming in

mid-season, but I think he's going to do very well. He's got Alistair Johnson to hang out with again. He's back. We can talk about, speaking about Alistair Johnson, who we can speculate, who could he be trying to bring from Columbus or from wider MLS? For me, he, from what I was told from sources is that Wilfr-Nanxi, when they agreed the new contract through the 2026 season, the understanding was if the right opportunity comes I'm going to want to take it.

He's ambitious. He wants to continue greatness. He wants to develop everything. Everybody that's listening to this show, I trust that you know all this about Wilford-Nazi. And he said, I don't want to leave, I don't ever want to put you in a spot where I'm leaving mid-season

and you need to replace me and I'm going to completely derail a season. It would be better for Wilford-Nazi personally to have done this in the previous summer or the following summer. When not only are there more jobs available, but you get a full preseason to implement your ideas. You get a full preseason on the training ground.

Instead, he said, no, I don't ever want to leave you mid-season. If it's going to happen, it's going to be after-hour season, which limits his options and makes it much more difficult. He's going to go to Celtic, a fan base that is ravenous. If you don't win literally all of the time, and he's implementing new ideas, he's introducing himself to a squad, and he doesn't get to bring in new players until January

and even at that, it's not that easy for those players to come in. Wilfred Nancy, not only has he done incredible for the Columbus crew. He wanted, like, he was like, I understand this will make this more difficult on me. I want to do the best, I don't want to leave you guys high and dry mid-season.

He has done more with Columbus than what Patrick Vera and Jesse Marsh, two incredible coaches come from him less. He did more with Columbus. than what Jesse did with the Red Bulls and what Patrick did with NYCFC. Okay. I agree with all of that.

I think he's a special coach. I think he's a special person. I think he's going to crush it. You understand the move, which is Celtic managers get put in conversations like Tottenham and Liverpool and Brighton and wherever else that a Columbus crew manager doesn't. He's getting his shot.

Whether it is the biggest level right now, it's a big name, and it's a name that puts you in, the conversation at the next level, and it's one that will be on your resume for the rest of time. I'm loving the Aiden Morris and Stan Zawatsky to Celtic rumors that are starting in the chat right now. I'm surprised they didn't go straight to West End Abu Ali and Diego and Diego Rosie for probably pennies. That's what the Celtic fans want. I think this is more the Karoo fans doing bits and jokes. I agree. No, no, no. I like, but thank you for being more

realistic than the Celtic fans. On the other side of things, there's some interesting names we could bring up with Columbus. I don't know if they're in the stratosphere for Columbus. Caleb Porter's available. Caleb Porter is available. Caleb Porter is available. Patrick Vieira is also available.

Guillermo Barrascalo ain't walking through that door. No. Michael Bradley's available. And I don't think Michael's going anywhere besides New Jersey, but I believe he did play for Toronto FC when Isatol worked there.

And it would be in line not from a style. Well, we don't really know what Michael's style is. Michael wants to play football. Yeah, assuming he's in the Red Bull family, but also the way Bob Bradley's teams played, you could bring a couple names up.

I will say this. Outside of Lionel Messi, I think the two biggest difference makers in Major League Soccer over the last five years, were Cucho Hernandez and Wilfred Nancy. And this club has lost both of them, and that's not, okay, who's next, or how do we use the money we get for them to replace them?

They were both outliers in how good they were. at what they did. They weren't a luck. This club identified Wilfred Nancy at Montreal and said, that's the next coach. What do we need to do to get him? And they did the same in signing Kucho. But you don't just replace those people

with the next thing. And you have to do it now at a time when the club structure has changed. Tim Besbichenko is one of the best in the history of the league. It's why he's helping run a very successful Premier League team right now. And he's not a part of this process anymore.

And so I think it's fair for Columbus fans to be worried. Wilfr an Anzai was the Band-Aid over the last year plus, and they still finish seventh in the regular season. And, you know, Westam Abu Ali will be healthy in there from the start. If Diego Rossi is healthy next year, the team is better than they were this year on the field. You have to think there are a couple other pieces they're going to try and fill in,

bring some depth, some additional attacking pieces, maybe a change at centerback with the amount of time. Rudy Camacho missed all of that. but non-say is is something else and i worry a little bit about the future for columbus again it's fair um he is so singularly valuable for all of the praise and good things that we have deservedly said about this team how much is it just wilfrid right and and that's not that's not taking away from the front office that's not taking away from the players that's that's just the absence of a guy that we respect so much and think so very highly of.

There is no one-for-one replacement. Like, let's be very, very clear about that. It's going to be very difficult. And that's not doubting Columbus. It's just a fact of, I just called him the defining manager of the last half-decade of MLS. Like, those guys, there's not just a pool of those guys available for you. They're going to have to reinvent some stuff. They're going to have to change some things.

And I'm certain that they are thinking this. I'm certain that they're planning for this. I'm like, let's be clear. They weren't surprised when Celtic called, you know? Yeah. Like, they have been. They've been planning for this. Right.

Like, so wherever they are in their coaching search, they need to do the legwork. They need to, they need to do the interviews. They need to talk to people. They need to get the interview set, all of those things. They've thought about this before because if Wilfr-Ranense wanted to sign a 10-year deal, they would have done that, right? And then they wouldn't have cared about this. but they knew, as they spoke with Nancy

when he had his last contract extension and they're not naive, they're not dumb, they're not shocked by this. So I'm certain that they've been plotting about what do we need to do, how do we do this, how do we replace him, how do we change? Because there is only one Wilfred Nancy. I'm very, very curious in what directions they will go

because there are different ways to do this, whether it's you try, I don't know exactly which of his backroom staff are going with him. Like maybe you try to say, Juan de Mae. Right. You should be our head coach. That would be one of the big names you'd assume. Right. Or do you go completely different, right? Experience M.S. coach. You go from somebody from Europe because this club, the front office in and of itself, have a lot of MLS experience. Do you go try to

pluck another head coach that's currently an active head coach like they did with Nancy? I'm very curious. There are different ways to mitigate this, but there is no one-for-one replacement. Yeah. Laurent Courtois is available, uh, which, sounds silly but i believe that was a corey ray hire from uh the understanding of he was running the second team and got it cori's not at the club so leon quixote as a guy who has been i keep getting a ass about st louis right so uh people iguyen was brought over to run the two team yes obviously a club legend uh someone who's around i'm not joking when i bring up both bradley's bob and michael like they both have big soccer ideas and your hope would be they could both

make things out of nothing obviously didn't go well in Toronto with Bob Bradley would be a disappointment yeah maybe I don't I don't mean to be disrespectful I can't picture a name right now that wouldn't be and that's just the reality that's fair that's a good there's not another non-say right now where you're like wow look how they've punched above their weight I mean mike yvarez would be the obvious one and there's no reason he would move because san Diego is empowering him in a way Montreal never empowered mickey var or but never empowered noncee so there's no coach that seems obvious that would come over. Maybe Esperes Sorensen if Vancouver chooses to move,

I don't wish that on Vancouver at all. So it's all going to be, it's all going to be something else going forward. But we'll continue to talk about all of it right here on soccer eyes. We will be back at the start of next week. We will recap everything we saw and we will prepare for something called MLS Cup, which is coming up on Saturday, December 6th. We also are going to be doing a live World Cup draw show on December 5th.

We're going to be at Legends Bar in New York City, so if you're around, you can come by and hang out, and you can watch it as a stream. We will be on the entire time the draw show is happening. We will watch it so you don't have to, because it is going to be weird. A lot of pageantry and a lot of things that you're going to say, what is the goddamn plan? And then we will be breaking down everything that we're seeing as it happens. We officially got the pots, so we know that the U.S. will start against the third place team in their, or the pot three team coming into. their group, and we know who are in each of the pots as well. Obviously, we're still waiting to find out some of the intercontinental playoffs. Chatted actually with Columbus Gru

legend Eloy Room today and the preview of the Curacao team as he has backstopped them and is one of the great personalities, just had a great time talking to him. So a lot of content still coming out from us, a lot of coverage for you. We'll be on the socials all weekend. We are in the Discord as well. As Frank said in the chat, Discord was buzzing. this weekend and we'll be doing so once again during these games. So if you don't subscribe, get in there and also get to the depth charts so you can get some ideas of what's coming for your teams coming up. So thank you to all of you for listening.

Thank you to you, Tom. Thank you to Gregory on the edit. Thank you to Morgan as well on the social media keys. We are thankful for everyone who engages with this show. We can't believe anyone gives a crap, especially me, but I love doing what we do. I love being there with everyone, seeing people at NWSL. you saw people in Cincinnati, and we can't wait to keep doing it all the way through the final. So once again, happy Thanksgiving, and we'll talk to you again, very, very soon.