SoccerWise - MLS Soccerwise | Who Can Make the MLS Playoffs?

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

David Gass is back and is joined by Matt Doyle to break down MLS’ summer transfer window, the record spending, and the league’s place in the global market. Then they dive into the playoff race, from Nashville vs. Vancouver for the Supporters’ Shield to the contenders and the teams that could make a run to the postseason.0:00 Gass is Back from Peru7:28 What Happened in the MLS Transfer Window?11:30 The Numbers & MLS in the Global Market20:11 The MLS Grind is Setting In25:57 Battle for the Shield: Nashville vs. Vancouver33:57 Western Conference Contenders39:00 Can San Jose Put It All Together?42:49 Colorado, Seattle & West’s Playoff Picture47:35 Philadelphia & Orlando’s Postseason Prospects52:02 Toronto FC & Josh Sargent’s Fever Dream55:50 Final MusingsFor the sharpest coverage of American soccer, we’ve got you covered:https://linktr.ee/soccerwisehq

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Sokolize David Goss and Matt Doyle with you here on what I would consider a bright and early show as I have traveled through the Andes Mountains across seas and gulfs. Maybe oceans, not really oceans. To be here and be back. And I am just clawing to talk Major League Soccer once again with Mr. Matt Doyle. Doyle, what's up? You're so locked in on MLS that we went through the whole pre-show. And I didn't even get to ask you how Peru was. how machu Picchu was if you suffered from altitude sickness at all.

I noticed that you kind of went quiet for about 24 hours, 36 hours in the group chat. I'm assuming that was because you were vomiting, but I'm not certain about that. I didn't get to vomit levels. It's just one of those, you know, like the day and a half before you get the flu, we were like, I don't feel right. Yep. I'm not sick, but I don't feel right. It was like that for four days.

And the thing was, I knew every time I drank, I was like, huge mistake. And then they were like, here's a beer, here's Spisco. And you're like, well, I'll just taste it. Right. You know, I'm an adult. I'll just taste it. And it just kept not getting better. So I can officially state that I probably am not the player you want to call up when

MLS team joined Copa Libertadores and Copa Superamericano to go that altitude to all of these. You're going to struggle in Quito and La Paz. That's not going to be for you. Yeah. Yeah. There's a pretty good chance Bolivia qualifies for a World Cup if I'm ever on the other side of the field. for that one. But it was, yeah, it was amazing. I hadn't really, like, studied ink and history much until, like, about a year ago, which is a coincidence with this trip. It was not related.

It was just like I fell into being in Miami. I've been reading more about Latin American history and that fell into other stuff. It's, like, incredible, the stuff that they accomplished and built or did it. And then that's the part that is really, really tough is, like, you read these history books, you're like, this is really cool. And then you talk to like the next person and they're like, all of that's wrong. A hundred percent, this is what it was. Because they didn't write anything down. So like everything is debatable. And it's like unclear really like what the Inkins built, what the Inkins built on top of other people, what they accomplished, what they didn't. Obviously, then you get into aliens with some people in some of these combos. That's the important part of.

Trying to fear away. Like my wife was like, let's watch a video like a movie about it. falling asleep the night before we went to Machupeachu. And I was like, well, I don't know what we're going to find out there. We found this like Keanu Reeves Netflix series. And it was like, oh my God. So yeah, I had a great time. It was fascinating. It was really, really fun.

If anyone's not been, I'd recommend Golly. I've not been. So, like, what percentage of this trip is, like, a cultural experience? Like, you're going out there and you're learning about the ancient Incan Empire. Oh. I'd say like 50% because it's obviously a food capital. Right. And all the food

is different and there's a million things to eat. So it's like we got there and it was like oh we'll just go get like typical food and they're like well are you getting taku-taku have you gotten Lomo Salato yet? Have you had Chifa and it was like okay now we got like plan all these meals in. Because if you're going to hit everything it's going to take

a really long time. So food is a huge part of it and then I'd say I'm a history like nerd So I, this is the stuff I like. And the best part about it is it's a combination of nature and history, right? Like Machu Picchu, the like incredible part of it is it's an engineering feat that's like almost unfathomable. And it's inside of like Cloud City from Star Wars. So it's like the mix of those things, which is why it's like perfect because you're basically outside hiking while seeing ruins and learning about it the whole time.

Yeah. And feeling like you have the flu. So it's like pretty much. Yeah. So it's like kind of best case in error. Also, you know what you really want is to feel slightly sick when you're eating things you've never eaten before. In places you don't fully know. Like if your stomach really wants to settle, eat beef hearts while at 11,000 feet of altitude for the first time.

That's the real experience. But I do have to give my big shout out. Cienciano is playing Copaute Americana tonight against Torque from. So that's your team now. I would literally die for Ciencino to beat Tijuana. in this quarter final of the COPA suit of Americado. It is the only thing that matters in my life anymore. That's it.

That's what I asked the sun god for, the condor god, all the other gods that were there. And it's the most important thing in my life right now. All right. I mean, that's, let's just pivot then from MLS discussion to Copa suit America on a discussion. I'm ready. I could do this. Are you prepped? Santy Rodriguez was in Cusco the week before I got there, lost six to one.

in the last round of Sudamericana. So I think the altitude thing kind of does work. If you're crushing Brazil team 6-1, you're like probably in a pretty good spot. I was heartbroken. I missed every game that was played in all the cities I was in by like 24 hours. And it was like the three non-negotiable time.

So you have to have a ticket to go to Machu Picchu. And you have to get the ticket way in advance, which we didn't really do. So we had one ticket because we only had one window because we didn't really do that far in advance. And like, so it was like, okay, this is the window that I couldn't. And then that was the one window everyone played their games in while I was there.

And it was great because you take a bus up from Machupechu. We had tickets to go hike the mountains on the two sides of it. And we left for the bus at 550 a.m. at 5.37, it started pouring rain. And it rained for six hours. Like sideways. Soaked through everything, whatever. Still probably one of the best days of my life.

Like unbelievable place. So if you ever get a chance and recommend going, if not I can tell you more, about it on my free time if you want to hit me up about it. But next time you go, instead of anything cultural or historic, it's just going to be straight Copa suit Americana games wall to wall. Yeah. So I have my soccer trips and I try to not make the non-socer trips soccer trips if I can avoid it.

This was like, I went to Australia like 10 years ago and was like, I'm not going to soccer game. It's garbage soccer. But then you scouted I didn't talk Lamade for, no, he's not Australia. In Australia. No, Archie Good. The other one. The other year 22 forward on Charlotte.

Well, we were there and someone offered us free tickets to see Hyundai in an Asian Cup Champions League game against Melbourne City or whatever. Melbourne Victory, I don't remember much one. And it was like, okay, fine, I'll go. So then this was like not a soccer chip because like, let's be real. It's Peru. It's not Argentina. It's not Brazil.

It's not even Colombia. And then I got there and was like, oh, I just, all I care about is Saniano. This is the most important team in my. life this is all I came up. And then this weekend, after I've left, is Alianza against Universitaria, the Lima Derby. Oh, that's a big one. Yeah. So I missed all of it by about 24 to 48 hours. Well done. Yeah. But if you're listening to this show late on and you already have seen the Kobasud America and I hope you're celebrating with me for what is the great victory of our lifetimes. We've got a lot to talk about on the MLS side. You guys carried the torch for us last week,

the live transfer show. How was it? How did it feel? It was good. It was, it was, it was, actually a lot of fun. It wasn't like the busiest moment of Tom's week, but Tom is taking a well-deserved, I think, a little vacation here. And of course, having Dunny on the show is so great because he has inside perspective in all this stuff that, you know, scrubs like us could never have. We talked about, so I'm going to transition right into it, man. Like, do it. We were all maybe a little bit disappointed that, MLS teams by and large didn't push the envelope this year. I think we all felt like it was going to be a busier and sort of a glitzier transfer window. But instead, it was kind of status

quo relative to last year. And, you know, thinking about teams like the fire or San Diego OFC, like LAFC, nobody really went, I don't want to say nobody, but like most teams didn't go all in. Yeah. And that surprises me and like the consensus we came to is that, look, with so much variability in, in the years to come, because we don't know what the CBA is going to be. We don't know what the roster rules are going to be. CSOs just don't want to get locked into one particular roster build. So it ended up being kind of a less frothy summer window than I had expected it to be six months ago. And you could see it with the fact that like we brought like zero, you know, very few U.S. national team guys came home.

Whereas I think at the start of the year, I fully expected like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinney, a few other guys to get like ridiculous offers to come be the face of MLS. to this next media rights deal. Well, technically, I think Weston McKinney did get the offer, right? Didn't since he give him the offer and he turned it down. But like that was last year, right? Like I expected a new offer this summer and, you know, an offer he couldn't refuse. But it turns out that starting as the number 10 for Juventus is a pretty tough job to leave. The other side of this was, you know, MLS was built on 1994 and pretty much every team in 1996 was given a World Cup veteran.

that was a star. Like we talked about Landon at Emialo a few weeks ago on the U.S. soccer show. He is American because his dad came to play in MLS because he was a star in the 1994 World Cup for Nigeria, a known name. And I think we all probably expected a couple of these World Cup high risers to be a part of transfers right after because they had gained notoriety. And it turned out that only the worst team at the World Cup, Tunisia,

was able to cash in on MLS Moos. and they've been great, by the way. Can't knock that. But I think that's the part to me. Away from the American players and the national team players is just, I still, and Tom makes fun of me for, you know, a few weeks ago, being like, why is it an MLS team signed Gabrielle Martinelli? But I am still waiting for that shoe to drop on some of these,

like entering and in prime players from one step up. I think what we see in a lot of the designated players signings now is like not a bad level. It's Olympiacos. it's high rise in the Portuguese league. It's, you know, mid table in Germany. It's mid table in France. It's guys entering their prime or in their prime, right? Andre Luis is $18 million.

He's 24 years old. It's Morgan Whitaker who put up good numbers in the championship and is a good player. Denny Belonga going back. But to crack into some of these names that I think are a bit more known that seem to be available, I think that's the part that there's frustration for me. And when you look at, so MLS put out the number shift in this transfer window. So it was a record transfer window with $370 million spent by MLS. Sorry, this is the full year, by the way.

So this is from January 1st until now in terms of transfers. Last year was the other record at $336. So that's basically a million dollars more per team. It is not a wholesale shift, which it was two years ago when I went from 180. $88 million to $336. Yeah. And that's over the two transfer windows, right? Like winter and summer from 2024 to winter and summer,

summer 2025, there was a big jump. And then winter and summer from 2025 to 2026, like you said, $34 million jump, basically a million dollars per day. And like, let's face it, that just comes down to one new owner who wants to write checks in Peter Malook in Kansas City. Yeah. Right. Like he, 27 million of the 34 million jump between 2025 and 2026 is Sporting Kansas City spent no dollars in 2025.

And they spent 27 or 28 million dollars in 2026. So it's like it was it was status quo at a time when I mean, you know, I old enough to remember Don Garber saying that the, the, the 2026 World Cup would be like. like rocket fuel to the growth of MLS. And no, it was not. And which is not to say that MLS isn't in a better position, I think, because I really do think it is because the players are younger, right?

And I think that matters. But it's not the, I thought it was going to be like, you know, hockey stick, like the growth of solar power in Texas type of thing. Well, it's like, you know, and this is, it's all narrative based.

But like, I'm sitting on a train coming out from Machu Picchu with two Dutch guys who play in the lower division in Holland on their local team and they're talking about Messi and Levendowski and guys like that. And then they're talking to me about the Saudi League because that's the connection to them.

And I was like, yeah, but you know, the quality is not very high. Like outside of the five internationals, the quality on the field. And they're like, well, I don't really know. Because they don't watch either. They don't watch MLS or the Saudi League. And so in their mind, they're still the same. And I know that the, you know,

the median quality in major league soccer, the back-end roster quality in major league soccer is much higher than that level. But unless you suck people in to watch it, they don't know that. Teams in the Aere da Vizier, teams in the rest of Europe know that as well because if you look at outbound sales,

MLS sells more players to teams in the top five leagues in Europe and teams to champions league teams than any league in the world outside of, Europe, including Argentina and Brazil, Syria. MLS literally has sold more over the past three years. But that's, look, man, I doubt that anybody in MLS marketing even knows that that is something you can look at, so let alone communicate. So there's still this credibility gap MLS has,

rightly or wrongly, with the casual fan that they so desire. And I don't think, that I'm disappointed in the steps that weren't taken this summer to sort of bridge that because I still love this stupid league of ours. Agreed. And here's the things I'll put in there when you mention it does feel like it's in a better place, even if it's not the acceleration we wanted. One is sales are at an all-time high, $218 million in transfer revenue. Now, part of, I think, the big jump in transfer spending is the cash first because it moves.

money around the league, which then is loose to move money around the league. And I think it's kept more assets around Major League Soccer that in the past it was money out the door. And then whether that ownership group was going to spend that money again or not, it was money that you lost around like the MLS player space, which now what we've seen is half Navajo moves. So that's a quality player who stays in Major League Soccer. Now Colorado goes out and brings another player It also creates $3 million more gam. Yep. Right?

And gam is not a finite resource. It's not a zero-something thing. Like, gam is created, gam is destroyed. Like, you can just help create more gam with cashfers that you don't create if you sell Rafa Navarro to, you know, Palmaris or something like that. But selling him to St. Louis, you actually make the profit from the sale and you create three million more gam. which then allows you to go out and buy more players or hopefully keep more players to then raise the quality of the league. So our guy, Armand Kaffai, does really great work on footy analytics musings, his substack, sort of tracking all this and gam theorying all of this. And it's just one of the marginal ways that the league has done a good job to continue to grow.

So we needed more than marginal this summer. I really feel that way. And then this is the other piece I will add, which is we had 18 set transfer records in this window. Some are it felt like really just modern inflation. If Josh Sargent is the most extensive player in TFC history, it is not an overall huge shift of the spending they did with Josie and Jivinko. It's just in 2025, in 2026. guys are more expensive than they were 10 years ago. But here's the club record sales.

So you had the Rapids with Lucas Harrington, the LA Galaxy with Gabriel Peck, Nashville with Jonathan Perez, Portland Timbers with Kevin Kelsey, R.SL with Zaviragozo, San Diego with Luca Bombino and St. Louis with Jow Clouse, Jail Klaus being a cash for, you know, Nashville to see Jonathan Perez, it's not a huge number. But I will say at least a team like the Rapids spent gets the money and spends the money. I think that's the hope is at a minimum, the MLS owners, not sitting on revenue they create from player transfers, at least keep it fluid and keep it in the global market. Because as you mentioned, like this didn't feel like a huge shift. And yet,

we've just been covering moves, it feels like, for four months. Like every single day, there is a story coming out and there is a move. They are normally one in one out. It is not, okay, now we're loading up. Like you mentioned, all the teams that are a piece away. None of them loaded up. But it still felt like everyone made a move and I think that's just the nature and this is something that's been growing for five, eight years that is exciting to me is that MLS is in the global market and that at least has is something that was not the case for a long time if you followed this league. Yeah, it's undeniable right. Like in the glass half full view of this summer is that MLS teams were smart. They by and large didn't overpay for talent in the way that they could have.

I think there was some intelligence shown in shopping for players in leagues where the Premier League doesn't shop. So the market hasn't been inflated by Premier League money. And that this summer solidified MLS's place in the global market as a top 10 league. And that's something that really only started in like the two or three windows before COVID. and then obviously slowed down for a few years after that and now really has grown. I mean, it's doubled over the past two years. So as much as I've been whining about MLS not being aggressive enough in 2026, it has doubled in the past two years. And it's, you know, it's doubly reassuring because I guess more of the headlines have been about players MLS has developed and sold,

which has not always been the case. One of the guys was an Ozzie Alkmar fan and I was like, oh, Georgia Mohavich. And he was like, I don't really know how that is. And I was like, well, okay, well, I'm pretty sure. You know, then you do that thing where like, you're like, you're 100% sure of something, but you're like, don't want to be the weirdo sitting on the train.

Being like, yeah, no, I know George Mahler's. So I'm like, oh, I don't know, maybe. Then he looked it up and listed the Americans. He's like, Josie. I'm like, yeah, and he said that. I know that. And then Georgian, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, wow, what a coincidence.

I was right about this thing I know 100% about, which is a disgusting amount. Okay, I missed the last weekend of games. I luckily on Apple TV as a global viewer, yesterday I was able to catch a bit in Peru as I prepared for my trip back. And then obviously I missed the close of the transfer window. So I guess before we get into what's coming up over the next few weeks, stretch run of the playoffs as well as big games coming up this weekend. What did I miss? I'm going to answer your question with a question.

How many teams in MLS have winning streaks right now of any length? So two games is a winning streak. Yeah. How many teams have winning streaks? I know the Union winning streak. St. Louis drew yesterday. I'm going to guess four. Three.

Okay. Wow. You just made me feel like it was a big deal. So, I mean, three out of 30 in the entire league. You're correct about the union. The union have the league's longest winning streak at three games. And, of course, they were pretty emphatic last night in that 5-0. No, Vancouver lost.

They got destroyed this past weekend at home by St. Louis City, who do not have a winning streak because they drew on the road. Orlando City, they won 1-0 at home against San Diego on the weekend and then went on the road. killed Atlanta. Okay. So the Griesman Heisman. I assume you've seen it. If you have not seen it, go look it up. It is actually the most perfect thing that could happen.

Because Antoine Griesman's kind of goofy. He's like so obsessed with American culture that it's, again, awkward, right? Where he's probably someone who's like at weird dinners and someone brings something up. And he's like, no, Leon Pau actually went starting for the Celtics in the 2009 playoff run was undefeated. Like he's got that weird stuff. He goes to a UCF football game, which is trash. I don't know anything about college football.

And I know that a team in Orlando is garbage. Shout out, Blake Bordels. And then he does like the worst Heisman on the planet. And that's the most Greisman thing he could have done. Because if he had done it right, it wouldn't have landed because that's not Antoine Grisman. He's always a little bit goofy about this stuff. Yeah, he's corny as hell, but he's embracing it in the way that I think everybody

thought he would. And he's made Orlando City a lot better. Six goals to assist. Yeah, I think those are the numbers. But also undeniable chemistry with just basically everybody in that attack, especially Justin Ellis, who is still not really a goal threat, but he's just got that, you know, extra sort of feel around the box and extra sense. And you see it on the goal, Griesman scored last night.

So Orlando are, you know, two wins in a row now. That's a winning streak. and then the third team on a winning streak is FC Dallas, who got a late winner. But that's it, man. So what you missed is what every long time MLS fan knows happens around this time of year. It's just the grind. Just like these teams play so many games in August and then into early September

that it's just like you are not imposing yourself. You're not playing pretty soccer. you're not entertaining out there. You were just trying to grind through 90 minutes at a time. And if you can get a point, you get a point. So, I mean, shout out to those three particular teams. But, like, in the week and a half, you were gone, you didn't, like, there was no big revelation. There was no, like, oh, this is, you know, this is a, like, even St. Louis followed up that incredible performance up in Vancouver with a kind of, like,

limp and gassed one in Portland. It's still good enough to get the point, but it wasn't like, oh, yeah, we're actually the best team in the conference. It's like, no, we had a good night, and then we followed it up with like a mediocre night. And to hammer the point home, so I think St. Louis,

so St. Louis plays in the U.S. Open Cup semi-final next week, which we'll talk about on Monday. St. Louis, Colorado, so the Navajo thing, a little bit funny there, and then Orlando, Columbus. That's the two games next week. I think St. Louis has six games scheduled. for September and seven for October if they make the Open Cup final.

So 13 games in... Two months. Yeah. And I think they probably just played seven games in August. Yeah. Yeah. So that's part of like what's happening. And that was like I turned on yesterday like on my phone. You're watching it.

It's fun. It's fun. Right. It's chaos. It's crazy. But it's like, what are you going to pull? Like everything's rotated or not rotated. So it's this versus that and this versus that. And it makes it a little bit hard at times.

Yet the points still matter. Like we are still heading. towards a playoff run and there are teams that haven't done the work we expected. So we did the show coming out of the World Cup, I think. So about now two months ago or a month and a half ago where we sort of reset mainly around the race into the playoffs and who had opportunities and who we thought would go on good runs. I know I said the Philadelphia Union would go undefeated for the next two months and that.

You know, they would be led by this. I did say Quinn Sullivan would be a big ad. That part I have on tape somewhere many, many times. So I know I was sure about that one. I think we were all pretty demet-pilled at the time. Yeah, we were all in on St. Louis. But there are teams that have jumped and there are teams that haven't. Some of that is transfer-related.

Some of that isn't. So let's reset a little for the stretch run here. And then we'll hit some of the news that came out of the Wednesday games. Let's start with the Shield, which we've talked about over the last few weeks, Nashville had had gotten onto a record pace. They've fallen off that over the last two weeks. But draws not losses. And they go to Miami on Saturday night.

So that is lost last night for Nashville. Yeah. Toronto, my Toronto group chat was buzzing last night. I mean, they have a couple of good results now, right? And they're right on the fringes. I think they're 10th place. But, no, like Nashville.

last week at this time, we were talking about them on a 79 point pace. But I wrote about it, like, okay, it looks good in terms of points for game, and they have all these weapons, but the underlines have not been great for a while now.

Like, this is a team that is kind of like running on fumes and winning moments rather than controlling the way you would hope for one. And then for two, it's like, okay, this is a three game week, three away games.

They drew the first. which they really should have won, but Hani Mukdar missed a point-blank chance against NYCFC. They lost late last night when they clearly had dead legs, and now they're at Miami for the weekend, which, look, I still think Nashville is going to win the supporter shield. Their lead is pretty solid, though I guess if Vancouver gets on a rum, that could get pretty tight, pretty quick. But I think they're back below the points record pace. And like they're not looking like a team that is going to break that record. So Vancouver are seven points behind Nashville with a game in hand.

So if Nashville will go to Miami and lose this weekend, which is a possibility, it's the third best team in the league. And Vancouver wins. It would be a four point gap with still the game in hand for Vancouver. Now in talking about fixture congestion, Vancouver has a Canadian championship match against Montreal next Wednesday. They host Austin this weekend. They travel to R.S.L.

the following weekend. Then they host DC United. So that's... That should be nine points. That should be nine points. And a... Ryan Alumi hat trick. Yeah.

But not, like, Vancouver, like, they got their teeth kicked in by St. Louis this past weekend. I gave him Mulligan because they have earned that, right? Like, everybody gets to have. have a bad game every now and again. They had their bad game against a team that is now, what, 14 or 15 unbeaten? Like, okay, it happens.

They came out and they answered the bell last night the way you'd expect. Brian White is back. Ryan Alumi, as you said, or implied, is now a guy who you can count on to contribute. But they also are one of the teams that went and did work in the transfer window. You know, they're a team that found a way. to add pieces so that, you know, when Thomas Mueller has to leave before the half hour mark yesterday, they could bring in Shik Sabali to, you know, to come into the attack. They have guys like Bruno Casado they could bring off the bench, the new Serbian kid,

that they spent a million and a half on in central midfield. Svetkovic. I'm just guessing on that one, but that's what I went with. It looks, I think that's correct, man. Yes. Well done. I know. I just read my Yugoslavia book. So they look like they look like a team that is going to make a run irrespective of what happened on Saturday.

Yeah, it feels safe to say they're the best team in the Western Conference. And my guess is they will push Nashville. I think that they have the experience now of having done it last year where what you talked about with Nashville is a little bit of that wobble and some of that comes down to like confidence. Some of that comes down to practice. Like, are you used to playing the most important game of the season every single week? And very few people have experienced that in their entire lives, as well as the pressure that comes from, oh, Nashville's coming into our building. This is a huge opportunity, right?

Like Toronto, getting that result yesterday was more than just Toronto got three points. It was they knocked off the best team in Major League soccer. For Nashville, they've never been that, they've never had that experience before. It's going to be fascinating to see what it's like in Miami this weekend because I think what you saw with the Rodriguez Robert Lewandowski stuff is what we've talked about for a year plus. And Nashville, while I think they exercised some of those demons in the regular season game two weeks ago and maybe the Champions League as well this year, they have been at the mercy of this the most of like Miami, a lot of the players are A-holes and they're in your face about it and you want to show them up.

And then the game opens up and it gets chaotic and that's where Miami thrips. and to stay out of that is really difficult. Levinowski literally just chuckled the whole time, as DePaul was screaming in his face that he won a World Cup in two Copa America. It's amazing that Levinowski never won a Cop America. Like, it's pathetic that he never stepped up and won a Copa America. But like that is, that's the experience of playing Miami.

And I think for Nashville, Nashville's handled it well this year, but they've already, they've beaten Miami what, three times, three games? Well, they drew in the Champions League to go through. Okay. But they won that series. So it's, it's hard to imagine Miami is not going to come out with their hair on fire for this game. And Nashville looks vulnerable right now.

They don't look good enough to be a team that just keeps naming the score on Miami. They just don't. What was the Noah Allen meltdown last week? Was there one on the show when you guys learned about it? there was I wouldn't call it a meltdown. I think it's more resigned. Right. Like my attitude on it is it's a stupid move to make because Noah Allen has a level of toughness and dependability that most other players on Miami don't.

And it is good work from Chicago to get him, $3 million for a guy you can just plug into that back line at two different spots. three different formations for the next half decade. Like, hell yeah. At the same time, Miami keeps being able to bring in the guys that they bring in because they just have this never-ending cycle of gam incoming. And that's going to be three million more that they get in January when the fire by this kid. And then the other aspect of it, you should be able to reliably create players on your backline who are as good as Noah Allen.

in every two or three years. If you have a functional academy, you should be able to create that in MLS. And I assume that Miami is just, they're gambling on that. Yeah. Tyler Hall has been a big piece in the youth national teams. He's a centerback that's in their pool. But it is a piece of this Miami success is that they continue to play

homegrowns because they have to. Those homegrowns continue to play well and they continue to sell them and just push the next one through, which we all assumed in South Florida would be an option because of the talent that's around here. And they've been able to harness that. Almost it feels like begrudgingly sometimes, but it has worked out for them. But it is one of those moves where it's like, I didn't have it on my bingo card.

And then the moment it happens, you're like 100%. Of course. Of course, the only dude who does media on this team and handles everything and plays every position and works hard. And has finally played left back and played well this year. Of course, he's out the door for as much gam as you can possibly get to a competitor, right to another team at the top of the Eastern Conference. Let's talk the sort of the gap below these teams now

as we head towards the stretch run. Let's talk about the West first. Because you put it in here, just straight up the question, who's the second best team in the Western Conference? Who do you think it is? I was hoping if I asked you that you would answer it first. And this is just purely based off eye test and belief and which team I think will go to the Western Conference final.

Yeah, trust your gut. I'm going to say St. Louis. Walk me through it. I don't think they'll be there in the standings because of the Open Cup. I think that they create chances in their system better than anyone else in that pool of teams and can control the way they do it and have shown now over a long enough stretch that from week to week they will continue to do it. So LAAFC obviously are the most talented attack, but it is game states with them. Like they need transition moments.

They need you to play the way they need you to play. And I don't know that anyone else in that group, I believe that about, especially for Houston with Jack McGlynn leaving. What's the difference between Houston and L.A.F. What's the difference between them? Yeah. Denny Buonga and Guillermo and Guillermo,

like the gap between those two. That's the difference, right? I mean, Guillermo has been a better player than Belonga. Yeah, but you, on track record, I would trust Boulanga in big moments over Gierme. But I don't disagree. He's been one of the best signings. Who's your team?

I think it's probably St. Louis. I like, like you said, we're all DMA-pilled. I don't think that my issue with them is I do think that they have less talent than they did at the start of the window. Because I think Hartle was a best 11 caliber player. And I haven't seen that from Hulsa yet. And look, Raha Navarro is really, really good. I don't think he's a best 11 caliber player. and when you will I need to see that they have that kind of match winner in this group.

So I'm like a little bit hesitant. I'm not, I don't love the way FC Dallas play. And I am disappointed that they're one of those teams who I felt like were a piece away and they never went out and got it. That said, they are where they are in the standings, I think what, their third in the Western Conference, three points behind Houston. They just played a nine-game road trip, had a four, three, and two record. And they are one of those teams on a win streak, including going on the road last night with a rotated squad and getting a road win.

So this won't affect playoffs, but Moose has called up for the Croatian national team for the next window coming up. MLS is playing through some of that window. So he will miss some regular season games, whether it's one or two, I'm not totally sure. And Dallas, as you mentioned, this insane road trip. So they are seven, four, and three on the road this season. They've played 14 games on the road. They have only played, what, 10 games at home.

Yeah. So they now have a ton of home games. They are four, two, and four at home. So they're not like the best home team on form. And I think part of that is the style. There's, you know, when teams come, to your building. They don't have to open up. It's your job to create. It's your job to own the game. And people don't feel a responsibility to do it at Dallas. And Dallas

struggles in those settings. They're good in transition. They're good against the ball. They drop their lines fairly deep. And if you go to their building and you don't have to open up, then they struggle to create chances, especially if Moose is not on the field. Yeah. No, I don't disagree. Are we underrating Valiente a little bit? I think he picked up his 12th assist of the year last night, though it's much more of a pass before the past guy. And I mean, I'm saying this the night after he picked up an assist while making a run off the ball into the box. That is the exception rather than the rule. Like he does not put downhill pressure on the goal, right?

He rarely runs past the forward and attacks a scrambled back line. So again, he did last night. is there a possibility that they didn't actually need to make that move that I was begging them for in the summer because he has kind of grown into that role? No, because he very much to me feels like the guy where you watch a playoff series that they lose and you say the gap between Valiente and Martino Heda is the reason they're not moving on to the next round. Even if he's good and they're in a series, the gap there, that's the difference in the playoffs. He's a Maricio Pereira type of number.

10 where it's like oh this guy's really good he helps the team win but he doesn't help them win the biggest game because he's not not that type of match we're in the Orlando conversation right now loving it um I am I I'm a little surprised maybe I thought you would still be on san Jose with Nico Secures back he is obviously a difference maker he's the best player on that team even when team of earner is healthy. The first half he had last, like those two assists he had last night. The second one in particular were insane. Like if he had been healthy all season, we might be taught.

We probably still be talking about the quakes as that team. But I think we've seen enough instability defensively in that team. the gap between individual players and then their lines of defense and midfield and then especially midfield and the forwards can get so extreme that they end up having the same issues in defensive transition that kind of killed them last year. So I can't quite get there for San Jose even with Shakira's back and also with formation change. Like it got so bad that Bruce Arena, who does not like to play anything but a back four has switched to sort of a three, four, two, one over the past couple of games. And it's added some stability. Where does Lovin and Werner fit in that?

That's a good question. Because Werner's been incredible wide. He is basically a guaranteed win 1 v1 if he gets space, which all exists out wide. Now, he doesn't get to finish as many chances because that more. more leads to clip balls to the back post, pullback, stuff like that, which would secure us out, hasn't led to as many goals as it should have. He's obviously played centrally most of his career, so he could probably play underneath. If he plays underneath, is it then Lovin deeper and is Bo Luhrou on the bench?

Yeah, I don't know what the answer to that is. I suspect the answer is you go back to the 4-2-3-1 with Lovin as, sort of a withdrawn number 10. And then Shakira's playing sort of inverted on the right while Timel Werner plays inverted on the left. And you attack with that group and you take fewer risks with releasing the central midfielders like the deeper lying central midfielders and the fullbacks. But also if you're playing with two inverted wingers, I don't know how you get true

touchline width and overloads. if you're not releasing your fullbacks. So it's like San Jose did better work acquiring talent this window than I thought they would. I don't see the obvious way in which all the talent fits together in a way that maximizes it without leaving them vulnerable defensively in a way that we've seen from them since May. And they needed the increase in talent? Like they had no depth. And I think I say this everyone's a while, but like, I think it's fair when coaches or front offices say to me, like, what are the odds?

Everyone's healthy. Like, I think that's a fine answer to have sometimes when we're like, how do they all fit together? What's the best 11? And it's like, how often do we have our best 11? Right? For a club, especially that Securus missed all this time, blah, blah, blah. I think that's fine. But one of the solutions to becoming more solid defensively is basically having these centerbacks playing as your wingbacks.

And if you need width from those spots, then does it have to. go back to being Ricketts and Kekanovich. And if that's the case, can you be strong enough defensively plus the hole that they've had at goalkeeper pretty much the entire season, which has been a huge problem. But so San Jose currently sit fifth, St. Louis are six. So we kind of made that whole group a part of this conversation. It's Rapid 7, Timbers, 8, San Diego 9. That's the wild card conversation there.

Are any of those teams or the teams just outside? like true contenders or teams that we should be thinking about. So not at the moment, but if Whitaker and Saibi, the other, the other winger that Colorado got, are really, really good right away, then the rapids can, I think, jump into that group, right? And it's contingent upon them absolutely nailing their two,

signings because I like I like a lot of what I've seen from the rapids this year I like the game model I like they have not done a good job developing their attacking players we haven't seen like George Munungu is like he took a step back this year compared to last year the guys that they spent draft picks on like Alex Harris and Comani Stewart Payne like they're not even factoring at all Paxton, Erinson is kind of a utility guy. Darren Yappi is having a worse year this year than he did last year. And that's a part of being a good coach in this league,

is understanding how to take this raw material and mold it eaten to something that is productive. Well, if you can't do that, go out and buy guys who are in their primes and producing in pretty good leagues in the championship in Air Divisier, plug them in and hope it solves the problem. Right. Like that is, and if it does, then the rapids are going to be really good. If it doesn't, then the rapids are going to be first round cannon fodder. But they will make the first round.

For sure. Because I do you think that their defense has been, you know, good enough. And they're pretty vicious about winning the ball back. And like that, that's an identity. That's enough. Reminder, they've got open cups on my final next week against St. Louis. They play Montreal this week. And then they play the week after one of the most fascinating teams right now in our

MLS and it just they always sit in that spot, I guess. Seattle are 13th in the Western Conference. But because of the World Cup and their field and all of that stuff, they've pretty much played two, if not three less games than the teams around them. If they won one of the games in hand, they'd be tied with San Diego right now for ninth in the West. Two, they would jump up into seventh in the Western Conference. They sign, you know, they go out, they get Dejanovovillich. is Seattle going to be a playoff team this year? I still think they'll make the playoffs. We saw the first half the year before all their guys got injured.

They were a really good team. They weren't as dynamic attacking as they were last year. But they were one of the four best teams in the West. And now Christian Raldon is healthy again. Jordan Morris is healthy again. I think Yemar is supposed to be back soon. and I think Jackson Reagan, I think, in the next week or two. So I still think they'll have enough juice to get into the playoffs.

But they needed to get a winger who could undress teams 1 v1. I've said it a million times on the show. You're laughing. Fine. They needed to get a winger who could undress teams. Well, they still could. The roster for his hasn't happened yet. So they still could.

Should we go through the list of the, what's his name? Wow, I totally forgot his name. Who's the Jaden Sancho? Is Jaden Sancho still a free agent? Do you think, yeah, do you think he'll come play on a Tam deal? Like a Thomas Bueller or Rodrigo DePaul type of TAMD He's a lifestyle thing for him. Yeah.

Yeah. He really loves Cedar playing salmon. That's what I've heard about. Jayden Sancho. And I think without, because, you know, if you watch the Sounders play, they still create the advantages that they were creating last year. It's just when they were the best team in North America last year, it was because Pedro de la Vega was taking.

those small advantages and like blowing them open and turning them into these sort of breakaways where guys were running into the box unmarked. Well, also when you mentioned Minoungu, right? For Minoungu, it was at pace receiving it 1v1 with a defense shifting. That was everything we had to do. Get to the end line and play the ball across the six and there were three runners every single time. Yeah.

Yeah. And it hasn't been there as much. And yet they still control their own destiny and they still have an opportunity to sneak in. Let's finish at the bottom half of the Eastern Conference. It has been a jumble since we did that show where we talked about who's in, who's out. A lot of that has to do with some of the transfers, right? Orlando's gone out and got Antron Griesman reshifted their team. Some is coaching firings with the Philadelphia Union.

So I'll give you from six down because as we know, Charlotte, baby, four or five, that's where they live. Don't touch them. Shout out to our guys that top bins 90. So Orlando right now on 31 points tied. with Cincinnati at sixth and seventh. Cincinnati has a game in hand. Philadelphia Union one point behind them in eighth, NYCFC in ninth,

and Toronto FC tied with NYCFC on 29 points in 10th, with DC United one point behind them, and the Red Bulls, two points behind that. So Columbus right now at 13th on 23 points and an open cup semi-final. It feels like the juice that came around the Bryce Mendez edition and the Leaks Cup probably has. gone out? Are any of these teams

a genuine factor when we're talking right now about a potential MLS Cup run? So I do think Philadelphia deserves that level of respect because not only are they the hottest team in the league in this class area here, but they also

have like their underlying numbers are right there with Miami and like Vancouver's running away with the league in terms of best underlying numbers but then two, three, four, five are Miami, Philly, St. Louis, and Chicago. Right. And so if that's the company you're keeping with how you're playing,

and that's really all the underlying numbers are measuring, like they're just confirming the eye test and the boxer. It's like, okay, yeah, this is for real. The issue with Philly is they're thin. They went out and they spent $10 million this offseason and they got zero contribution. from that expenditure. But then they went back and re-sign their all left back. Right. Well, which was well done.

Like that has been, you know, Kai Wagner's return has been just as crucial as Kevin Sullivan's assent and, you know, Milan Oloski and Neil Pia. Like those are the four big pieces of it. But like if any of those four guys miss his time, then suddenly they're stuck in a way that

the other teams at that level, and I'm talking about like the top of the league, aren't necessarily stuck. But all of that group, I mean, clearly, fully are far and away the best. Is Orlando City second on that list? I think so. I think so because I trust their attacking match winners

in Greasman and with Martino Heda back, even though I don't think that's the most comfortable fit in the world. And then the other aspect of it, well, first of all, they have injury concerns as well. Because if Robin Yonsen gets so much as a hangnail, they're cooked. They do not have a centerbacker trusting beyond him. But then the other thing, Jaron Jervais, the French demid, who I think they got from the draft two years ago. Yeah, he was awesome. He was awesome.

Yeah, it was awesome last year before he tore. his ACL just came back. They look like a different team defensively with him in the 11. And that was not something I was expected. Like he's clearly the starter, and he fits perfectly with Edward Atuesta, where they both kind of enhance each other's skill set. And when you have that kind of synergy, that's not the right word, but like two guys who sort of like amplify each other.

right there in the engine room and you have match winners ahead of them, especially in Antoine Griseman, a match winner who works so hard defensively, then suddenly the whole thing, you have a greater margin for how to make this thing work. Yeah, and I think they, I mean,

I think they have a confidence that they belong. I think that's what we've seen with Griseman. And I think there's a little bit of a fear factor when you go and play them. So I think that sort of gives them an advantage over some of the other teams in this list. Let me say this, and this was why the group chat was buzzing yesterday. Toronto unbeaten in seven. Not a lot of wins, but unbeaten in seven.

It is a fever dream of a run. It's like late equalizers, late goals conceded. It's the win at Inter Miami, a 3-3 draw with Charlotte and a 4-4 draw in Chicago in there. And then the 2-1 win over Nashville midweek to close it out. So they're sitting right outside this playoff spot. And I would say the last two weeks, I think Josh Sargent's looked as good as he's looked. I don't know that he'll ever be worth whatever the number was,

which doesn't really matter to them. But he has to be one of the two or three best players on the field in every game. And he hasn't looked that way for much of the season. And I think one of the issues with him is just his lack of confidence in finishing. He doesn't make the margins bigger for the team. There is not moments where it feels like, okay, we could play okay. And if we get a half chance, Josh Sargent takes us over the top. but he has started to create a little bit more.

And that's one of the things I've always loved about Sargent's game because he's always been comfortable dropping out of center forward and creating for runners around him. And it does actually remind me of Josie, when Josie sort of found that space later in his career where he was throwing stepovers and attacking guys and wanted to move space around for people. And Sargent's been that way since you 17s, right?

Like he jumped from 17s to 20s because he made the team better whether he was ready to play at that level or not. And I think it's something he did at Norwich at his peak, which was sort of like run a lot of the attack from that center forward position. And I thought he would do at Toronto. I think he's gotten more comfortable. I think the runners around him have gotten better, right? They've improved the quality of the players on the field.

Dorch has added a little bit more stability behind him. And I don't know. But if they're going to continue to play this way and Sargent continues to improve, he could be the best player on the field in playoff series. I don't think he can. I think he's a good MLS center forward who maybe could be more than that. But we have two-thirds of a season now. And he has not at any point looked like the guy who could be the best player,

the best player on the field in a playoff series. And you like, you said it at the start of this little bit. on Toronto. It's like it feels like a fever tree. Like do you think that's going to keep going? Like, okay, they have been playing better. They have been getting better results. No question about it. But it feels like a fever. Yeah. And as the schedule sort of evens out and teams get out of the grind and fully into the stretch run, which I think we'll see on the other side of the September window, like I would take, I would take Toronto over DC United. I would, I would take Toronto over DC United. take them over the Red Bulls.

I wouldn't take them over a fully fit NYCFC. I wouldn't take them over Philly or, well, Cincinnati is kind of a coin flip for me. So it's, it doesn't feel like a team that is actually making a charge. They're just not rolling over and dying just yet. Yeah. And fight is. And it should be said, like, Dorch gets her, misses a few games, comes back just as Georgie Mihailovich gets hurt.

and now he's out of month as well. So they have had zero injury luck in getting the guys who are ostensibly their best players on the field together and producing together. So there are some like caveats and asterisks to consider here, but also like how often is anybody's best 11 all healthy all the time. Okay. Let's close out with this, by the way.

So on NYCFC, Alonzo Martinez on the bench, yesterday. So his first time back, obviously was a top four or five finisher in this league before he got hurt. And this was the idea of why they've tried to walk that line of fill the role without permanently filling the role because they want Alonzo Martinez to be the center forward for this team. Could be a huge factor for NYCFC if he comes back. Let me ask you this question and then we can be done. What the hell is going on with Matt Miasga? I have no idea. I'm like, like, you know, getting half service, half the days.

He's doing an exit interview, but he's still on the team. The exit interview for a contract that ends this year after the transfer windows closed. Like, what is the idea behind any of this? I don't know. It feels like there was like a personality based falling out, perhaps. Seems unlikely with a guy who has shown pure emotional stability. Yeah, I mean, the dude's a maniac, right? He's like the worst.

He took the worst card in like MLS playoff history a couple of years ago. He has gotten into it with people basically everywhere he's gone at every level. And his performance on the field this year, he can't move. If you watch him play compared to, you know, two years ago before that devastating injury, which it seems now he's never really going to come back from, he's just a different player and you can't carry him. And I don't know what's going on, like what led to the buyout. but he's never seemed like the type of personality where you could be like,

hey, we're moving you out of the starting lineup into a deep reserve role. Just hopefully you'll provide some steady mentorship for these young guys who are now coming in to take your job. Like if I were to guess, I would say that's probably a conversation that was had and it didn't go well. But that's just a guess. I do not know what happened.

Like Laurel Fowler is on it. Obviously, Tom is, going to be on it. Somebody will break the news eventually and Matt Miazga will almost certainly be a free agent because he's like he was unplayable this year. And not that it's gotten better in the couple of games since he's been out of the lineup. I think since he's been outscored nine nothing the last couple of games. But he like he was not making that team better in any way. Cincinnati lost four zero to Nashville in the last game and they lost five zero to Philly. That was with an early red card to nobado in the game yesterday. And it allowed.

for the Sullivan hype trains to really rev up the highlight reels of like this is the best player in the world, which listen, I'm here for all of it. But when it's against a 10 man opponent for like 60 plus minutes, I think there should be a little bit of an asterisk in the quarter of the highlight reel, but you know, who am I to to turn down clicks? So we will be posting every single in Quinn Sullivan highlight that we can. Also, I think the biggest shock has to be that Philadelphia Union let the Chirilla brothers go out the door to Sinti because it seems like Philly is fueled by brotherly love. They can only have pairs of brothers like the Aronsons. Well done.

Well done. Piers. Thank you. And now the Sullivan's leading the way. So it was a wild weekend of midweek action. I think that was most of the games we sort of touched on as we went through this conversation. It was a record crowd in Chicago, 60 plus thousand for the one one draw. And then one more piece of news to mention from midweek.

Cedric Bacumbu made his debut for San Diego, which I think in my mind was the most random signing of the entire window. And I was watching in the streets of Lima while you guys found out about that one and was loving it and loving the reactions to it as well as a bunch of the other deals. But I hope Tom's enjoying his time off. That's what we're all here for to make sure Tom is feeling good and feeling recharged can come back. He's a Patriots fan, right? So he's probably upset about last night. I know that he has some love there, but I'm pretty sure he just roots for Cam Scadaboo. So whatever team he plays for it, that's who Tom roots for.

And he just follows him around. The spiritual successor to Rob Grancowski. Yeah. I'm in a fantasy football league with Tom now that he organizes. So I might have to be giving weekly updates of what the commissioner Tom is like. The opening was pretty strong. It was a cameo of a guy who impersonates Tony Soprano announcing the list, the draft list. and he just called every single person a jerk off.

There was no originality. It was just the same line over and over and over again. But yeah, so we'll be back next week. We got a lot of good stuff coming up for you. Obviously, we'll have our NWSL coverage, our MLS coverage, national team as well. I think we expect to have a roster to talk about next week coming into this final or into this big fall window, the four games. So we'll talk about all of that stuff. Women's U20 World Cup going on as well.

And we've got a big announcement of some stuff we've been working on here at soccer wise that we're really excited to drop that will be coming out on Monday. So yeah, looking forward to all of it. If you're a Nashville fan in town, I know I'm going to be around hanging out a little bit. So let me know. And if not, well, as long as you're rooting for Cienciano in the Copa suit America, we are all family under the sun. So a big shout out to all of you for listening. And we'll talk to you again. Very, very sweet.