SoccerWise - MLS Week 1 Highlights & Recap w/Andrew Wiebe & Matt Doyle

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

The soccer has finally been played! That means it is time to over analyze and who better to do it with then two of our favorites Matt Doyle (Tactics Free Zone) & Andrew Wiebe coming right out of LA. They talk about the biggest stories of the weekend from Bradley's Baby Bulls, to referee mishaps in Seattle, MVPs getting injured, and much more. They hit on every single game from the weekend so EVERYONE is included.4:52 Michael Bradley MLS Debut w/The Baby Bulls13:37 Worries In Orlando16:31 Niko Tsakiris Takes The Reign's In San Jose20:30 Timbers Army Tifo & Attacking Vibes In Portland/Columbus28:53 LAFC v Miami Extravaganza At The Coliseum38:40 Messi + Hallway & Stairwells Controversy45:38 Evander Injury And What It Means For Cincy51:50 Josh Sargent Latest Transfer News54:50 FC Dallas 2026 Potential56:58 DC United Victorious Champions58:43 Nashville Dominates The Revs1:00:17 Seattle Overcomes Rapids & Refs1:02:10 Sam Vines Cut In Colorado Changing Of The Guard1:03:48 Bright Start For STL1:05:25 Whitecaps Survive Over Real... Monarchs1:07:00 Austin & Minnesota Came To Play In 20261:08:45 Galaxy & NYCFC Underwhelm1:13:30 San Diego Handle MTL1:15:00 CCL Quick Preview

The MLS season is back. Soccer-wise is as well for a huge episode to come out of the opening week of the MLS season in a week, unlike any other, in kickback history. We had like 957 announcements, and we also now have games. We've got stuff to talk about. We've got soccer to watch. We've got everything going on. And we're going to be joined every single Monday all season by Matt Doyle, who you know from Tactics Free Zone. but Matt, we've got a special guest, Hollywood, baby. You know it's a big deal when the Justin Bieber of MLS himself enters the fray. Andrew Webe has found the time to talk to us. You know, it was difficult. My schedule was just a lot of penciled in things, but I made sure to be here. And, you know, speaking of Justin Bieber, I feel a little Bieber-esque.

You know, we're kind of looking like we just climbed out of bed, which is fair on a Monday morning. It's 15 degrees here in Kansas City. took the kids to school, drop down to my incomplete office, didn't take the beanie off. That's how dedicated I am to this craft, to this moment, to making sure everybody knows that the Walmart Saturday Showdown is the place to be every single week. And my God, what a game, boys. What a game we had. Doyle, he's the true pro.

He got a promo in on my show before I got a promo in on my own show. Listen, be ready. Stay alert. Like, that's what's up. If you, yeah, it's, I got to keep that hand up. Yeah, you put a hand down. Watch out. I'm coming for that chin.

I bet you are. We're going to be doing this every single week. So Mondays, we're going to come to you early. At some point, Tom Bogart will join us, but that point is nowhere near. He's currently training his gold medal Olympic winning son to be a professional hockey player straight out the womb. So that will take a little bit of time.

So we're going to let Tom have his space. But Doyle will be here every week. We will give you the recap of the biggest stories of the weekend. We'll get you up to date on everything. you want to know coming out of the big weekends and get you set. You can also now listen to this show on Sirius Radio, 9 p.m. Eastern Time tonight, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We will have the MLS and NWSL show from SoccerW-W-W-S-Show from Soccerwise.

You can go listen to full episodes on-demand because there is a time limit on radio, and we are not ones to stick to said time limit, so it creates more work for our editors. And you can go listen to the full shows on-demand across the serious on-demand player. So the kickback committee will be there as well. Doyle, you're going to be on the show this week, I believe, with Susanna. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that one. Susan and I, you know, we go back a long, long way. Should be good fun.

She had Charlotte Wilder from the sports gossip show on her newest episode of the new show that's going to be coming out on that feed called Open Mic, with a number of sports personalities from around the world who are soccer fans. I mean, maybe not soccer experts. It's a great show. You should follow the sports gossip show. If you don't already, you should listen to that show and then go listen to her on that episode with Susanna.

And then Doyle will be on the show. We had Brianna Pinto last week. We've got Jordan who will be coming back on to the kickback committee as well as some other special co-hosts that we are planning right now. Before we dig into all the soccer, I just wanted to say I'm based here in the U.S. As you guys are, but I think we all sort of have this family. situation in North American soccer with the people in Mexico, in Canada, and many of the other across the region. And with all the violence going on, in Mexico, just wanted to send out

quick thoughts and prayers there. Hopefully, it is able to end soon, but always thinking about all the people that I know across the region and everyone else as well. It's one of the great countries in the world. I love every time I spend time there. I love watching soccer from there. I love engaging with Mexican soccer fans here in the U.S. So just wanted to say that. before we dig into the rest of the show. But we have a lot to dig into. Because of course, Tom, not coming on the show, he's still going to be breaking news,

which is driving me insane. He dropped the Daniel Shalowy News in the middle of our recording on Thursday. Then he comes back with more Josh Sargent News. So we've got that to talk about. We've got TIFOs that happened across the stadiums. We had incredible atmospheres, big performances, big games, coaching debuts, everything. We've got a lot to do.

So let's start with our top things. then we will get into, I promise, we will hit every single game in the show for at least a second as we go along. Let's start with our top things. Webe, you're a guest, so you can go first. Yeah, in a prior life, these might have been the best things that somebody saw. In this case, the best thing I saw was the New York Red Bulls under Michael Bradley. Michael Bradley is my favorite U.S. men's national team player of all time. By far, there's a lot of reasons for that in my little world.

One of them is that, you know, we were kind of the same age. And when I got into soccer, he was coming up and really driving. I remember the U-20 World Cup in Canada and just being like, wait, who is this guy with hair? And then I remember when the hair left, but the skill and the determination and sort of the fascination with, I think, the world stayed there. Like I always followed his career in large part because he's thriving in different places because when he was in Holland, he was speaking Dutch to the media. And when he was in Italy, he seemed to be integrated in Germany and all these different places. And now he's back in what is sort of his old stomping grounds. in New Jersey in a place where his career started where he was the 17-year-old midfielder

playing and thriving and launching his own career. And the moment he gets the big job, the moment he gets put on the sideline at Red Bull Arena, what does he do? He trots out the 16 and 17-year-olds. He trots out the guys that, you know, if you're a casual or a diehard, you might not even know their name. And they thrive and they ball and they win in Orlando. And this is one of those sort of, I've been watching this league.

I've been loving this league for so long moments of full circledom, where you're just sort of like, wait a minute, Michael Bradley is now a coach, and Michael Bradley is playing this kid that I don't really know, frankly. And Dave, you might have to educate me on it in midfield. And I'm like, this kid is incredible. Mementi. Mementi.

Let's start there. Well, listen, in a grand, it's a grand tradition here that I'm following. So it just is really, it just really tickled me. every way. One, because I love Michael Bradley. I want him to thrive as a head coach because that's good for the league. It's good for the New York Red Bulls. Two, these are the things we talked about all the time over so many years. Like play your kids. Give them opportunities. Just see. And in seeing, sometimes it's believing. And I don't know, it's one game. So who knows if it's a year-long thing. Who knows how long it'll last? Who knows how long they'll thrive? Because young players inevitably

have drop-offs. But for one game, at the very, very least, and that's all we have to talk about. It was beautiful. It was fitting. It was poetic. And it was awesome. And it felt like it had a direction. Yeah, it felt like it had a direction. Like Michael Bradley has a way of viewing the game. He had a way of playing the game. And he wanted to impart that on his team. And it also felt like he's here for...

Look, man, I thought Sandra Schwartz seemed like a decent dude. And he... Agreed. Like, they played some pretty good ball. They made it to an MLS Cup. Like, he was not a failure. But he was not going to be the guy who sort of like, revitalize the culture around that team.

And Michael Bradley has real roots with that team. Like you said, Weeby, he was the one at 16, 17 years old, starting in central midfield and, you know, sort of driving the game and trying to tie it all together. That's 20 years ago, more than 20 years ago. Like, he has the roots there. And it feels like there's a sense of permanence in home with him in the big chair.

Like you said, though, it is one game. Orlando looked terrible. They looked terrible in the preseason as well. Their 20-year-old Brazilian centerback, who not a great debut for him. So there is a danger of over-indexing in terms of the results that this group is going to get, the Red Bulls.

I do think that this was a telling 90 minutes in terms of the process, in terms of who's going to be out there executing and in terms of what they want it to look like. ups and downs for sure, but you could not ask for a better first step. I mean, from a pure energy point of view, I texted to Red Bull fans during the game. It was the most fun Red Bull game I've watched at what, six years? Yeah.

Like, not biggest result, not most important, but even the MLS Cup run was like, keep the game tight, keep it slow, and then find your opportunities on long shots. Like, so I think from an enjoyment and experience point of view from Red Bulls fans, on top of what it means big picture and Bradley making his debut and the young kids being good and finally using, you know, pieces of this academy that maybe haven't been used over the last few years and they've gone away from and the quality of these prospects and all of that, just the pure like energy and this is how we're going to play soccer now and we're going to go after games and we're going to be offensive.

And I, you know, been asking the question like, what does this look like? And I think we saw it in this game of like a ton of movement in that final. third, a lot of connection in that final third because I think there's some short passing in there that it's okay if you lose it because that's where you counterpress. And it's similar stuff to what we've seen Wilfred Nancy and his Columbus group do over the past few years of like, this is the fusion of high pressing and high possession is we can take risks and you can close around the ball and you can be options for each other because then it turns into turnovers where you can counterpress and create chances in those spots. So I think that was huge.

I thought it was interesting. I think DAC said it on the broadcast. of like, what are all the kids have in common? They've played for Michael Bradley over the last year. Like, he kind of leaned back on this, which is really interesting way to read, new coach wants safety net and goes with 17-year-old over Shupimoting. Like, the way you read that is,

well, he's got more experience with that kid than he does with the star. But it was so fun to watch. Mehdi, Weeby, I've said over the last few years, best players since Tyler Adams to come out of the academy. On the turn, on, his ability to like, understand space and understand the angles for the ball that comes afterwards and just set it all

up to where it just feels like boom boom boom it's not ponderous it doesn't have it's just it's sort like the processing speed of i can turn here's where the ball goes let's do it just it's it's special and again it's one game it's easy to get hyped about young players but really really fun to watch yeah advanced understanding of like the time and space around him and then the ability to translate that into time and space for his teammates. And that's like that is like the game breaker that you want for a number six. And then the question is going to be, all right, can he do the defensive lift? And if he can, then this is a kid who's going to be starting a lot of games at age 16 and 7.

I think he starts 17 next month. So he'll be starting a lot of games for this team this year as one of the youngest players in the league. Can I also just say to your point, Dave, which I think is absolutely spot on in terms of style of play and how refreshing it is, we were having a conversation. I can't remember who it was the other day before this game on the way to L.A.F.C. Miami. And the question was like, what's the team that you just kind of like,

your shoulders slump a little bit? And you're like, oh, man, I don't really want to watch this. Like, I just, I, and for me it was the Red Bulls. And the reason was because I just, I feel like or felt probably is the better way to put it now, past tense, that I knew what to expect. Like, I knew what. I was going to get. And sometimes when you watch a soccer game or you dive back in and MLS,

like, I just want something different. And even if it isn't fully formed or executed, like I just, I need, I need something new. And I felt like the Red Bulls for many years, you knew. You knew. And now I definitely feel like, hey, I don't think I do. And that's really, really fun. And for it to come from the mind of Michael Bradley and also from this organization to give Bradley that sort of free reign to execute on his vision. And listen, that's what Julian de Guzman and the entire organization said when they hired him. It just feels like, it feels not, is new era the right word? Probably not, but a refreshed era, a refreshed organization. I certainly hope. I certainly hope. I think it feels like a new era to me. It really

does. I was, you know, and again, Orlando were really bad, but it feels like a new era. and I know that in the fan base, it felt like a new era. I have seen people optimistically posting Red Bulls fans who are not optimistic. Yeah, other than like that miracle run to MLS couple years ago, there's not been a lot of optimism in that fan base since 2018, and it feels like there is now. So the big question marks are going to be, in theory, everyone says they played four fullbacks across the back line.

I actually think Justin Che is a centerback. So I'd slightly disagree with that, but either way. Not a ton of experience there. That's going to be one of the pushbacks. And obviously for young players, the ability to do it week to week. That's the whole question mark is as people see tape on you, as people prepare for you, can you do it? On the flip side, let's say before we get out of this game, Orlando, not a great way to start a season. There are some injuries there, but those injuries are long term like a Robin Jensen.

So it's not exactly for this week. Doyle, we questioned this team, I think, when we did the show last week. and sort of did our final preview and not a lot of the answers that we would hope to see were there. So I think this is piece of this. Like great, Red Bulls, awesome game. Went out and got it.

Orlando just looked completely off from the first moment this game started. Yeah, and it was a continuation of their preseason form. And I am worried about this team because Caesar Rojo's gone and he was so important for them over the past few years. Robin Janssen injured and now 34 years old

and you don't know what he's going to look like when he comes back and then look their record with their signings is not good. You know, they hit on some of them but man, a lot of them, especially on that backline and that's compounded by Oscar Pereja being really reluctant to use his academy kits. Now he was forced into it, the defensive midfielder, Guski, I think is how you...

Gusky. Gusky. I thought he was actually pretty good once he came on for Wilder Kartahena, who unfortunately picked up another bad-looking injury. Yeah, he's a good player. So that's one. The right back who came in, who had the primary assist, okay, that's another.

We need to see Tahir Reid Brown at left back because it's not Adrian Marine. It's like he's gotten enough run. He was a huge liability. And Oscar Rehaad needs to rediscover that. that ability within himself to trust the guys that this team has developed. He had it 10 years ago with Dallas. He has lost it somewhere along the way. Personally, I think he was a year too slow in getting Alex Freeman into that lineup.

If Freeman had been on the field in 2024 in the Eastern Conference final, I honestly think Orlando beats the Red Bulls and makes MLS Cup. So like the overhaul, it can come from within and it needs to happen fast because this team looked terrible. the the team we would build of failed sporting kansas city european old centerbacks plus oscar preha left back attempts with f cincinnati second strikers it would just be an elite of names of of who's who's just sometimes people have blind spots and left back seems to be the blind spot for oscar preha on top of everything else that went down in this game griff dorsey was he was sinner baby his feet are in the grass and He's fitting in quick. He's fitting in quick. Orlando man comes home. Let's go to our next big thing, our top thing we saw.

Doyle, you want to talk jerseys for a second. Yeah, I mean, it's, you're going to sense a theme here. The big thing I saw, the best thing I saw was Niko Shakira is wearing the number 10 for San Jose. He got a new contract, U-22 spot earlier in the week. he's wearing the number 10. He was in the heart of that 4-2-3-1, involved in all three goals they scored in their 3-0 win

over sporting Kansas City. Only picked up a secondary assist, but he was running everything for them. And shout out to faithful listener, Mark, in Eastern Massachusetts. I know he's clocking this one because he has been texting me about mentioning Nico Shakira's

in every single piece of content I've done for the past month. But I love watching this kid play. I think he's a more mobile Jack McGlynn. And we've all seen how good Jack McGlynn has been for the past two years. And how on mobile he is. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, huge performance for him.

Listen, I'd expect San Jose to beat SKC at home. That doesn't mean it's not exciting. That doesn't mean it doesn't start to feel like something new. No, Timo Verner in this one. A bunch of injuries as well to some of the new pieces or some of the pieces we thought would be crucial. so big for San Jose to at least put the performance on the field that they'd expect of themselves and be able to at least get the home win and where they fell in the standings last year, every point would have mattered.

So beating SKC at home actually is huge for this team and a really good start for them. And took a couple minutes. And then once they started flowing, it felt like all of a sudden it was like a river coming down, down the hill at this SKC team, which I think might be bad. We'd be sorry. Yeah, it's a, it's a distinct. possibility, isn't it? It's a distinct possibility.

I felt the moment of John Polskamp taking his frustrations out on the post might unfortunately be a bit of a theme for Kansas City. You kind of, the writing is not just on the wall. It's on a big billboard. And, you know, David Lee and Rafiiki have both sort of put their marks on that billboard, whether it's David Lee saying that this offseason didn't go the way that they wanted to. And we knew it was a multi, multi window rebuild but you know that's not the start that you wanted in that sense from your new

GM and then you know raffa wiki's been saying basically all preseason of like hey be patient we are we are nowhere close to being what we need to be um yeah i think you're you're looking at a team that's that's going to be swimming upstream to use your analogy for most of the season no doubt yes my failed analogy into a wevey analogy then back to me we are in midseason form like Thomas Aviolay is picking up a red card on week one, baby. The final stats, by the way, if you don't on Blue Sky, follow MLS analytics. You should. Cat Push, put all these together.

San Jose Earthquakes 2.9 XG, sporting cases C, 0.5. There was a few blowouts this weekend. That is as big as any of the ones we saw, but a great start for San Jose in this one. For my best thing I saw, I wanted to go Timbers Tifo on this. The cassette tape going inside. of the boom box was absurd, and I don't understand, was there someone hanging off the rafters,

pulling it down so it could get in? Whatever was going on was absurd. I hadn't watched a home Portland Timbers game in a little while, and you remember that it's one of the best atmospheres to watch a game from afar, let alone being there in person, and this game was a vibe. Both these teams cannot defend.

There is zero world in which either of these teams can close things down and defend, but they've both got fun. attackers. So this was like end of the night. You're watching L.A.F.C. Miami. That's the big game sponsored by who we be. Walmart. Oh, yeah. That tiny little company back there. So I had that game on and I put, you know, Portland, Columbus on my computer in front of me and I couldn't look up from it. Wesumabwe at least scores early. Obviously my guy, Christoph, Christoph Veld, taking everyone on every single time he touches the ball. I don't know, Philippe Amour sort of playing as a 10, which made no sense to me.

but worked at times in places. Anthony shoots from everywhere. Like the whole game was a vibe. Max Arfston will take everyone on as well. But it was fun and you felt the energy inside the building. And I put Portland, I think seventh preseason, maybe eighth. I don't feel any differently about them, but they're worth watching for the thing they're good at.

And they're worth watching for the thing they're bad at every single time they're on. That stadium, I think if I had to choose, you say, you get one game. You get one game to go show somebody Major League Soccer and then to lock them in. That stadium, big game, opening day, that might be the one man. Like, because just the way, the way it sort of, it sucks you in in terms of how it's located, not just in the location of the city, but the way it's just surrounded by life and neighborhood and you can turn a corner and you see a streetcar and boom,

it's rising up in front of you and you go in. And with the new stand, the way it just has scale in so many ways, it feels so integrated into Portland and the fans feel so Portland that I think if I had to choose one spot to go and try to convert somebody, that might be the one. And I would definitely be taken over the 107th,

you know, bar around the corner of the supporters. And when you see that TIFO, the first thing I thought was, I know where that was made. And it's made literally 100 feet from the corner of the stadium and this supporter created, like Shangri-La heaven.

It truly is that way. Like you go in, you can go drink some beers before the game and go get, you know, some great, you know, the most beautiful scarf you've ever seen that truly reflects the city and the fan base. And then go watch a game in a place where the history of it is not in doubt in any way. And the passion is so, I mean, just so contagious. And then hell yeah, Timber is like, just throw it forward, baby. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Why not? Yeah. Yeah.

Doyle has an official. He's actually made his first official sponsor. sponsorship for branding purposes. And it is just any game Columbus plays against Portland. So, yes. First of all, yes, because Columbus were fun and chaotic as well. And the new coach, Henry Gridsstrom, afterwards, like, he sounded like he was a man, like a character from one of the more depressing Ingmar Bergman films of the 50s,

Swedish cinema, which was great. I really enjoyed that. But also, look, we're going to talk a lot probably on this show, and every show that covers MLS over the next year or two is going to talk a lot about the twilight of the Leo Messi era, right? Because we're in the last hundred whatever games of his career. And we should all appreciate that because he's that like he is the greatest player in the history of the game. We are also going to talk on this show about the twilight of the Diego Chara era. The work that this man put in in this game trying to tie all these disparate parts of Portland

together on both sides of the ball. Like, I think he won a 50-50 at the top of the box for Portland's first equalizer. And then 70 minutes later, you know, it is the 88th minute, whatever it is. He's tracking back 80 yards to make a clutch defensive stop that then turns into the winner with that ridiculous header from Kevin Kelsey into Ariel Lasseter's pat. It was, I can't believe that man is almost 40 years old. I just cannot believe he keeps. doing it. And like he's still a top 10 defensive midfielder in MLS and he showed it on this game.

And in Colbett, like he and Cole Bassett were sympathico immediately because Colbassett is a chaos agent as well. So it's like these guys just covered. I was going to say every blade of grass, but like, you know, every piece of turf. It is not, to me, it's not like the ideal soccer to watch, but it is fun. And like you should be able to appreciate what they're doing. And I think the challenge for Phil Neville and this entire team over the course of the season, used to take that chaos and add just a little bit more control to it. And maybe when Davy DeCosta comes back, they get some of that because I think they do want it to be like a 4-2-3-1

with a little bit of structure in midfield. But for the time being, a chaotic 3-2 win, another five-goal game to start the season for Portland. I think it's like the third or fourth in a row. It's a tradition at this point. Can I just add one little nugget on the crew side that I think sometimes we we take this guy for granted. Diego Rossi is quietly becoming one of the best players

in the history of Major League Soccer. Like, truly, truly. Think about... Your thought is if he stays, right? He plays the rest of his career. Playoffs included, he has 93 career goals. Yeah. Tell me a season he was in Major League Soccer

where he wasn't either completely elite or second tier elite in this league. Why do you think I draft him the Golden Boot draft literally every year? It was extremely smart. It was extremely smart. It's a guarantee. We talked about Cucho so much and rightfully so.

But Diego Rossi is this quiet, just Uber effective, constantly available presence. And I just want to make sure that when we're talking about the crew and we're talking not just about the present, but also the past of Major League Soccer that Diego Rossi's name comes up because he is a piece on some of the best teams of all time in this league and not just a piece. Like if not the primary piece, one A. 1A he's been the best 1A in the list for a long time so cucho etc i hear you that that that's where that conversation goes which is when coo left there was not the assumption that diego rossi would elevate him be cucho because he can't which is fair because he's one of that can be like a 25 goal contribution guy every year basically yeah and and that is what he's been so good at and

being consistent at and i think to his credit the flexibility of being a guy who puts up big numbers but being willing to fit around the other guy on his team is a matter massive part of why he's really important and it's why he makes sense in a place like Columbus on Diego Charra before we move on. So this was his 400th career Portland Timbers start, which is insane. So he's ninth all time in MLS in appearances. Above him is five goalkeepers or sorry, four goalkeepers, five field players. None of them played for one team. Like that's the part that is my blowing. If you take Kyle Beckerman, I think that's the first person everyone goes to, start a hundred and forty eight or appeared 148 times for other teams besides Real Salt Lake.

So like not only does he make the appearances, he starts all the games. He has started 400 of the 426 he's played in and he's done it all with one team, which also happens to play on turf, which is not exactly the point of this comment, but is all the more impressive and like absurd with what he's done. And that's a guy who will go in the MLS all-timer conversation for short. Congrats to Cole Bassett on his debut for Portland Timbers. He was really good. This is a great system.

for him. The cast system. Open field, running forward, runners in front. Perfect. So there's two points I want to make from this one real quick. First of all, I'm just going to keep an eye on the Cole Bassett sale from a Colorado point of view, because this could end up being one that we talk about as like Colorado trading Kyle Beckerman 20 years ago and what a disaster that ended up being for them as an organization because my God, could they have used Col Bassett this weekend? And the second one is, I didn't feel great about Columbus's first game post-Darlington Nagby. It is just 90 minutes. It is, we don't want to read too much into it too fast.

But if you want something to keep an eye on out of this from Columbus, like it is that. Like solving for that is going to be the work of the season for Hendrikstrom and the rest of that coaching staff. All right. Let's go into the headlines of the weekends. We're going to do this every week. the biggest games, biggest moments to get you up to date as you go into the week.

And if you miss games, you can pretend you watch them and text friends and be like, oh, I can't believe this happen, of course, stud or loser, whatever it is. And we're going to start in your hometown. We were going to start in Hollywood, baby. We're going to Olympics. We're going as big as humanly possible with LAAFC against Inter Miami. 3-0 win for L.AFC. Yes, you heard that right.

3-0 win over the reigning MLS Cup champions in front of 75,000. people, I think, the official report and some change in the Coliseum, which is directly behind LAFC's home stadium. So it was the Rose Bowl. Directly above 500 miles away and some doorways, you know, the Coliseum, it has a lot of, a lot of places. Every Coliseum is like that. I mean, it doesn't matter what iconic city it's in every Coliseum is like that. Yeah, I'll just, what I'll say to start this off is, you know, I had an amazing year last year on Sunday night soccer. and to sort of get a kickoff this year on Saturday nights with Jake and Taylor and in this sort of environment,

it was one where, you know, I was asked pregame, do you have goosebumps? And I actually was like, man, this is more than goosebumps. And I'm going to educate soccer-wise just a little bit. Maybe Doyle knows this. Dave, I'd be shocked if you did, I didn't. Do you know what Frisson is? Anybody know what Frisson is?

No, never even heard that. Frisson is like the step above goosebumps. Is this German? Is this like shining for you? It sounds like it. It could be. sounds like it's like a full body chills dopamine rush that's often associated with like noises like music or a certain like where you just sort of are so immersed in something that your whole body

reacts to it that's what it felt like just stepping onto the pitch at the colosseum and i've never been there before i've seen the outside when you see the outside you're sort of like yeah it's huge but the inside is different the inside makes you feel like it makes you feel like you're sort of living history because you literally are. I went back and read the night before, before going into this incredible MLS regular season matchup that I think you could put up against any in history. And I was like, oh my God, this is one, more than 100 years old. Two, it hosted an Olympics literally 100 years ago. Imagine that sort of sport happening on these very same sort of pathways and tunnels and fields that we're now going to go on to. And then I got in there and I'm looking

around and Sun is there and Messi is there and Beckham is there and the champions are there and this huge force that I think is going to be one that's incredibly difficult to reckon with in LAFC is trying to protect their home turf and then 75,000 people jam into the thing and my first thought was one there's no better way to kick off this this new sort of marquee game in the Walmart Saturday showdown and two how lucky am I I was thinking back to games I've been to and I often do this what measures up in a regular season to that. And one that jumped out to me was the Red Wedding, Red Bulls game, New York City at Yankee Stadium because of the history and the building, less so because it's the new Yankee

Stadium, but still, you still feel that. And also the scale of it and also the importance of it in terms of the rivalry. This one just felt like I've seen MLS in a lot of forms. And this is like the super saying form of all of this. And then LAFC, though they wanted to possess the baldoyle, they just kind of went back to old habits and they were frustrated about it. They were mad. I talked to Andy Rose at halftime and he was like,

we have to have more of the ball. We have to dominate this game more with the ball. Mark Dosanto said before the game, that's who we want to be. We want a shift from that team that kills you always in transition to when it presents itself, we kill you in transition,

but we can dominate you with the ball. And in the end, it didn't even, it didn't matter because they're still just so dominant without the ball. Yeah, Dos Santos said as much in the post game. He was like, I'd be lying if I said that the second half went according to plan. We wanted to have much more of the ball. But we also knew that if we could stay solid and deep, then space would open up because Miami has to push numbers forward because we were up 1-0.

And so he was comfortable with it, but he wasn't happy with it. And he was really honest about the amount of work that they need to do to become the team that they want to be. But this is also why we all think they're going to be so good. because like on the way to becoming the team they want to be, they have this identity already that makes them clearly one of the two or three best teams in the league. And Sun was awesome and Boanga was incredible. Sorry Anders.

And Sun was not at his best. Like I don't think that was as tight. That's certainly nowhere as tidy as we've seen him in the past. Yeah. But he still is, um, Superstar in every way in that he Even when he's not tidy even when he's not as best He's like raising the level of the players around him

Including just like laying this perfect ball in for David Martinez to To score the opener as two goals and two games for Davy Martinez and we be nearly identical goals Nearly you were telling me that this is Obviously they want the goals for him from him, but if you go back and you watch that game You see Martinez coming inside it's nominally a four three three but he He's actually on the right wing coming inside to function as a number 10 because he has that ability to hit the final ball and play Sun and Bawanga through. And that was something you were saying. The coaches were harping on him about.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, the phrase that you're hearing from Xavier Tamarit over and over in that game and from Andy and from Mark is Al Dendro, Al Dantro. David, Al Dendro, come to the center. Come inside. Anytime the ball is on the other side, they want him inside. And the attacking shape for L.A.F.C. this year is going to be a third. three, well, at least now. Let's not, let's not take it the whole year, but a three, two, four one. And so in that four, that's where you see Polencia push up into that really high and

kind of a little bit of what you see from the crew at times where you have players like all across the back line high. And when that happened consistently, when they had the ball long enough to get Martinez pushed inside to get Palencia up, the amount of confusion between Noah Allen and Talasco Sogovia and then Javier Maserato on the side, yes. yelling at them, trying to get them organized. It's impossible to figure out where to go when Martinez starts to come inside and drift because he can go in behind you. He can tuck in if he gets the ball.

Now, Palencia, you've got to go with Palinca on the right-hand side. Otherwise, it's an easy switch out there. And there's a cross to Buongan Sun running. It's really difficult to deal with. I have been doubtful whether or not he can play inside because I think when the ball turns over, he still just doesn't have high-level defensive instincts and sometimes high-level defensive effort. but his attacking ability and talent is so freaking high

that you have to find a way to get him in more impactful positions than just stuck on the wing. And for LAFC, I thought Taylor did a good job of sort of distilling this down of like, we know what the guarantee here is. Son and Belonga are probably both going to be in the 30 to, I don't even know what the top end ceiling of this goal contribution zone is. If you can get David Martinez to be an engaged, productive part of this,

and then you're still bringing guys off the bench like Ordaz and Abobacy and Tyler Boyd and on and on. It's an absolute freaking nightmare because the talent level is as good I think we've ever seen in Major League Soccer. And that's what I was thinking watching these two teams was like on paper and right now we're still in the on paper mode. These two teams I think are probably the best that we've ever seen. Now Miami on paper is still very much on paper as we saw. And I had a good conversation with Javier Morales before the game. And one thing I asked him to do, because I love McAelle, I asked him just compare McAil to Hamas and Alave for me.

Just two best 11 centerbacks that you've seen over the years. And he said, Mikhail on the ball is better than Homison, much better. He will help us build, being left footed is a real win for us. He said, but nobody compares to Homison in the open field. Homison's speed and recovery ability, he was the fastest player in MLS in the years that he was here and at his peak. Mikael is a very good player, a very good defender,

very good 1v1 defender. He does not have that same high-end speed. And I thought at times we saw that in this game. And it wasn't just him. It's, it's, you know, I think it's probably the whole back line,

to be honest with you. And Ian Frey had trouble with Deni Bologna. Ain't no surprise is there. I thought Rodrigo de Paul come out over the sideline and basically being like, hey, you should probably sub this guy was a little bit over the line because then when Murrah comes in,

it's not like, alert alert someone's struggling with denny bea long in open space it's like oh yeah like yeah it's i don't think that's i don't think that's ian fray's fault necessarily but there's a lot for havier morales to work on and he spent much of this game pretty frustrated pretty frustrated and probably no more so than that second goal which is just a disaster class all around i like that we're just alluding to the fact that havier maserano is not coaching the team it's just hobby no no masherano is restaurant but i you know i had to talk with the legend you know i don't care you know i'm a nerd level you know i'm a nerd

like that because marsh was on the phone screaming into we talked to mosh too we understand um i said it when they signed eustacio i've said it all off season i think the whole possession thing should be that when teams do bunker on them they will be better at breaking them down i don't think you have to change your dna if it's successful i think you're adding another piece and why i like usakio in this team is he still helps the thing they're best at which is he gets them out in transition and he's good at getting them into transition i thought you saw you saw you saw sparks of that in this game. So incredible crowd, huge performance for LAFC, big game, obviously, two of the teams that people have as favorites. And then there's always going to be postgame action

when Messi's around. He does not seem like losing is an ideal situation for the greatest player of all time. We saw it in Leaks Cup last year. We've seen it some other times as well. We even saw it in winning against NYCFC in the Eastern Conference Finals with Maxine Orellas. And then all of this comes out after the game, which was some reporters in the tunnel with some footage of Messi trying to go into what was presumed to be the referee's locker room in the Coliseum. And then that's sent off a whole firestorm as well. You better believe FC Cincinnati fans were feeling wronged by something Inter Miami did. They brought Matt Miyazga back in.

That's a shock and a curveball of the year. And then we get reports that MLS is investigating and that there's no belief that he went into that locker room. and all of that. You were there, so you want to hit us first on this? I wasn't there for the actual incident, so I can't say anything about what that happened.

I can tell you what that tunnel area is like. First of all, it's absolutely freaking massive. Like this stadium to go to our sort of comparison to the literal Coliseum in Rome, like it's catacombs and it's giant and it's massive. That's a hallway. That's a hallway leading to a lot of different places that they're showing there, those doors.

If pro is coming out, and openly saying this didn't happen, I'm going to, I'm going to agree with pro. It's like, and I know that that is not like the direct door. I know that's not like the direct door to the referee's locker room either.

But anytime you see Leon Messey frustrated like that and Suarez involved, like that's just going to be red meat video. You know, that's what it is. And it's good, you know, it's interesting. There's no doubt about it. It gives you a little snippet into the mind

of the best player of all time and the best player in Major League Soccer by far. And it was a frustration. for messy. And not just in terms of the collective, but also I think, you know, he was, he was not at his absolute best, even though he still had four or five moments where you're like, my God, nobody else can do what you do. He, he does, like, I've, I've been, it's an honor to be on the sideline and watch him from the distance that I've been able to watch him so many times over the last year and a half. Messi smolders in a way that no one else smolders. Like, you can tell

he's really frustrated or mad. But not through his like body language or face. It's just kind of like this internal bonfire that you can just kind of feel where you're like, after that second goal you felt it. After the third goal certainly felt that he was hanging out on the sideline just like right by me, not doing the thing where he doesn't move and waits.

And I was just like this dude is he is not happy about the way this went down. So I wasn't surprised to see him in the tunnel showing a high level of competitive fire. Like that doesn't surprise me at all. I'd actually be surprised by the opposite if he was just kind of shrugging his shoulders and strolling into the locker room.

So, you know, this team wants to win everything. They expect to win everything. And having a blip like that right before you start Concorda Calf, the thing that you want to win most in front of 75K as the defending champions, yeah, you think he'd be happy? He's going to smolder.

And then it might erupt a little bit. As our chat so kindly pointed out, why is Luis Suarez holding him back from entering a hallway that enters a hallway that enters a hallway is a little bit of the conversation. He can't be punished for anything he didn't actually do, which is back to the Matt Miasga story of like he walked into the referee's locker room. That's the thing that happened.

That's what he was punished for. This is not minority report. You're not punished for the intent. And I'm in favor of every fan being mad. To be perfectly clear, to be clear, we have no idea what the intent is. And not liking it and being annoyed and all of that. But he could not be punished if it didn't actually occur.

That's Suarez just seeing the. the game two steps ahead. He's been there before, right? Have your boys never held you back? Have you never been in a situation where they're like, whoa, ho, ho, whatever you're doing now, you're a little too heated, like, the weird thing about me is on the field always, I was actually calm,

and it was the people holding me back. Correct. Oh, yeah. And that's when I got in trouble. And if no one had done anything to me to me. And if Tom was here, he would tell you the same. I never would pick up a yellow card a day of my life. If my teammates didn't make mistakes and try and escalate those situations.

Adult league referees love to see you come. They love to see me coming. So obviously, huge moment, huge results. It seems like Messi will be available to go to Orlando. The Orlando fans in the chat are already talking about the fact that he's doing everything he can to not have to travel to Orlando as he never has before. Orlando fans, you might that. I don't know. You want that.

After seeing that defense, I'm not sure I would want to see it on that scene. It would be amazing to see who was the point of the attack if he was. was not to play in a game, but it's messy. We thought he was hurt. He was going to travel and then he plays the full line. Can I say also? Don't question that side of it. I think you're going to seal.

They're going to go back to Ayyinde and Bertrami as sort of these these slashers basically. Yes. With Miami with with messy as a false. I think that is pretty clearly a better and more effective way for them, for them to play. But I also didn't think Bertharame was at his very best. And I really should not surprise anybody.

This dude didn't have his visa until this week. He had not trained with them on U.S. soil. He had played with them in South America and been pretty effective doing it. I still think he is a really, really sort of perfect option in terms of his profile in front of Messi. But, you know, to expect him to snap his fingers and have everything figured out with this group immediately is probably an overreach. So, a little patience. for the good of all RSL fans in the chat who want you to go watch

a Lucas Moisa tackle that was not called a red card for the meal sabi you're going to go do instant replay thank you so much for me I had a great time I hope to be here every Monday with you guys to talk the Walmart Saturday showdown that means there's zero chance it's going to happen listen I said I hope

you know we all have match day one we always everybody has hopes and dreams some of them come to fruition we're all tied for first place but by the way the Walmart Saturday showdown does go to the beautiful city of Salt Lake City on Saturday. We have R.S.L. and Seattle, which I am absolutely juiced for. Sad that Jordan Morris doesn't appear that he will be a part of that in more ways than one.

You know, my flyer at the end of the golden boot draft there took a little bit of a knock there. But, you know, just like Jordan. But I think he's going to come back strong and we're going to go double digits. So looking forward to that match. And grateful to be here. By the way, I came on to talk L.A.F.C. Miami. And I was so delighted and felt like a warm embrace that it took us 30 minutes to get there.

You know, that just, that's, that's beautiful to me. It's just a 10 minute, just a 10 minute appearance. Yeah, we'll be in or not real quick. Yeah. I would stay forever if I could, but Red Wine Rich is hollering at me to come record instant replay, which you can catch on YouTube and on Apple TV where all the MLS games are this season. And that is my close, folks.

I am out. See you guys. Have a good show. See you, weaves. The next big story I wanted to hit, not from a soccer point of view, but from a story point of view, uh, was Cincinnati, Atlanta, Cincinnati 2-0 win at home over Atlanta, probably pretty expected for many. people. But Evander went down.

10 minutes into this game, non-contact, off the end of the field, holding what looked like his hamstring was subbed out in the 11th minute, replaced by Dado Valenzuela, who played well, which I guess headline story of the weekend is the kids are pretty good across the league. That was a lot of what happened. But this is an MVP finalist, Doyle, and it's as big news as we have in this league that a guy like this goes down in this way in the opening game. Yeah, he's an MVP caliber talent. Dave, let me ask you this, though.

Does his team necessarily play better when he's out on the field? And I know I'm being Bobby. You're literally being Bobby. Yeah. I'm giving Bobby right here. But like, we don't have proof, right? Like, he's so, he's so available. In his MLS career, we don't really have proof of his team being better without him.

And I come back to on some of these things, one, it's a salary cap leap. So if he's not on the field, that's just a huge part of your roster build that's unavailable. and I think with the Cincinnati team I would probably fall on I don't think they're going to be free flowing with or without him. So if you're not going to be and it's chance creation and being efficient.

They were pretty, no, they were pretty free flowing in that second half. They look really good. Yeah, that's fair. But Atlanta kind of held them down in the first half and the second half they figured out some spacing. Look, man, Dado Valenzuela is not a traditional number 10.

He's not going to crack open a team with a touch the way Evander does, but Evander is always coming to the ball, which means you always have to play through him. Like that is the alpha and omega of the game model. With Dotto, he's always looking for space. He always is thinking about like the field around him. And that allowed Samuel Gidey to play a little bit more. I think it helped with POTO.

The goal was literally Dotto picks up in a weird area. So he pulls a defender who doesn't know why he's there. And it's a quick first touch. It's the header down. He doesn't try and take it down and use it. And then all of a sudden that Kaniki is in space. because of that. So I fully get what you're saying. I mean, we're ready to have a disc, let's have a discourse, right? Let's get Charles Barkley up here. Let's have a deep conversation

about this. It just seems hard to believe for me that this team is going to be better without a guy who's like automatic 35 goal contributions every season. Me too. I just hope they don't rush him back. I want to get 270, 360 more minutes of data on what this team looks like with Dotto playing in that role. And maybe if they have that, maybe it makes it easier for Pat Noon and to come to Evander and say, hey, you give us so much on the ball. Here's where we want to give you a little bit more off the ball. And then Evander will say no.

And then they'll sell him to Corinthians for $20 million. And, you know, it'll be Dotto. It might be better than I thought they were going to trade Dotto to Montreal for 450K plus a sell on, 20% sell on. I will tell you this. I will tell you this. they had offers of three times that this offseason. I know for a fact that there are other teams worth two million in a cash.

And Cole Bassett is Cole Bassett is better. Then yeah, I think Dato should be up there. He was one of the great young performances of this week. Week one is always kind of weird like this of like people aren't available. Visas are not done. People have not moved yet. Like all of these weird things where we see players step in. I think in past years it's more often been.

college draft picks, unknown end to the roster. It felt like the cool part of this weekend was. It was Academy kids who maybe wouldn't have been considered ready in the past. And Cooper Sanchez was one of them in this game for Atlanta. And I thought that was awesome for this Atlanta team where I thought he was one of the brightest pieces of this game. Agreed. Agreed. He plays without fear.

He's not soft. If you look at that Atlanta team, a lot of them, especially in midfield, are pretty soft. I didn't think Sanchez was. I didn't think Thomas Jacob was either. I'm also not convinced he's actually a midfielder. Tata Martino has a lot of work to do. There's a reason they're being linked to a half a dozen Brazilian or Argentinian veteran midfielder's.

But this team, I'm not necessarily convinced all three DPs are still going to be on this roster a month from that. Lati Loth misses a breakway. The whole reason he was bought. The whole reason. This is like he didn't even take a shot. You have to take a shot to miss. He didn't even get the shot away.

That was brutal. Al-Mirone just doesn't have a sixth gear anymore. And it wasn't a part of his game. It was the crucial piece of his game. Like his technique and decision-making at high speed was what made him great. It wasn't just speed. But all of it was happening at 110 miles per hour. And when you take that speed away, it's really hard to see how he's a difference maker.

And then Marantra, coming back from injury, didn't get the start, comes in later on. I mean, we've already seen two years of him. The names, by the way, on the 85 players you mentioned, connected to them is Matthias Galarza, who is a Paraguayan 24-year-old international currently at River, who Tom is reporting is connected to this team, and then C.L. Merlo, so obviously, secondary report on this, because not the goat.

Tom is reporting that Atlanta has approached Gremeo about Franco Cristolato, a 29-year-old Argent attacking midfielder. Cristaldo. Christaldo. So a 29-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder. He's made five appearances so far, 165 since 2023 with Gremio. The main reason I want to say that is I went and looked it up. Brazilian teams just play so many fucking games.

It's crazy. He has played 54, 59, and 47 games in the three seasons since he's been at Gremio and five appearances so far this year. I mean, one's more of, I think Garlaz is a bit more of a winger. And then the other is a bit more of a 10. So you'd assume there has to be a buyout in there somewhere with this team to fit all of this in the roster. It also means there's less playing time for someone else who's a part of this team. Let's talk transfers again before we just talk through all the games.

And Toronto FC, it sounds like Josh Sargent is finally done. Tom reporting the number, it's basically going to be, I mean, it's going to be a record for Toronto we already knew. It looks like it's going to be north of $22 million, guaranteed with sell-on and or sorry, with add-ons and all of that potentially even pushing it higher. Toronto went to Dallas and lost three, two in this game. Daniel Shallowie making his debut for the squad off the bench. But it's what we've been waiting for. You and me scramble to readjust our preseason standings right when we finally

felt like this news was official on Friday. Yeah. Let me ask you, the way Latte Laath has struggled in MLS and he and Sergeant were roughly equivalent in terms of production for a couple of years there in the championship, Does that give you pause on Toronto's behalf about spending this much money on Sergeant? I think it's an overpay. It's not my money and I don't really care. It doesn't worry me because Late Loth did one thing well and he's not doing that thing well.

And I think Josh Sargent's a better soccer player. I think Josh Sargent is the point of the attack in a way for this team. I think he's a guy you play through. I would say, and this is a perfect cum, I think he will look more like Petzar Musa in Major League Soccer than he will Late Loth. I don't think he's head. high praise, high praise coming from you, man. I don't think he will hang on the back shoulder and try and finish chances you create for him. And Lata Lath's not even doing that.

And I get the idea of like, if Patrick Ajumann goes there and scores a bunch of goals and Lathloth comes here for a lot of money and struggles, have we figured out where the championship lies? But clearly, Sargent's better than championship. Like he played in the Premier League. He had offers from the Bundesliga again. He is clearly a better player than that level. I also think he's a different player. and that's the part that worries me a little bit less. Yeah, I think that's fair.

They still need a lot of work on that roster, though. They showed it this weekend against F.C. Dallas. My Michael Collotti, goalkeeper of the year, agenda is off to a pretty tough start. I was going to do it. I had it in my notes, but didn't put it in the shared notes. I mean, my Urugide defender of the year actually feels fine because he might have 10 goal contributions. He had a second. He stepped into midfield and almost created two more chances.

So listen, isn't that what is in goal scoring what we base it all on? Yeah, we should, right? We absolutely should. Johansen looks the part. He fouled starting an MLS career against Richie Leraa is brutal of like he will catch you on everything and he'll get you in the ref's face and now you're losing it. But he, I think he covered the most ground in this game. He tried to be aggressive.

Logan Farrington. I mean, it's a gift on the turnover, but the goal is. special for a kid who's what a full-time starter for now eight months oh i yeah i think he's a full-time starter for good i think the chemistry he and musa have together and uh i think look i do think colati's going to be okay maybe he won't be as spectacular as he was down the stretch last year i think the back line is you know good enough i don't think it's one of the best groups in the league the question about fc dallas is going to be can this new guy valiante um be their number 10 and if not do they have the juice to go out there and actually get a DP number 10 because they do have

that spot open. And if they are able to add a high level, not necessarily MVP caliber, but like a high level guy to do the creation around them, free Musa up to be more of a creature of the box. This, I mean, the ceiling for this team is definitely top four in the West. And then they might actually be more dangerous in the playoffs because that number 10's a match winner and Moosa's a match winner and Farrington develops into a match winner and Bernie Camungo and you know, Johansson.

Like it suddenly works on a small scale or small is not the right word in a limited tournament in a way probably like there's going to be more ups and downs during the regular season just because you need more depth than that. I was watching the first half and I'm like this is the problem like buildouts, Musa's in his own half trying to turn and play long balls over the top to Farrington. this this doesn't work then he played a long ball over the top to farrington that led to the second goal for them but that's where you don't want him like you want him to be the one on the end of stuff you want two of them to be on the end of stuff

and that's the question um for this dallas team if sergeant can get done it would be massive for for toronto um as you said it still felt a little shaky but if you put him at center forward now that's another solid piece that you have shallowie you assume is close to being a starter because he's been playing in preseason it's just new to the team So that's two pieces you bring in and it solidifies things for this group as well, but a big start for Dallas. All right, we're going to do these as quick hits. So we've assigned each game to start on for the rest of this game because we wanted to hit everyone in week one. And this is the fun part.

Like all of this theory, all this BS we talk about. Now we got to see some of it play out. And we got to start with the most exciting team of week one. We have to start, Doyle with D.C. United. Yeah, 1-0 winners over Philly. I'm not going to say they were the most exciting team, but they were coherent. They had a game plan and they executed it. They play like an old-fashioned 4-4-2 from the 90s.

You know, they hit a million diagonals trying to spread Philly out because Philly still use that really narrow and compact 4-2-2-2. Ty Borribo did a good job finishing off the game's best chance, which came off of really good hold-up work from Gabriel Pirani who didn't do basically anything else. But like this was an exercise in D.C. being bought in, being competitive, and not being easy meat for a good team, which is like complete opposite

of what they've been for almost this entire decade. So like, well done to them. Three deserved points. Reassessing my priors already. Definitely reassessing my priors on the union a little bit. Their new guy, Aladow, got sent off for, you know, I think he might have directed a little bit of hate speech on, was it the center of...

Bartlett. His name Bartlett. Yeah. That's what it sounded like. And if you go back and you watch the clip, like he clearly says something and Bartlett like immediately gestures at the ref. And the ref is like, yeah, it's a red card. So there might be more coming for him. Philly gave, Philly sold transferred away four of their best players.

And they looked like a team that did exactly that. Yep. This is every, the whole weekend, every game is, well, I feel good about that pick. And I feel terrible about that pick. This one was I feel good about dropping Philly, bad about not having DC maybe a little bit higher. This one I felt great about Nashville destroyed the New England Revolution 4-1. I picked them as my MLS Cup winner. Literally, I wrote left no survivors, wipes the floor with the New England Revolution.

Like, you start this game and it's like, I'm excited to watch, you know, Espinoza and in Concaf Champions League. They didn't play the full group. So seeing how it works out, and they just tore through this New England Revolution side. A rev side that it was not full strength, especially at the centerback position, which should be noted. But, you know, as a lifelong Madrigal, diehard fan, this was a big day for me. Coming in off the left wing, attacking space, floating throughout the game to pick up different areas. It was a dream start for the young Costa Rican international who was like, and also ran in terms of all the moves we've talked about that we like for Nashville. This wasn't a key one, which is a step forward for Nashville.

of each move of every young international doesn't have to be like the whole team hinges on them. It's all bonus. But you saw why this team's great. Serge scores goals, Honey scoring goals and Espinoza's ability now with two guys in front of him who pulls some space, just pick his head up and pick out passes when he wants to.

Yeah, if Espinoza is going to play like that, which he has for like five years. So he's a pretty good bet. And Madrigal is going to be dangerous as well. Then this team is going to be a problem. question whether they have the depth to compete for a trophy across multiple competitions and they have some work to do in

Concaf Champions Cup midweek but you couldn't ask for a better start from Nashville. You couldn't ask for a better start from Seattle two nil winners over Colorado and frankly the ref who had a shocker and I hate talking about reps so I'm just going to leave

at that like this I don't know that you can leave it at that it was so bad he smothered the game man it was a fun exciting game for 12 minutes and then this guy became the centerpiece um and i i don't want to belabor it beyond that it was it was a disappointing way to end the the weekend it was also a disappointing game for seattle even with the win because jordan morris left early with a non-contact injury who knows what that is um and then hasani dotson got a concussion just before the half, 12 minutes of first half stoppage, by the way. And like, like that, Seattle just can't catch a break,

but they're so good at developing players through their academy and through Tacoma, that they have the depth anyway. Snyder Brunell came on for Dotson. It was really good. Paul Rothrock came on for Morris and was man of the match. And it was just the gap between Seattle and Colorado, we all thought was huge going into it.

And that was... If you haven't watched it, you have to go watch the opening goal for Seattle. Paul Rothrock goes into the corner, saves a ball, flies into the boards, hits it into the boards like U.S. hockey. Dreams right there, hits it into the security guards, turns around and puts a dime on. It's Rusnack's header, right? Yeah, great header from Rootson had a goal, so I think at least you get to see a little bit

of what he brings to this team and why we're not so worried about the loss of Obed Vargas. On the flip side for Colorado, outside of Reggie Cannon, no one on the. the back line that started could drink legally in the United States. And it showed for a while. It was part of the rough chaos, but they were out of their depths across the field for the most part. And it all came in light of they bought out Sam Fines, like right before the game. So Christian Ramirez, I think, was bought out this weekend as well as teams attempt to

get cap compliant going into the season. It would shock me if for some reason Colorado needed to be cap complying here and that they don't spend a lot of money. He's a domestic player, so you don't need an international roster spot for him. But he was on $900,000. And afterwards, Matt Wells had this quote, that you put in here for me, which is, quote, this is a period of change with the club. Jackson, Travis, had an incredible preseason. Miguel Navarro came into the door. I only wanted two players at left back. I need to create an environment where there is no hierarchy. So he did not want a logjam at this position. And he did not want the unknown of who's fighting for this spot and who

who's there. And so the team ate $900,000 on a player who could potentially be useful to them. Or I guess you're not really getting the offers you wanted and there was no other way to get off him. But the time frame is the part that's interesting, which is

if you have no roster cap compliance, you could just make this move. You could put it out there that you're willing to let him go and see if anyone comes in. And clearly this is a statement of this is the new culture. This is how things are set. And it's a restart under Wells.

Yeah, shout out to Burgundy Wave for that reporting. I'm sure they'll have more on this. Sam Vine hasn't been good for a couple of years, but it's a pretty brutal time to cut a guy. I would be shocked if sporting Kansas City doesn't reach out at this point just because whatever you offer him is what you offer him. Let's go on to St. Louis Charlotte in this one. It was the opening game of the 2026 MLS season. No pregame straight into the action.

That's how we love it. Make sure to hide everything and make it feel as big as possible. But for Charlotte, sorry, for St. Louis, I think they should feel good about this performance. It felt, especially as the second half went along, it felt more aggressive from them. I think Simon Betcher looked really good as the point of the attack. And it feels like a good first step into, okay, we can be a different team under Yoan Demet and have some different ideas. And that includes missing the big star addition at centerback and not having all of the new pieces that you were hoping to bring in. But I thought overall a really good performance.

And if Christian Kalina is not the best goalkeeper in the world on his day, then St. Louis gets a win. But that happens seven to ten times a year. Yeah, Kalina was awesome down the stretch. Betcher, I thought, was probably the best player on the field for most of the game. But if he doesn't score goals, he's not going to win that starting job. And you could see him pushing for that. He made a bad choice after absolutely rinsing Tim Riem in midfield to shoot instead of squaring. if he had squared, I think he would have ended up

with his second assist of the day and probably a two-one win for St. Louis. His first decision was gorgeous. I mean, it was really, really good. But you could see the ideas already from Yon de May. I'm really looking for, like there's clarity in how they want to play and who they want to be.

And we just haven't seen much of that over the course of St. Louis's brief history. And I'm looking forward to this era for this team. We are in the best era for Vancouver in their MLS history, even though it was kind of an overwhelming 1-0 over RSS, really Raul Monarchs in the first game.

What, like, Thomas Mueller started, Kubas started was great, Sebastian Burhalter, Brian White, like the usual suspect started, but I was actually focused on that left wing because what elevated them down the stretch last year was the play of Ali Ahmed, who's tearing it up now for Norwich City,

and it was AZ Jackson who got the start at the left wing. he was really, really good. Then he got the goal right around the hour mark. It was like kind of a poacher's goal, you know, scoring like one timing, a deflection, really tidy finish. It was promising. They do not yet between this and CCL play. They do not yet look like the team they were last year. But that's okay because they still look really, really good.

Yeah, they have the big game this week because they're tied zero zero. Them and the L.A. Galaxy are really the only two in MLS that have the work. to do in this second lag. Nashville are only up to zero. The rest are all blowouts. But it still leads to a big game coming up midweek for Vancouver. Fortunately for them, they don't have to travel because they host it. I wanted to big quick shout out to Pat Houlihan from St. Louis, who responded to my blue sky

and said with, you know, the XG looked good for St. Louis. Phil West as well, who threw it in there. I put all these in, all the topics people sent me as things for us to use. we are talking about them and I realize I should probably reference who sent them because that's why I want everyone to respond. Speaking of Phil West, let's go to Austin 2-2 tie with Minnesota. Both teams opened up a little bit more.

But Doyle, it was maybe a little bit of a frustrating finish for this Austin team. Overall, pretty positive for Minnesota to able to come back and have Yaboas score a big goal. Yeah, 4-2-3-1 from Minnesota under Cameron Knowles. They played a little bit more. You really saw it on that Yeboa goal getting out into early transition and keeping the ball on the ground up until the final cross, which was just perfectly weighted cross for him to guide home. I thought it was a deserved result. I also thought Austin, they were more compelling to watch. And I think in large part, that was because Jaden Nelson has gravity on the wing because of his 1V1 ability.

question is going to be can he turn that consistently into chances for himself and his teammates if he can that this team's ceiling is higher than i thought um faku torres played kind of as a number 10 he was okay um the rest of it was they looked like austin from last year you know there's going to be some good stuff there's going to be some not so good stuff depth is maybe a little bit questionable um and frustration at the end because this was points dropped against the team that I think they're probably going to be fighting. Yeah. Against for a playoff spot.

Yeah. Uh, big result. The second goal that was, uh, Phil message. What's the funniest goal so far of the year as it was Galaher flying into the far post, heads it down and it goes off whatever with Uzuni. Uh, I guess seeing Azuni score goals is probably worthwhile enough. I will still say Sam Surge is like off the foot, off the face goal was my funniest funniest goal of the weekend in those standings.

Uh, let's talk about our Sunday game, LA Galaxy against NYCC. CFC, a one-one draw. Zhao Klaus scores two minutes in, four minutes in, whatever it was, a really quick start for them. And then the LA Galaxy were dreadful from that moment on, including after a red card, but the red card is not relevant to this conversation. Now, I will say, Amiro Garza is going hunting and picking up yellow cards when someone is on the sideline, 40 yards from goal in no moment of danger, goes into the conversation about how dreadful they were, but there was no cutting play.

And this was across the league, I think. A lot of teams looked cohesive in the middle third. A lot of teams actually looked okay in the final third connection with no cutting edge. So as long as they were willing to pass it west east to west, it looked okay. A lot of teams struggled to break any lines and be dangerous. But I think the galaxy were one of the worst. And this goes to the who are pecking pain still if someone's not creating for them. I think you saw flashes of Klaus dropping in and being able to add a little.

But then he's not an option at the end of the play. So some responsibility has to fall into the midfield, whether it's Royce, Eric Tommy was unavailable for this one and some other pieces were. And then the last one is Justin Hack, he was special as a centerback. I think he's good as a center mid. I don't think he's special. And it feels like a wasted ad. And the fact that Garces got the red card and then Hack doesn't go back to centerback, you're like, I'm done with this one already. I mean, to be fair, Edwin Serrio was suspended for this game.

So maybe if Serio is available and HAC drops back to central defense. I also think there's a chance that L.A. end up playing with three centerbacks. The issue with three centerbacks is what do you do with pecking paint still? Like one becomes a second forward and one plays as a wingback? I think that more likely they become half space guys. And they sit underneath Klaus and then you're playing your two seven minutes. I don't love that though. I don't I would almost rather have

Pencil as a right wing back Yeah Though that is You don't usually use Your 10 million dollar DP as a The team we could say wing back Did that is Toronto FC And they melted down

And one was smoking the tape And it was really really bad situation So it's not an example of a functional roster Is what I would say But the thing is I do think this is a functional roster They just like I can't believe what I'm saying like they need Eric Tommy like the best version of Eric Tommy

actually fixes a lot of and I think I like Eric Tommy I don't think he's a DP I think he's one of the better players in a league off a DP contract and I think he fits into a lot of this speaking of rosters that don't make sense NYCFC on the other side they don't have a center forward it was C more read it might be C more read it has to be because it's no one who was on the field in this game Fernando's Mercow played entirely a lot of the right wing. Oh, Heda was out wide. Maxi Morales was the one filling the center forward space when he was able to get there.

And you just saw the lack of direction in that this team played up a man for 30 minutes. And they couldn't score a goal outside of the PK that caused the red card, which was an obvious PK. I don't know what we're doing there. And it, and I know NYCFC knows because Pascoe Yanson said, we're still looking. And they tried with Musa Sala. But it's very evident that it was not available to them on this weekend, that option. that occupied centerbacks or stretch the field to create danger.

Yeah, and I, I'm a little, like I already said his name, Seymour Reid. He has looked good in his brief minutes for NYCFC. He has proven to be too good for Next Pro. And I've said it a million times, like the translation from too good for Next Pro to MLS quality has been like really solid over the past three or four years and more than just Next box. USL championship as well. Like if you're really good as a goal score in the lower levels,

we're talking about guys like Brian White, Tanya O'Shea, Danny Musovsky, Julian Hall, who's about the same age as Seymour Reed, like give the kid a chance because he does fill that role. And what bothers me is that Pascal Yansen

was willing to take that chance on just about every other academy kid who was on the bench in this game. Yeah, Drew Baerra got in, Johnny Shore got in. Yeah. Yeah, you're absolutely right. So it's like, ooh, like I don't want to read too much into that.

You know, maybe just happy for a point on the road to open the season and get back home. Maybe the kid gets his chances in number nine. San Diego had their chance to take all three points very easily against CF Montreal. And they did so. I don't think anybody thought this game was going to be competitive. And it was not. Five-nil. I don't know

I don't know what to say about this Troy Juan Canovi on Blue Sky said Can you mention how my CF Montreal got their teeth kicked in Then never have to mention them again Until they fire their current manager in May And then you won't have to worry about them Until previews next season

I think that might be that Anything you need to know About this team right now I will be honest This was the one game this weekend I did not watch Because there's 80 games going on Just watch the goals

Yeah just watch the goals it's fine I would have told you this is what happened What happened and this is what happened, which is awesome for San Diego, that they've put themselves in a place of a known. But for Montreal, they're going to start with this road trip once again. They go cross-country, just across continent, and absolutely brutal of a performance from them.

And yeah, there's not much to say about this team. Okay, so we will have con. Let me just really quick. Shout out to Frontera, San Diego. They're part of the San Diego FC official supporters group. according to san diego dot football and you can actually see the clip of it if you go to that that blue sky feed um frontera san diego purposely faced away from the u.s flag during the national anthem in protest of ice operations and um look man there's nothing more american than protesting and fighting for equal

rights and dignity for all so respect and support from us to Frontera San Diego and to the people in Minnesota who've been dealing with this on a very personal level for months and months and months. I was happy to see that in the stands because, you know, it's the people's game. It's the people's sport. And that's as true here as it is anywhere in the world. And shout out to the supporters in St. Louis as well speaking up even when they're being told not to because often we're told not to when we say the things that need to be hurt. Conky Calf competition coming up this week because we are an interconnected. global community and it is a global

sport and that is the nature of it and it's what makes it beautiful. And as I said, really the two to watch, Vancouver and LA Galaxy on Wednesday night, both tied at zero zero. Those are the two to lock in on. We'll be back on Thursday with MLS action or MLS conversation. So we will have

all of your recap. We'll be on blue sky the entire week or the entire week hanging out watching those games. We'll be in the Discord as well. So anywhere you want to engage and talk about these games, we will be there with you. Thank you to Andrew Weeby for joining us, Doyle. Thank you to you. Thank you to Gregory behind the sticks. And thank you to everyone for listening. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.