SoccerWise - Officially Scoops Season Talking Muller, Son & Abou Ali + All-Star Suspensions & More

Episode Date: July 28, 2025

There are no weekends off during the summer of soccer (unless you are Messi apparently) so Tom & David are here to dig in. They talk through all the big news flying out of Tom's Ice Cream Shop starting with Son Heung-min talking to LA & Thomas Muller interested in Canada. Then they talk through the controversey around Messi's suspension and all the action from the MLS weekend.5:45 Muller To Vancouver16:30 Son To LAFC22:45 Columbus Officially Secure Their Cucho Replacement27:00 RSL Sign Brazilian Striker31:30 Rapids Making CB Moves38:40 San Diego Continue To Play The Kids45:30 Messi Suspensino & Fixing All-Star Chaos59:00 Leagues Cup Preview

What is up everybody and welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Goss and Tommy Scoops with you on Monday. We will get to that in just a moment. A little breaking news from Paul Tenorio and the Capital J journalists out there covering the whole scene, but we are stoked to be back. Tom, it is a hectic season for you and all of you, pretty much. It was a fun weekend and I'm glad that you were able to show up and perform because people who don't perform and don't show up get punished in this realm Speaking specifically of us playing pickup soccer right that's showing up for the game showing up the game

Yeah, you I will tell everyone this we started the first game We lost and there are some holes in our small squad I think very quickly you were no longer on our team and it was an interesting fact No, I was more division one soccer player on the team you ended up on absolutely not what happened was is we had a couple extra people come and like a good leader like a good neighbor I immediately said okay fine I'll sit the next game and then when I turned around to somebody after I was being nice and set so two games in a row because you lost, winner stays on, I turned and said we're not effing losing.

Like I'm not sitting it down again. Pure desire, pure will. We had a great time in Austin, Texas. We had an incredible event at Haymaker. Thank you to everyone for coming out. Big shout out to the North End Podcast, who you would have heard on the show last week running the best ball league I believe is what it's called and I can never remember but also organizing a ton for us and the North End Pirates who gave me, I have it right here, a t-shirt and some stickers

which I was stoked about but clearly not that stoked that I could be organized. Let's get you ready for this. Big time David guys. He's holding up a nice, what do you call that mint green shirt says North Empire. It's a great logo I don't think yeah, it's like evergreen mink green like it's mink green when back when we were kids and you were like building What is it? building ice cream The houses that you built around the holidays

No, what's the... The houses that you built around the holidays. Oh, gingerbread houses. Yeah, gingerbread houses. It's like that type of minkery. Not that like, tic-tac minkery. Is that... I thought that was just like a Christmas thing. That's like all holiday thing? No, Tom. It's a Christmas thing.

But we live in a Christian nation, so therefore us who aren't are imposed on it. And we try and use the term holidays when we can. Thank you Tom for pointing out all the deficiencies in our society. I want to make sure that you were included in this. Oh thank you, I really appreciate that. We have a lot of sick gear that we put together for Austin.

We sold some of it so thank you to everyone who came and bought stuff. But for everything we did it, we are going to give it away. So we have t-shirts, not give it away, sorry, sell it. That was really bad technology. So we've got t-shirts, we've got hats, we have stickers as well, which will come out. So these are our Soccer Wise hats, which we've been promising to everyone

in the Patreon and the Discord, who will get first option on these, which I am pretty stoked about. And then we've got our t-shirts that say Play the Kids on the back, which is gonna be hard to see in the sun, which are incredibly soft. They are indeed extremely soft. Sources can be heard. And they have our new Kickback logo on there. If you've been under a rock for the last two weeks, we launched a larger company called Kickback Media that does all things media, but

especially has a network of shows. Our first new show, The Kickback Committee, we did our first episode live in Austin, Texas. We're going to do our second episode this week and that will come out on its own feed. So go to Kickback Committee to go follow that one and get locked in for that. Susanna Fuller, pause there, didn't make that mistake, is going to be our main host. We've got a really good show planned already

for the next few weeks actually. So look at us planning like adults and being locked in and being ready to go. As you can tell, we're here on a Monday because rumors and reports are that we are preparing ourselves for SoccerWise 3.0. And so what we're going to do is attempt a schedule shift. Now in that attempt, we're going to talk about it.

We're going to consider it. We're going to think about it. We're going to talk to all the relevant parties so that we're prepared to do that. We have done it today out of nowhere. We won't potentially do it as well going forward out of nowhere as going forward kickback committee will be coming out on Tuesdays.

And we are prepared. I think we're really excited, Tom, about the idea of the future. A lot of stakeholders talking to us, a lot of people are working on it, considering it. Obviously, the schedule changes just come out of nowhere. Nobody could have possibly seen this coming eight years in advance. So there's still a lot more for us to dive into and figure out. I love the wording on that because it's literally just like,

there's a lot of people to talk to and we haven't done it yet so we want you all to know that you're not considering how many people we should have already talked to and therefore it can't just happen and you're like cool so what are we doing for the last 37 years? What's been the game plan this whole time? And if what we are referencing is the MLS schedules flip which has not occurred and was not officially voted on at the owners meeting in Austin, Texas at the All-Star game which is of course one of the most important sporting competitions that we have this side of the continent or this side of the ocean which is why a certain Thomas Mueller is desperate to get into MLS just scratching at the door begging for the opportunity to be eligible to play in an MLS All-Star game. It sounds like he will

play for free Tom if he has to. Yeah it sounds like he was he saw that mess he didn't want to go to the All-Star game he said you know what I want to be there just for that how can I get there? No so yeah the latest here is as myself and Ben Jacobs broke on Saturday The Vancouver Whitecaps are in serious conversations with Thomas Mueller Cincinnati has his discovery rates. They have been in contact with Cincy as of time of recording There's still no agreement there, but it is viewed as That's the last hurdle or more or less that should pave the way for the signing of Thomas Mueller

I feel pretty confident that Discovery Rights is not gonna blow up this deal. I don't think MLS League office would allow that to be the case. And Thomas Mueller already announced, I'm gonna go play abroad. I think he used the word overseas, because the quote was first being said as in America.

And I was like, I don't know if he was just using that as a turn of phrase, got misquoted or not, because think of Roy Copter in Canada. So I didn't know if that was, I think when I was asking around to break this news, I think people were pointing to that, like, whoa, he's in America. Still got it done anyway. It's amazing that Thomas Peeler actually doesn't consider himself an expert on geography and Major League Soccer.

I've seen it in both ways, it's a thing. I don't know if he's getting aggregated incorrectly. Thomas, I understand your pain, it's okay. But he did say his next step is overseas. So when he put out that video that indicated to me that something was, if not done, then virtually agreed. But this is wild. That's just me reading into it, but like, I think fairly reading into it, but again,

nothing signed yet or done. But it seems to be the conversations of Vancouver don't have the DPS but so he'd be It's not quite a Rodrigo de Paul deal but starting without a DPS spot now and then using that in the future But regardless more the Gareth Bale deal. Well, he never became a GP, but that was the deal It just you know, if Thomas Miller decides he's passionate about golf It may not matter for him. Maybe he can go surfing with Ryan Gault this is all got into surf He got into surfing. Yeah, like when he wasn't getting called up for Scotland when he absolutely should have been Yeah, they would ask me like hey, like are you know, and he goes just like man. I love international breakers get to go surf I

Mean he's not he's not wrong. I'm glad he's taking care of his time. Yeah, also, I didn't know this I interviewed Sebastian Burr alter two weeks ago, and they all wore Kilt's to Ryan Gould's wedding. It was like five of them that went over for it and they looked great in it So that was really really cool Going back to this is wild Like Thomas Mueller we were talking about maybe Cincinnati who are a team that have spent at a high number, have built a new stadium, have tried to compete

for trophies. Obviously LAFC kept getting brought up because of the business connections between the two clubs and whatever that means. Let me start, let me just stop there. The idea that he turned down LAFC, I can't possibly tell you how dubious I am of that. Either way, the idea two weeks ago

that you would seriously say Tommy Smuller's going to the Vancouver Whitecaps would have sounded ridiculous, right? I agree, completely agree. So no matter how this came about, whether it's Mueller sort of really looking, really committed and no one else wanted him, whether it's salary cap structures

of like no one else can fit him in, which also applies to Vancouver, right? Like the fact that this doesn't end with, yeah, someone offered him a $10 million deal that no one else would approach and it was the Vancouver White Caps. None of that is true. This is absolutely ridiculous that this is occurring.

And it's pretty cool because this is a year now where we've had Axel Schuster on the show and he said, we don't want it to be a wasted year. We don't know 100% what ownership looks like. We wanna show the city that we care. We wanna make sure that we care. We want to make sure that we take advantage of this time to go to the CCC final on Pyramar and play really hard teams and play well. Do we contending at the top of the Western Conference? Supporters shield, maybe not,

but when we talk about the Vaunted Leagues Cup coming up later, we will talk about some of the advantages maybe that are coming there for a team like Vancouver Still competing towards the top of the West though. We're looking at home playoff games We're talking about a potential run to MLS Cup and then to add in this is the biggest signing in the Clips history Like on top of everything else that's happening This is the cherry on top of this season and your hope is it transitions back into now? We're winning trophies because we've got a guy like this on our team. Yeah I hope so.

Like you said this is not a team I would have connected him to for so many different reasons and not least of which is they play on turf. Not only is he coming from Bayern Munich, it's like a club that wins awards for how good their pitch is and how pristine everything is. I will say that since he really wanted them them but since he were like we cannot go above max tamp or whatever the number is and that's kind of where that fell apart. So it is surprising or it's not surprising I don't think that the rest of the league also didn't really want to give him that much money and that's why I go back to the LAFC

thing. All of that was coming out of Germany like it's like anytime that I talked to sources at LAFC it was just like I don't know about that. I don't know. Maybe we'll be interested. I think they might have done a Max Ham deal. Maybe. So, maybe in that effect, it is factually true that he turned down LAFC, if that's the

case. But in Cincy's case, since he really wanted him, I think it would have fit really well there. But they were like, we just can't go over Max Ham. And Vancouver, obviously, are going to be able to do that. To your point, Oz, we also had ownership clouds hanging over them in the transition from Del Way Hansen being forced to sell the team because he's a bad person to the new ownership. During that time, they were able to do almost nothing.

What that team did to continue going to the playoffs, like by just using allocation money and like trades, that's like, if Vancouver are getting to sign Thomas Mueller, like I think that's really well done on the outgoing ownership. Whatever they do, eventually sell the team because I don't know if any of us would have necessarily blamed them

and been like, yeah, I'm selling the team. I'm not giving you $5 million or whatever the number is for Thomas Mueller So I want to say, you know credit where credit's due there and I think The more comfortable conversation I can have is I think he fit really well in this team Because of the way that they play the way that he understands space and the way that they dominate through Central midfield I know maybe it'll be different with that VT. But I don't know. I just think as like a second striker just like a space dominating attacker

He's just gonna do call him a rum doider do it as a rum doider, I agree with you now I Before I get Crushed for this the trade-off of losing Vitae and getting Mueller and getting him at this point of the season at his age with the minute like I Think we have to learn something from the juror experience to me one of the big learnings from the juror experiences at a certain age You come out of a season into a season with no offseason and like you're looking at two three thousand. Yeah, exactly You're looking at two

2,500 three thousand four thousand minutes in a row for some of these players Which is crazy. And Mueller's not the same because he was not a full-time starter, what he's coming out of, and he isn't with the national team anymore. And so there's some little bit of differences there, but I think there should be belief

he can be a difference maker this year because he's such a high IQ player. And what he does, he is good at like sort of in a vacuum. Like he has to find the space, but once he gets into positions, the finishing should be there. It should fit the style they play. Vite is a massive loss for them.

In saying that, if Ryan Gould comes back, I think there's enough cover right now. I'm a JC Nagando fan. I'm a Sebastian Burr-Alter fan. Like I think that enough, because of the style has changed and so many of these players play with confidence in possession and can sort of build out a central midfield and keep the game moving. I think

there's enough still there to say starting you know in August this team has taken at least a half step forward as long as they can maintain defensively right and with the Veselninovich injury news like that's the last piece for them to figure out is to make sure that they are stable enough across the backline with Noada Kube and without him Yeah, Thomas Mueller had eight goals eight assists in just under 2,000 minutes this year So he's still kicking it and again like when you play for Bayern you can just I really hit two goals into his disc It's all conceded

I'll be throw those out But I still think that he's gonna contribute at a high level and I will say While I wouldn't have given him, again, we had this argument when it pertained to the Philadelphia Union when he was asked if he'd get a million or whatever, he had to lower his asset a couple of times. I do want to say, if I was his agent, I would have done what his agent did. Like Chopra Moteng and Mueller played together. Chopra Moteng's making 3.5 million.

Chopra Motengolten is making 3.5 million. Chopra-Molten is playing well. Yes, he's a little younger, but they were playing together and Mueller was playing better. So using that creative math, I would have been like, we want 10 million, right? Like, so I understand. And like, I don't blame him for being like, what do you mean that I'm not a designated player

in this league? Or Thomas freaking Mueller. So, like, it's a difficult spot, but I don't think that his camp were being crazy and reasonable. And I will say this is better than like, I've maybe he could have gotten more money in Saudi. I know that there was an Australian, I think Melbourne Melbourne city was on the table as well. I'm just very, I would have been upset if no team was able to get this done. So hopefully Vancouver do soon. Yeah. It's gonna be fun.

This has been a must watch team this year and now they like push back up those rankings. Like we all wanna see how he settles. We all wanna see how he fits. We all wanna see how this team can progress and continue to under Jesper Sorensen. And like, this is a huge part of this now. And this storyline is how Thomas Mueller fits in

as the biggest signing. This is a club who has spent DP spots on Mustafa Jarju and Barry Robson and Sam Arkube and Ricci Luraya, like credit to them, but not exactly the big names. Credit to them. Yeah, for sure. Well, credit to them to get paid. And now you're talking about a guy who is one of the great's one of the great goal scorers in like World Cup history. He's a Bayern legend. And I think it still has a little bit more to give. And they're not fully reliant on him.

That's the key. Like he can come in and find his space and sort of figure it out. He is not the only big name we're talking about though. Coming off the weekend, Sung Yong Min, one of the about though coming off the weekend Sun Young Min, one of the best players in Korean history, one of the best players in Tottenham history, his future a little bit unknown. And then Tommy Scoopers decided he was going to, you know, set the Hollywood signs ablaze with one of the big rumors and reports, which is that he could be headed to LAFC. Yeah, LAFC are advancing in talks with Hyunmin Son from Tottenham. What I was told is that well, you know talks are ongoing. Nothing is totally agreed or done yet, but the nuances here is that Tottenham are currently on a preseason tour. They have a game in Korea that

if it's written in the contract, I swear it's written in the contract, if Sun doesn't play you get a significantly less money than what is on like part of these. So and like he wants to play Korea right too. This isn't just a money proposition but though I don't think Tottenham are like you can do whatever you want after August 3rd and like whether that's staying or going figure it out after that game so that's what I've been told is that nothing will be official before then and and maybe not even totally agreed by then but things are trending in the right direction

conversations are ongoing conversations are very positive so it's taught us that the strong belief is Youngman's son prefers MLS, LAFC, over going to Saudi Arabia. Let's see, he has 12 months left on his Tottenham contract. Maybe I guess he could say, but this is one where this is real. LAFC are pushing, LAFC are confident, and while nothing is done yet, they are definitely advancing. I need to be in K-Town in LA when this gets

officially announced. Like this is one of those things where we kind of move past the like the revs have to sign a Portuguese player and there needs to be a Colombian player here and a Norwegian player here and all that stuff. And Sun is of the quality and profile where if you put him in any market it would be a huge sighting. Right. He's been is of the quality and profile where if you put him in any market, it would be a huge sighting, right? He's been one of the Ten best players in the Premier League over the last X amount of years, whatever you want to call him. Sure he has been the star of his national team at multiple World Cups, but he is singularly a national icon for a

fanbase that is heavily based in LA and along the West Coast. And like LAFC has done a really good job tapping into their local market. It's a stadium that is filled most of the time. To support a section that bounces already. Hoo hoo. Throw in the greatest player in Korean history. Still entering like still in his prime. Coming to play for this team it to me

it's better than Griezmann. I agree so I like it's in terms of off the field I think absolutely and I think on the field it depends on the only worry here is that his best position is Danny Blank is best position and maybe he could play like maybe at this so again he's he just turned 33 earlier this month. So this will be his age. Thirty three season right now. And that's not middle of your prime. Remember that's and like the far reaches of the county lines of your prime. So maybe he evolves into a bright New Jersey and New York City.

He's but like you look at players of all over their career and like Youngman's like, Hungman Son has played essentially before. Like again, can he do that as a lone striker? Like figuring out the fit with him and Buanga, I'm not concerned is my point, but it's just that with Griezmann It's like alright, he just goes on the right side, Denny's on the left side and like you just see it happen like profit I think that's gonna be the case here But if that is something that Steve Frondello and then the next manager will need to figure out if and when this happens.

Yeah, it's wild that they can get this over the line, and I know not everyone from the outside's like, oh, he's watching everything going on. It's wild they can get this over the line with no manager in place. You don't know who the next person is, but I think the key to me is, well, one, John Thornton obviously sets the style for the club,

but also, he's, Son's gonna fit in a transition-based style and he's going to be more ball-dominant than anyone else on the field, because he has been, and he's going to be arguably the most talented player on the team. So I think either way- Behind Nathan Ordaz. Behind, yeah, and Javi Martinez.

So I think either way, behind Nathan Ordnaz. Behind, yeah, and David Martinez. So I think either way it fits fine because the main key is just having them in the moments of the game that they want to be in, which is what LAFC will do, rather than the specific positioning of like has to come in on his right foot from this left side and anything else. It also I think pushes LAFC back into MLS Cup contention. Because I wouldn't say they're there right now. I think the Aaron Long injury still has me worried. I know there's what? Also a conversation around this guy Alexis Perez, 31 year old

Colombian centerback. That sounds like that fill-in spot at centerback. Yep. Yep. Yep. I reported that as well this weekend. I believe that deals close. That's something I'm expecting to happen. Again, don't know the exact up to the minute update, but that's a positive one. Yeah, coming over from the UAE, played in Turkey most recently, spent a long time with Correta out, which at least gives you a little bit of a taste of what you're going to get. I don't think, I made this joke a bunch of times, like no one does the, we're actually going to get a free agent who has a legitimate profile signing better than LFC.

They literally did this with Marlon for the last nine months and like you're in a bad spot. I think Aaron Long's playing close back to was playing close back to his peaks of his powers was one of the best center backs in Major League Soccer. But structurally the team is strong defensively. They have a ton of cover in central midfield. Matthew Swan Schwan years alone has gone official as well. So just today. Yeah, so there should be some some more soccer in that team

I think there's still enough of a strength for them to Be a legitimate MLS Cup contender if it hits which is going to be the key if they're able to put it all together If they're able to make it fit this season. But it's I don't know man. I am stoked about this. So next soccer wise live show will be in K-Town in LAFC. I will have it be having the Doc Galbi. Anyone who knows knows that's a real one right there. Let's talk about DP signing that's done. We've mentioned Wes Um Abu Ali a couple times. It sounds like Columbus has finally gotten it over the line. Yeah, they announced it this weekend. That deal is done. Columbus Crew signed Weston Abu Ali. Sources told me the deal is for 7.5

million plus 1 million in add-ons and Al Ali retain a 10 percent sell on. The most interesting part of this is Columbus first contacted Ali about a deal in January like official contact like they were like we Club World Cups coming up we're not selling them before then like Columbus pushed really like it never got contentious between the clubs or anything but they pushed respectfully they said don't bother sending an offer we're not gonna even counter we're not gonna respond to it and Issa Tal, the Columbus Crew GM, was watching the Club World Cup this summer as they were, you know, they hadn't signed a DP9 that they bring in Daniel Gosdawg.

Wes Amalbeli, they were hoping to get him this summer. They still said we're not talking until after the World Cup. Their final group stage game, Wes Amalbeli scores once against Portu, scores twice, scores a hat trick. Issa Tal turned his phone off. He's like, I can't believe what I'm watching. Like, I'm so mad. Like, not like turned his phone off. He's like, I can't believe what I'm watching. Like I'm so mad like Not like he's jokingly, but he's like, you know, I'm so happy for him about the player, but he goes God there's gonna be so many offers for him now. Like oh my like he just played himself

probably out of our budget and probably into other teams and in the conversations that as they continued this summer Abu Ali said they pretty much waited for me since January. And he was like, I want to go there. So Wes, Abu Ali helped push this deal through. Like if, if he, if his desire wasn't strongly Columbus, he doesn't get to Columbus. So I think I'm excited about that fit. And I think a front three of, of him, Diego Rossi and Daniel Gazog is going to kill it. And just to make sure that everyone in Columbus felt good about the money they spent, they

purposely went out dominated 65 minutes of the game against Orlando and refused to put the ball in the back of the net. It was like, I turned this game off because I was like, okay, Columbus are crushing them. It's going to finish like one zero Columbus, whatever. And then Orlando comes back and wins three one. And it was like it turned around into. Oh, a pressure saver for Oscar Pera and this group in Orlando who have not been playing their best soccer and we're up against it. But everything Columbus did worked except for

inside the 10 yards around the goal. They couldn't and it was some of it was finishes to the back post that almost landed on a teammate or did land on a teammate that they couldn't direct in. They are specifically missing this one thing. Now all of a sudden you've got depth to move Diego Rossi around to move Jason Russell Rowe around right? This is a team that's like kind of been running thin This one big piece now allows you a few different options and what I said when the when the reports first game and what you saw in the Club World Cup to is There is some of Cucho Hernandez's game Which is center forward who's willing to float out wide and put crosses in well willing to drop in and connect like doesn't always need

To be the point of the attack like a Hugo Kuypers type. And I think that's going to be really big. Born and raised, I believe in Sweden, then moved to Denmark, sorry. And I think I watched some of his interviews, like he speaks English, which is going to make it easier for him to move halfway across the world and settle in. All of this makes sense. And I think Columbus's track record is like, they made the Cucho move to be ready for the following year. I think there's a decent amount

of belief that it takes a little bit of time to fit in because the style is unique, but also what he does similar Mueller is so specific. That's like, if you put him in goal scoring situations, I think you can expect a couple of goals already this year. The other key point to the Cucho comparison is the head coach at the time was Caleb Porter and the head coach right now is Warford Nancy. I, I think the adaptation period is going to be a little quicker. Although, but in saying that, like it took Shambos time. It's taken Herrera time. Like guys have come,

guys have come in under Nancy and it hasn't been straightforward immediately. But your point stands. Don't worry. I wasn't going to do the low ball there and ask you if that's actually how you felt. Which is a really good thing because I would not want to have to clean that one up. Let's hit one more center forward conversation before we dig into a couple defenders. RSL. We followed the, they had the full, what was it?

Famali Cow? No, what club was it? Bar Vista, of course. Fourth division now. Get ready to learn fourth division. Did they get relegated? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank God that this is potentially over.

This time RSL decided that they were going to sign a player from a different set of clubs which is having their own problems. Yeah, that is just so funny. So they're signing a player named Ruan Cruz on loan for Botafogo. Botafogo still has not paid Atlanta for Tiago Amada. Atlanta has had to take them to court. But this one is different because they're not... But it's okay because the owner owns other teams that are also stable, right? Like Leon, right?

Crystal Palace getting taken out. He could take it out of Europe. It's a Woody Johnson saved the day Also, he sold Crystal Palace, but I think it's isn't it called Eagles holding. Yeah. Well, like that's the ownership group, right? So the ownership groups named off the one team that he sold. Oh, that's a good point. I didn't think that was a big person. Also Crystal Palace fans, it was over before it even happened. Welcome. Welcome to my Siblings in Pain. When you see the Justin Fields carted off first game of this first practice of the year, you'll know exactly what I mean. Oh, so sorry for the potshots there. Not sorry for the, sorry to the RSL fans who are ready for us to talk about that. Back to RSL.

Ruwan Cruz, coming on loan from Botafogo. I'm told that the purchase option is five million. He was signed by Botafogo for what has been written on paper as $10 million. I don't know how much money Luda Goretz has received. But the deal was $10 million six months ago, seven months ago. It was a serious signing. I hadn't heard of the player before and I was looking into it.

Oh my God, they're like, yep, DP9, that's the guy. And this was all facilitated because they were able to get Victor Olatunji on a maxed hand deal, which I thought was really impressive deal making by the front office because DC United liked Olatunji. They are going to get some money for his discovery rates. But like when I first heard about him as a potential MOS signing, it was like, yeah, the transfer fee loan, he's gonna be a DP.

So for, or so to get that done, to facilitate Ruan Cruz. And now, look, the worst case scenario is maybe they just both don't work. But like you sign two legit center forward options, one of which is on loan, one of which is on a TAM deal. This is really, really good business. You get yourself two shots at which one of them is going to win the spot.

I'm sure that there are visions of them playing together because they're both serious investments by the team. But you're not reliant on one person. And you're not reliant on, okay, this guy's gonna fix everything and he needs to come immediately right now. And they still have Williagada, and obviously Diego Luna is the heart and soul of this attack. So for them to get this done, get this done ASAP,

unlike in the winter when all the targets fell through and then they got caught in the Bovisa torture chamber, and they ended up not standing a DP9, like they tried to all winter, like for them to get this done immediately as a window opened here I thought it's just really good business. And not like exactly the same as Columbus because the expectations are different in Columbus. RSL played some really good soccer over the last few weeks and they have struggled to

score more than one goal if that in a lot of these games and there are results there that are like on the table for them and Ellie's back and healthy. I think overall the spine has looked really good and we've seen Luna like play with confidence. Gozo has played really, really well. Yes. But I also wouldn't be shocked if this ends up being in eight months like Luna and Gozo are gone because the offers come in. Right.

But now you've got three other attacking players that you've brought in along with Agata who are options for you to like, okay, if the offer comes in for Luna, maybe they decide, okay, we're going to make the purchase option here and we're going to keep Cruz or whatever it is. And that this sort of gives you those options both ways, but also to be more successful this season, which to ourselves credit, like they have tried, they've gotten stuck in some of these weird deals, but like the front office has tried to put together the best winning product that they can.

And I think in a weak Western conference, there is enough building blocks that if one of these guys can hit quickly, this is a club that can be easily step on the field, not that Pablo would ever say anything else, and be like, we can beat anyone on our day and like give us an opportunity in the postseason which I think is really exciting for RSL let's stay in the Rocky Mountains. Shout out to Colorado. By the way, do you have one of these I

Do even though I do go back Jersey. They sent me shout out to Gabby Who's the best and everyone else it is sick. The logo is epic on the back has my name with 96 and the old logo You got that. Did you get that image? A lot of show and tell today, yeah. A lot of show and tell. I have one more too. Thank you to the majority of people listening to the podcast, we love you.

Yeah, this jersey is, like I don't really like jerseys and I don't wear them, but I will wear this and I will be stoked about it. And everyone else who sends me free stuff, thank you. And I would like to continue getting those things. But this one, I will wear. Yeah, it is with a collar. You've got a little button.

It's dope. We are going to be doing some more interviews, I think, from the Rapids coming up in the next few weeks. They have traded for Noah Cobb. If anyone in MLS is gonna trade for Noah Cobb, it is either Colorado or Montreal. And this style, it's like they alternate back and forth. Well because Atlanta sent Efrain Morales to Montreal there goes the competition

for Noah Cobb. They're like you only get X amount of our center backs. Yeah so that deal is done. I was straight up surprised about it. Yeah me too. I understand that he has value but it's a loan so they only get whatever a hundred thousand and Atlanta brought in two center backs already this summer but he just just like he was just a dog you know what I mean in a really good way that like when things are going really bad for Atlanta and not that they've gotten dramatically better but like Noah Cobb was the guy that was just like all right like it was him Jay Fortune Matt Edwards those are three guys that like all right dude they might not be the best players in the league but you can put them on the field and they're going to give you

more than a lot of other players on that team. And I think that's when you learn the most about a guy's character is when things are hard, particularly when you're a center back for a team that's hard. Like little things that, you know, journos love to talk about, but I think it means something he talks after the games. He's a kid, man. He doesn't have to do that, but he's the one coming out saying, we need to be better. I need to be better. And he's the one giving it all in the games. He's a kid man. He doesn't have to do that, but he's the one coming out saying we need to be better I need to be better and he's the one giving it all in the field and again like you don't become a pro

Player just based on that alone and no technique. He's a US Youth National Team centerback He's made 40 first-team appearances for Atlanta This dude is a MLS level player with I think really good upside that comes from he's a dude that you know Has it in him to get it done and it's it's not just like you're hoping that somebody's technique drifts And he doesn't like I don't know maybe and yet I may maybe it doesn't work out, but like I just I just love this move by Colorado And I'm really surprised I know Atlanta want to shake up as much as they can but I was surprised that he was a guy That they weren't like all right, like let's give you more minutes a

Few of these seem weird to me with Atlanta Which I landed has done has done some other good business to this isn't this isn't a this is just a one-off opinion For me on this one. I'm sure that there will be another one that we get to with Atlanta That it's just odd to me that you come off the George Campbell sale, and you're like okay. Yeah, let's keep getting rid of These players and not give them an opportunity in our own team to break through and be the guys. I think, I would say I think Morales' ceiling is higher than Noah Cobb's. Yeah, okay.

So, and I think you could convince me and I'm sure the conversation I'd end up having with some in Atlanta is like, we've signed veteran center backs, we have a win now model, we don't think there are minutes for him That's right. It is hard to say that when you're not winning it is hard to say you have a win now model and there's no space for the young players when you're not winning and We joke about this all the time. I like Colorado has their finger on the pulse with all of these moves They they have depth charts on depth charts on depth charts, which by the way are updated for us So if you don't subscribe subscribe to our patreon, it will get you access to the depth charts Shout out to christian john who keep that one going and our our spirit animals in keeping all things depth charted and organized And so like yeah, of course collars are gonna make this move also awazium

Um picking up the transfer Colorado has other young centerbacks. They are not reliant on one. This is one of those where if you can get this player to play in any capacity, they are now an asset inside of MLS or for your own team. Yeah. And look, it's a loan. And if it doesn't work out, he goes back to Atlanta. But if it doesn't work out, he stays in Colorado. Colorado are also still in active conversations to sign English centerback Rob Holding from Crystal Palace. This was not an either or deal. This was not a contingency plan. They are still hoping to do that. They know that there is stiff competition in England, but they're still in the mix and they're hopeful that

they're going to be able to get that done as well. Man, Rob Holden is only 29 years old? I brought this news came out while we were playing pickup in Austin. And the first thing that people were saying, people were like, yeah, cause I, you're like sick name, bro. Like get back in the game. Um, and I broke my, my cardinal rule is like when I'm playing soccer, that is like the only sacred hour in my life where I'm not going to touch my phone. But now it's a big name. Had listen there was um our good our good pal Diego Valeri

was hoping to be able to come play and I had to go check my phone to make sure that he wasn't on his way before it got wrapped up and then it was just like oh Rob Holden mate like let me see if I can get this done real quick and I did and anyway the whole point of that was everybody that was sitting around me was just like, yeah, he's like 36, right? I was like, not too, he's 29. They're like, shut up. No, he's not. Do you think that there's ever been a time like five, six years ago when the Cobb family was sitting around and being like you and Rob Holding, like you're two bees in a pod.

Everyone's always talking about the two of you in every situation. New partner. Yeah. And it happened once again. But I assume that's the Lozium replacement. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and it happened once again, but I assume that's the whole isium replacement is the yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah And so they like they had been looking so they tried to sign the 22 year old Ukraine international staff Lemkin That was very very close travels booked. Everything was agreed

He ended up deciding to go to FC 20 at the last minute they hit so the guy that Austin signed George of etch I'm pretty sure Colorado had an offer frame rejected before Austin eventually sign him so no a cop becomes the young center back there looking ahead and they still want somebody like Rob Holden but they signed a u22 center back from Australia as well comes in January yeah oh so this is just for the end of this year hence the loan makes sense well but like the idea is that he'll stay if it goes well like yeah like there's not there's not a limit on what center backs any roster can know. That's true. That is one of your like if you had a Ten Commandments of takes that would be one absolutely one of them.

And if I could I would have a team that was all center backs and then I would tell teams to try and trade with me. I dare you. Yeah, I would love to. Really quick. So the center back that you referred to, Lucas Harrington, he's 17, he turns 18 at some point before January transfer window. Somebody joked, like seriously, like you know, we might have to sell him before he plays here. Before Riley McCrea experience?

And I said that, and it was like, what's up? They obviously are very much not hoping that's the case, but it was just another like, if we didn't get it done when we did, we would have no chance of trying to sign them in January. Let's do two more, both US Youth National Team connected. Let's start in San Diego, because this I think is an interesting one. Yeah, so San Diego have added another two young players. They've added Pedro Soma in a deal I forget if that was a loan or permanent. I think those permanent is a permanent deal through 27. Thank you

They they also just today announced that they acquired David Vasquez on loan from the Philadelphia Union So this these two players and they signed the I'm blanking on the fullbacks name. That's three What you 20 players that they've just brought in over the last week So this is what I was referring to when asked like what are they gonna do this summer? I'm gonna add a DP like no check quite the opposite like but I really really like these moves these are three very talented young players and They fit the side particularly Pedro Soma. I think fits the style. David Vasquez definitely fits much more than Philly. So I'm really happy for him that he's going to get it.

Hopefully get a chance to play. But I think there was a game a couple weeks ago where San Diego had like five players on a bench. They needed this depth, man. Yeah. And what I would say is most teams in MLS, if they made these moves, I'd be like, it doesn't matter. They're not going to play these guys.

They're not going to get a chance. Like seriously, like, okay, cool. Flashy us youth national team player comes in maybe connection to the market like these players all do. But this is the team. Like this is the team that plays guys. This is the team that has started Pilcher, Verhoeven and Bambino across the back line in front of CJ Dos Santos and continues to put up results against

Legitimate supporter shield contenders. They beat Nashville this weekend. They drew Vancouver with that exact back line, which is Mind-blowing. So yeah, if you told me where would you send David Vasquez to finally get playing time? This would be the spot and this would be the opportunity. And it's interesting to me coming back around because I believe he's a San Diego native, if not SoCal, maybe LA specific actually. And when he moved to Philadelphia, it was like a huge scandal where it was like who has his rights, where should he be? And there was like a ton of time of, you know, back office politics and all this stuff of like where, where should this player end up in and like what would happen?

And it was one of those moments where you're like, if San Diego was online, they would have been in that conversation. And there are a few other players in the Academy set up Diego Rocio, who we saw just moved to RSL, who's a San Diego native, like other guys where you're like, oh, they'd be San Diego players if the club had existed. And San Diego has made an effort to go out and get some of these players and do this thing where they've like put players on the top of what quote unquote would have been the academy while they build it back up, while they build it up for real from the bottom.

And so, yeah, I don't know other clubs that these players would play in. And I have like a ton of confidence that they could be difference makers for this team. And it's awesome to see. And they were phenomenal against Nashville this weekend, because I thought the first half of that game was a huge letdown of like both teams that have just played bold all season, looked a half step off together. It couldn't possibly be because their star players flew to Austin, Texas, went through like a bunch of random stuff,

and then flew out to California to play two days later. That couldn't possibly be the reason why. But let's say something like that did happen. That's what the first half felt like, and San Diego were the ones that like dragged themselves out of it being home helps, but that was an MVP performance again from Dreier. S the goal beautifully like Chuki gets a finish but it's the setup from Dreier misses the PK I understand but it felt like he carried the team when they needed

it and that was like a gut check performance from San Diego and as you said they've been very thin now they start to get some options. Yes and that's what's most important and you you go back to the All-Star game joke, like, Tricky Luzardo, they were slowly bringing him back in. Like, they wanted to play him more minutes, but they were trying to be careful to not add too much to him and get injured, long season, all that. So it was like 20 minutes off the bench, 30 minutes off the bench. Then he was able to start.

And just as he was able to start, he went to the All-Star game and it's like, all right, well, we play in 48 hours again. That's like him it more than just about anybody else that we need to challenge his skills We need to know what his skills are. I Just I'm gonna mock this all time so that when you set your premise for the debate We're gonna have a man messy. You look like a fool Always look like the fool. Don't worry guys but but like yeah,. I always look like the fool. Don't worry guys. But like, yeah, like I was like somebody that I was speaking to was joking like, you know, like if Chuky plays more than 10 minutes, I'm going to come on the field and sub him

out myself. I mean, some players played over 60 minutes. Jacob Glesnis was one of them. Jacob Glesnis was one of them. Christian Capis, by the way, was the last big name. Dallas native signed with FC Dallas, coming home from Viking, got on the field this weekend actually, in what was an absurd four to three loss

at home to NYCFC. I was locked into Orlando, Columbus, and then I kept on thinking, you know how it goes when you have either two games on, or whatever, and it's like, oh man. Where you've missed the goals, and you're like, alright, I'm gonna give up, I'm not gonna watch.

You know what, I made the right, I'm gonna turn it on, and it's just gonna chill like this, and then it was just like, ping, three, two, ping, three, two, I was like, all right, I'm gonna give up. I'm not gonna watch. 100%, that's what I was doing. You know what, I made the right, I'm gonna turn it on and it's just gonna chill like this. And then it was just like, ping, three, two, ping, three, two, oh my God. Sun Cause Fallacy gets me again. Also with the summer coming to a close, I still feel good about my Petar Moussa Golden Boot Kick. He is nasty in the box.

When I saw the highlights again of him scoring, I heard you saying that in my head. I want you to feel it though. I don't want you to hear it next time. I want it to be deep in your bones. Whenever you see Pettar Musa, take a touch. He has this ability to take a touch where he's like a big guy and you think he's definitely going in one direction, cuts on you, and then he's immediately

on top of the ball in a natural finishing position. He's so good. He should have had two in this game, he only had one. I think he had an assist as well. He looked awesome. Dallas is a mess. And I don't know how this all ends for them and Christian Kappas is now thrown into the middle of it. But let's talk about the beloved All-Star game. So we didn't actually do a post game show to it. So do you want to break down the All-star game? No, okay. Did you watch the all-star game? Tangentially you were in the building. Correct. I was in the building. Yeah capital J

I got tacos at one point from the Salt Lake stand Somewhere, I don't know where they brisket It was good if they did that sure So the MLS all-Star game happened last week. It was arguably the... We can talk about Joe Brodsaw Mora, the Mexican 16-year-old star. What a goal.

We could talk about Sam Surge as well and all the things he did. We could talk about the dominance of Major League Soccer over League MX, which is super indicative of what occurred. We could also talk about the fact that some big name players did not arrive for the MLS All-Star game, two being Jordi Alba and Messi. We then spent three days wondering if they'd be suspended. Apparently, Cincinnati did not. They just assumed that the rules would be followed because the rules say that if you don't go to the All-Star game, but you don't have a legitimate injury that keeps you out you're then suspended for the next game. Sources told me as of so the suspension came Friday afternoon as a Friday

morning Cincinnati were preparing that Messi was playing. I thought Pat Noonan said of course they weren't gonna play. I'll tell you what I... Oh Pat's playing me? He's playing me through the mind I'm I maybe that was a older quote, but I know as a Friday morning The X-ray like they were like, alright, I guess that they're just I guess he's just gonna play So he did not play because he was suspended by Major League Soccer As was Jordi Alba for not having a legitimate reason to skip the all-star game

They were suspended for what is a supporter shield Shield matchup against FC Cincinnati. The game ended 0-0, which I don't know if that looks better or worse for Cincinnati, but we can talk about that in a moment. And in the midst of all this, Rodrigo De Paul was presented at the game. The whole thing in my mind is a bit of a mess. I threw some stuff up there on Blue Sky talking about this. I got a range of responses from all types of people. And I think a lot of the responses are fair. Like I think it's fair to say these are the rules, follow the rules and like this is the way it is.

The point of an all honestly, I don't even know the point of an all star game, but the point in my mind is like two or three things. One is to honor these players, to celebrate them, and you get a bonus for it, to have this experience to be elevated. The other is to elevate and show the league at its best. And none of that was accomplished by suspending a guy who has played 90 minutes in every game he is available for,

including carrying the only MLS team at the Club World Cup out of the group stage, where I will bet you every dollar in my pocket to every dollar in your pocket that it is going to lead the presentation at the end of the year by the commissioner and the offices to the owner saying, look at all we accomplished this year. Look at how this league is elevating.

Look at what we've done is going to be front and center Inter Miami are one of 16 teams to qualify out of the group stage globally at the first ever club world's cup. So he played through that. A hundred percent. Played through the Ch... CONCACAF Champions Cup. And guess what?

Here comes league's cup right around the corner for us on top of 500 other games. The comparison to Zlatan and Anri and anyone else like that is unfair. Those are players who have opted out consistently from playing games week in and week out. Anything on turf, obviously, but more than that. And so I just think, one, the All-Star game's done.

The All-Star game is bad. And the way it is set up in the middle of a week with a Friday game coming up is absolutely absurd. The second is to not be able to have the logic internally and have a conversation and be like, okay, we messed up this year. We added a full cup competition in the Club World Cup, and we have the Leagues Cup, and like maybe there's not enough space to also play a friendly for a random set of players for 15 minutes and all of that.

And anyone who's like, just show up and walk around for 30 seconds. One, you wouldn't have cared. You would have been mad about that. And two, that doesn't accomplish the thing, which is getting, traveling, going to the game, being there, all that type of stuff. I could not feel any stronger that it is the dumbest thing in the world that he got suspended. It's the dumbest thing in the world that it is a punishment. Like here's a reward.

And if you don't come get your reward, you get in trouble. So I want to preface my position by saying if I was advising Lionel Messi, I would have told him not to play. If I was Jorge Mas, I would have told him not to play. The rest is the priority here. That is so much travel. Like you said, he played 90 minutes, nine times in 35 days. Jorge Mas was asked about this in a respectful way of like,

was there any conversation with Javier Mascheron? You know, when you guys were beating the Red Bulls for one in the 80th minute that maybe now would be a time to start resting. And Jorge Mas was like, listen, when Messi plays, Messi plays 90 minutes. If he doesn't, he's injured. He goes, there is no conversation beyond that is that is the load manager for Messi like more or less like no

He said no and again, that's fine. Probably says all that There is no way That they could have let him go unscathed on this There's just no way you would have had an absolute revolution From the fans across the league not New England, they had a player though there, from executives across the league. It would have looked like, and again, with the backdrop of Rodrigo De Paul getting unveiled at that game as a new signing, where everybody knows that in the winter he's going to be bought for 17 million and probably have a 10 million dollar a year contract, and he's on a DP right now.

million and probably have a ten million dollar a year contract and he's on a DP right now. There's just no way that you can skip that. And let's remember, last year there was Luis Suarez kind of got away with this. It was under the radar for everywhere outside of Cincinnati. Because guess who Miami played the first game after the All-Star game last year? Cincinnati. Oh really? And guess who wasn't suspended? Luis Suarez. I just remembered that they played Cincy. played the first game after the All-Star game last year. Cincinnati. Oh really? And guess who wasn't suspended?

Luis Suarez. I remember that they played Sinsey. They had, I, the fans will not let me forget that. And again, it's a fair, it's a pertinent question. And let's look at it from, so again, if you're looking at it from the messy perspective, the Miami perspective, it's like yeah, oh no, of course, right? Look at it from the Sinsey perspective. Evander went.

Miles Robinson went. Evander's played, like, Hani Mukhtar went. Evander crushed it at the Club World Cup, right? Hani Mukhtar has played, like, 2,200 minutes this season. Also crushed it at the Club World Cup? Was Nashville not playing in the M1 Frego season during that time? Is Hani, who does Hani have in Leakes Cup? Oh, yeah, right.

Were they not playing during this time? And in CONCAC champions cup. Three competitions that they didn't play it. But all of this is irrelevant, by the way, because the main point is that eight months ago you should have looked at a freaking schedule and said we have a nonsensical friendly that we're playing in Texas outside against a all-star team from another country, we have now added three more competitions to the plate of some of these players, but especially specifically Club World Cup, right? You had no context to that.

This was a new year where this was happening. And look at that and say, okay, maybe we're going to have a policy where players who play in those competitions are awarded all-star spots and then they don't come. And we replace them. But then it gets, but it's not the cost. Then it's, you're creating new rules for one player or one team. No! You could be doing it for Seattle and Miami

in that scenario or, wait, did we not create, and by we, I don't wanna take too much credit on this, did we not create a policy where teams can't play in too many competitions, which applies literally to only Vancouver this year, right? We have a limit on the amount of cup games. So the acknowledgement from the league is players are playing too many games. We have fabricated multiple competitions and we are pushing players too far. In that context, the fact that you can't also sit down and be like, by the way, we've added this like other extra game in, which means

nothing. And we should probably figure out a policy around that is wild to me. Again, I just, I keep coming back to you that there's no way that you could have not suspended him. And again, particularly if I was Cincinnati, I would have raised hell. And like, yo, we sent our players. Again, so like, I feel it, I'm not speaking on both sides of my mouth when I say that like I would have done the same thing

But just you have to accept the consequences You know what's better for him to have an obviously not going to the all-star game not traveled He didn't train during the week because like of the fatigue and everything else Well, then you get you get Saturday off to then like just figure it out for the rest of season They have plenty get they have three games in hand still so there's gonna be fixture congestion They have least up. They have everything, they have three games in hand still. So there's going to be fixture congestion. They have leagues cup, they have everything else. Like maybe like if you're Miami, sit them out of the leagues cup. Maybe, right? Like if you want to be petty, if you want to be angry, if you want to say, okay, no, you're right.

Like he shouldn't be playing in this. Just give him a couple of weeks off. Right? Again, if they do that, I wouldn't criticize them either. But you have, there has to be an acceptance of the punch. There are actions and reactions and you can cognitively make that decision but to just expect that the rules are gonna get changed like no that's not fair and again it's a bad rule is what Horaimah said the punishment is draconian with Horaimah said I don't even necessarily disagree with it but if this rule wasn't in place why would anybody outs any why would any designated player plant the also? Yeah, so here's the thing All right, Papa. Sorry if you if you thank you if you have to if the comment is if this rule doesn't exist

Why would any cut one come to the all-star game then the thing you've created is flawed If no one wants to I don't agree and we've had conversations with how many players? We've had conversations with domestic players who are not on huge salaries, who after, especially after one are like, I'd really like to not go to the All-Star. I'd like to spend time with my family. You, and this goes back to the San Diego conversation, you miss training.

You miss training with your own team to prepare for a game cause there is no break. Yeah. That's where this whole thing is broken. I agree. Is the fact that it's not a break. So here's my moving past this slightly, but I've enjoyed this. I've enjoyed everyone in the chat, everyone who's smoking me. I appreciate it. Anyone on my side, I worry for you mentally, but I'm glad that someone else is in the Foxhole with me. Here's my proposal. I may have said this on the show last week so you can stop

me is you shift the All-Star game because it's not a midseason thing So it doesn't matter where it happens And again, it's not a break you shift it coming directly out of a international break You make that international so I'm probably the September one you make it USA Mexico or USA Mexico in Canada Sort of like the four nations thing then you come out with a midweek all-star game That leads to a weekend off for everyone but the League's Cup finalists. And then you come back the following Wednesday. So you get a legitimate break for the players, they're not missing anything that matters.

The players who are playing in the League's Cup final don't come, which is fine because they're promoting it. And if you're building this whole like, we want this synergy across these leagues, we want to show all this rivalry and blah blah blah. Like make it a spectacle. Make it this one week spectacle of putting like CONCACAF on display, putting the rivalry between all of these on display, but also finding a way to lead into a little bit of a break with it. It is, I understand everyone who's going to say, oh, they're paid so much. It's so hard, whatever.

It is a kind of it. It is a punishment to be in an All-Star game. And like enough players are smart enough to not say that and not be quoted saying that coming out of it. But like there are five players who didn't come from league MX. And like this is not exactly what we need right now. And I don't think the display elevates any of what's happening.

I don't think anyone watches the All-Star game who's not already a fan and is like, oh, well, I have to tune in for more of this. And some people who were in the stadium, including some people in the stadium. You mentioned Rodrigo De Paul was announced. Look fly. Like that's a sick look. Guys, when are you going to adopt this this wardrobe? You're in Miami now. Well you could convince me on the linen pant move, because one, when everything went tight, as you know I have gigantic calves, and it was not a great moment for me, then I learned to regulate in it.

So you could bring me on the wide linen pant. The white shirt, first of all, I can't, I mean, I couldn't even, come on, I can't go I mean I couldn't even come on I can't like you can't but also white in Miami is Rough and then they post up and they drink mate, which is like a warm For the rest of the game I'm stoked to watch Rodrigo de Paul and all of this. I'm so much them play like He's a fun soccer player, not in the normal ways, but like, I'll be curious. No, but in the ways that me and you appreciate. 100%. And also like... Take the hell out of somebody and curse at somebody. And like,

how is it going to go down being at some point a DP version of that? Maybe. Right, but who knows? You know, we don't know for sure. We didn't really... You mentioned the Jorge Mas comments, by the way. I think it's BS of like, oh, Messi's not gonna feel good, he's not gonna resign. But I would 100% have said the same thing if I was him. Oh, me too.

It's the only thing you have, you throw it out there, you just make everyone stressed about it. All the time, they just have this in the back of their head being like, wait, why do I feel stressed right now? Oh, right, that's why. Into My Eyes plays Atlas, Nekoxa, right now? Oh, right, that's why. Into Riaways plays Atlas, Nacoxa, and Pumas coming up in Leagues Cup. Because we are-

Oh my God, Lionel Messi versus Aaron Ramsey, what we've been waiting for. And Kailor Navas. Kailor Navas has signed with Pumas as well. We are going into Leagues Cup right now. We mentioned a bunch of the games that happened this weekend. There were some like wild results. Austin got a big victory. Philadelphia got a huge win. They won against the Colorado Rapids 3-1.

And we're going to talk about Philadelphia again in a moment because there's actually a funny side effect of this Leaks Cup. So we are into the 2025 Leaks Cup competition. This is the real one, everyone. You thought the All-Star game was important? No. You thought Club World Cup that you had never watched before was important? No. This is the big time. This is the real one. So we have three games for every team that's in the competition coming up over the next

nine days. There are 36 teams in League's Cup, 18 League MX teams, that's the whole league, and then 18 MLS teams, which is not the whole league because we just keep it spanning. So the way it works is you have two separate tables and everyone in your table is in your own league and you only play teams in the other league. So all 18 league MX teams sit in the same standings, they will all play an MLS team in all three games,

same for the MLS teams in inverse, and then you are ranked in your standings against the teams in your three games, same for the MLS teams in inverse, and then you are ranked in your standings against the teams in your own league who you will never play against in this competition. And then we only have a quarterfinal. So only the top four teams in the two leagues are going to be the ones that move on. It is the top nine teams in both conferences on the MLS side, except Vancouver, because they play in too many competitions. So San Diego replaced them, which when it happened you were like, well,

makes sense, but it's weird. And now it's like a godsend. Oh, my God. For MLS that they got a border city that has legitimate like energy and vibe around them and has played some of the best soccer. That will be the one that ends up in this. So play kicks off tomorrow night. If you're listening when this comes out, on Tuesday night and it runs through August 7th.

That is the phase one. I'm just gonna call it the group stage because it's easier. So you play- Phase one. Sorry, that is phase one. You play three teams based off the inverse of the standings or whatever.

You have the neutral site fake hosts for some of the League MX teams and then you have MLS teams hosting the rest of the standings or whatever. You have the neutral site fake hosts for some of the League MX teams, and then you have MLS teams hosting the rest of the games. After that, we take a break from League scup, we go back into League play, then we return for midweek games between League games up until the finals. So the quarters and semis are both like Tuesday, Wednesdays.

Those are in between normal League games that are happening on the weekends. And then the final is August 31st. Orders and semis are both like Tuesday, Wednesdays. Those are in between normal leagues games that are happening on the weekends. And then the final is August 31st. It is a Sunday. Three spots in the CONCACAF Champions Cup are available for this. Three, you ask.

How do you find the third? Don't worry. There's a third place game. Cause you were thinking they're not playing enough games. They've got you covered on that one. So on that Sunday, you've got a third place game. Because you were thinking they're not playing enough games. They've got you covered on that one. So on that Sunday, you've got a third place game and the final to close the whole thing up Tom. And now I think you said you wanted to do a game by game preview of every single phase

one match. All 55? Played over what? Four days spent. The the I am intrigued by the by the new format, because I will say they needed to change where like, yeah, I remember I think it was like Mazatlan versus Juarez in Austin in like a dead rubber group stage game. I mean, that's that was better than Minnesota, St. Louis playing for like the 18th time in a dead rubber game.

But like at least it was at Minnesota or St. Louis. Yeah, that's a home game. There was like 52 people at that game in Austin. It's just like, all right, this probably needs to be changed. So I do like this. And so there is only in phase one, there is only Liga Mequis versus MLS games. That is why this competition was created. So I like that.

I like that there should be less constraints or the less time like again Just how how long the league schedules needs to stop for this to happen. I will say though one of the Things that come out of this that aren't super positive is I had a CSO tell me Bluntly if we lose our first game, we're playing our backups. Because like, if we lose, the likelihood that we then... Yeah. Like, then climb up to the top four. You're in a pot of 18 teams that only the top four get through. Yeah. Yeah. So, and again, like, so I think we're gonna see a lot of meaningless

day three games, whatever the phrasing is when you play your last game. I think it's phase one, phase three. Phase one, scene three. Scene three. Because there are going to be a lot of teams that are out of contention, but maybe not. And maybe that's a worst case scenario. Probably not all teams will be like, oh, we lose one game, we're out. So that's something to monitor, that's something to watch. We'll see. what there's there's a bunch of games tomorrow and then we roll on so was like

i'm gonna get more excited as the tournament goes on but but i do think that like i'm out of work uses this year than last year just because of how many and i was for some less games that were in the group stage last year sorry someone was yelling in my apartment i was just making sure it was safe yelling and not unsafe yelling. It seems to be okay. I think we're complaining about people.

Somebody else from the Tri-State area. Yeah, yeah. I think... I was just saying what's up. My guess will be that I'll get there. Like you're saying of like, yeah, once you see the teams play. I still think, I have said many times, I think you can't get closer to neutral experience

than having a Mexican-based team playing in some of these major markets in the US against US-based teams. But it is still really hard to watch it and be like, none of the games are in Mexico. I understand the financial experience and like there's no value there but it's hard to walk away from the competition and say like yeah no you know Club

America got to be decamped in Austin and play a Q2 and like that's the advantage and like if that's the case that stadium's gonna bounce it's gonna be cool they're gonna I mean they had a home field advantage in LA last year against the Rapids and they lost a shootout but like it felt like a Club America game. It's still not exactly the same. I agree with you, the format needed to be fixed, reducing the amount of teams in it makes it a little bit better.

One of the things that always intrigued me about this was sort of having the middle and bottoms of the leagues play because we see Columbus and LAFC play Club America and Pachuca and Cruz Azul fairly often. Like we see that in CCC, we see that in other stuff. So I think that's the part that's always been interesting to me and maybe there's a little bit more of that in this setup. But the nice part is that it's condensed and it reduces the layoff for most teams

and you won't have teams. I think like two years ago, Minnesota didn't have a home game for like five weeks in the summer which is kind of the part where you want to be home and where you want to have most people. In saying all of this, Philadelphia who are first place in the Sportish Show right now, Nashville who sit right behind them and Vancouver who are second in the West are not in this competition and I think that will be a massive advantage in the shield race because not only are you're gonna have this layoff But the assumption is that like a Columbus or Miami are gonna get into the next rounds and they're gonna have midweek games I mean Miami's a mess because they've got oh my god

They've got two games in hand still and whatever they've got to deal with but like across the board You're gonna have these teams that are jamming midweek games and trying to make it to the end of this competition and focus on this while also having MLS to deal with. It's not cut and dry. Philly still has Open Cup. That game got rescheduled. They still have to deal with that. Like, Vancouver is not playing in this because they've already played in CCC, so there's

games on their legs and all of that. But overall, I think these teams are going to be at an advantage and I think in a month it's gonna look pretty obvious that they were able to focus on the on the league. Yeah that's a good point but like I'll reserve that kind of judgment for like as it plays out right like I think you're right that the likelihood is that at least one of those teams in the shield race it's just logical right they're even they're the best teams in league right now. And at least one if not multiple will get through.

And then we'll see what the midweek games do. But for the teams that get grouped here with the other 14 teams that get grouped. Phase. They got phase. Phase one. It's right there. It's right there. For the teams that get phased. I don't think I don't think that that's going to have a huge impact.

So if Miami lose and they're out, Columbus, whatever, I think that that's not going to be a pile on in terms of fixture congestion or whatever. But your point is right. The longer you go, the more difficult it's going to be. Then it's going to more mirror the Cup Champions Cup without the travel to Mexico. It may end up, let's say this, it's shocking that I would talk about this in a way in which this format remains in any way going forward That seems like a bold thing for me to do but let's say we were to do that I don't know how much you follow this but like in the nfl teams that are good play the other teams that are good from

The previous year. Yeah, i'm a football guy nice. So you often see like every year You'll see a bad team flip quickly Because they have an easy schedule because you play the other bad teams. And I wonder if this becomes a like, the team that comes out of nowhere for the shield ends up having advantages going forward because I mean, they're gonna flip the whole schedule. What the hell am I talking about?

Why am I making up that this is gonna be relevant to anything going forward? You have Columbus by the way. So like, yeah, they have TFC, NYCFC and Red Bulls right around where all those games would be So I think the assumption you'd feel safe is like, okay Those are winnable games also those are must-win if you're gonna be in a shield race, right? You've got other games going on

Inter Miami have Galaxy DC United and then they'd have Chicago on the weekend By the way, everyone has a game on August 30th So I guess that game is gonna get pushed somewhere else in the window if you end up making it to the League's Cup final Miami might have to play a doubleheader with their MLS Next Pro team MLS teams and League MX teams will not play the same league in the phase one And then they can't play in the quarterfinals because the top four will match up So the semi-finals would be the first place in which whoever wins goes through at that point You could have games against your own league. Paolo said that Soccerwise has to do a live stream

for the third place match for the real single, which last year the Rapids played in and was low-key a legit game. So we might be back. We might be all the way back for that one. So it's a really good point and I appreciate that. And I appreciate you knowing our brand very, very well. That's all for us here on this one. We screamed about a bunch of stuff. I don't really remember what we talked about. For anyone listening via podcast, Tom is wearing a sleeveless cutoff Puma sweat jumpsuit with a hoodie that people think your water bottle is specifically matching. Is that the case? I just grabbed a water bottle and this just so happened to work out. I've been doing your work outside. No big deal. Yeah, no big deal. Just like big guy work.

Took a break to break the young and sun news. We've got a bunch of great shows coming up for the rest of the week. Jordan and Julie will be back with me on Wednesday. NWSL is finally back this weekend. We'll talk about the Euros. We'll talk about Copa America. what's coming up, congrats to Nigeria for their huge victory, the come from behind win against Morocco in Morocco. So we'll talk about all of that. We will dig into everything else.

Tom will continue to break stories. So we'll be back on Thursday with another set of updates and another ice cream shop. So don't worry, don't get hungry, don't get too hot. Like we'll be there for you. Kickback committee, first full episode is coming out this week as well. That's something to look forward to.

And I will be in Burlington, Vermont this weekend for the USL2 National Champions. My friends of course are part of the team, so I'm gonna go help them out for the weekend. So if you're in the area, we met a bunch of people actually in Vermont here at Haymaker last week who was an incredible host for us. It is the best bar in Austin, Texas.

I'm not an expert on that, but I feel bold enough to say that. So anyone who's gonna be around there, hit me up, let me know, I am very excited for that one. I like soccer, I like soccer on all fronts. Leagues Cup makes me question that sometimes, but then I come back around on a League Two championship. So thank you once again to all of you in the chat

hanging out with us. We are gonna be here consistently throughout the weeks, especially here in the transfer window to joke around, hang out, and talk. So thank you to all of you once again, and we'll talk to you again very, very soon. You