SoccerWise - Philly Playoff Celebration, MTL & DC Offseason Begins + Must See USMNT

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

The USMNT is prepping for their big matchup against South Korea on Saturday so Tom & David are doing the same. They talk through the big things they need to see in this game. Then they run through all the official playoff news celebrating Philly's playoff clinch. And more importantly going to the drawing board for MTL & DC's offseason makeovers. 4:40 Celebrating Sounders10:45: Philly Clinch Playoff Spot In Epic Turnaround21:30 Anders Dryer Clinches David's MVP Vote27:40 Montreal Season Review & Offseason Preview39:00 DC United Season Review & Offseason Preview50:30 USMNT Must Needs This Weekend

No one, no one can use a sneeze as a power alpha move like Tommy Scoops himself in the Asbury Park kit, rocking and rolling here on SoccerWise, David Goss and Tom with you for another great show. Our first of the week, Tom. I mean, I already did a whole long thing yesterday to Jordan about how much she missed me. She was away for two weeks. But you, I... She's always away.

What are you talking about? I know. She lives away. I know. She does live away. She does live away. But Tom, we missed our show on Monday. You did the special with the kickback committee on Tuesday, which I was not a part of, which I was

very sad about. I listened to it. And I appreciate that most of the things I was going to say were set. Like, as the show is happening, I'm like, this is what I would respond with. And then someone said it, including Doyle mentioning getting punched in the face, which was going to be my exact feedback for that moment. Yeah, I think that was perfect when he was just, and he starts like smiling. It was just like, I've been punched in the face a couple times before.

And then like immediately being like, yeah, it was almost always my fault. And then you talked about studying abroad. And I was punched in the face while studying abroad. So it would have been a pretty good ad so I can bring that to the table now a little more. But it was. So what happened at Oxford? Intellectual David Goss? I thought that are you using the term punched in a literal sense or are using it in like, you know,

they debated me with words and it was like a slapping of words? I got beat up by a large group of people and I was a small group of people, aka myself. Yeah. It was. Not really. We could do it another time in more detail. It lives somewhere on Facebook probably, you know, all the way back in the day when that was the way I still functioned and operated with people.

But let's just say my parents were unimpressed by what I had learned. And the British people were unimpressed by me as well, as were the South Dakotaans. I was in South Dakota this week. Huge shout out to our Discord. I got a ton of recommendations of like what to do and where to go in South Dakota, which was not something I expected, including being sent to get arguably the best sourdough bread I've ever had. I brought it back to Miami and then did that thing where it's like, oh, I'll have a piece of bread for breakfast.

And I've just been eating pieces of bread for like the last two days. That's delightful. That sounds perfect, honestly. So shout out to the soccer guys. Community, the kickback community, you're all unbelievable. We have fans in South Dakota and then people who have visited as well. I wasn't fully aware of the location of where I was. Hence, I kept being like, there's a lot of Nebraska fans here.

and looked at a map and was like, oh, I'm like right here, which I'm a huge Omaha fan. I'm not, I wasn't near Omaha. Otherwise, that's where I would have got. So, yeah. Tom, we have US 17 to talk about. Christian Roll Down has been added to the team. And then we are going to start our playoff conversations and our offseason conversations because we have two teams that have already been eliminated.

And we have a team that has already clinched their spot in the postseason, which starts like, I don't know in a month and a half so we're not that close but it shows you and then the second the second round starts at four months in 2027 when the semi-finals against the league amex relegated squad begins that is when we're really going to hit our form so we've got a lot to talk about and a lot to do shout out to everyone who's live with us in the chat except for matt doyle who is being a troll as usual. I believe Doyle said that he was going to an Argentine grillhouse for the Argentina World Cup qualifier coming up later today. So I look forward to photos and pictures of the carafe of red wine and the just full table of meats that we'll be seeing in front of him

coming up in a little bit. Before we dig into all of our stuff for today's show, I was not here to talk about the Leaks Cup. We do not have to go into depth on the Leaks Cup final. I, hot take, don't like it when people spit on people. So I thought that that needs to be mentioned. But more importantly, I didn't get to watch the game live. So I rewatch the game. It was cool that the Seattle Sounders sold out their stadium and made it feel big and won a game mainly on a group built through the draft,

built through their pipeline, their academy, and the Tacoma Defiance and everything they've done. like there there is a real um factor that the Seattle sounders have high expectations for themselves and people elevate to that everyone not everyone but a lot of people who join that club elevate their game or are factors in winning soccer and I think a lot of that just comes from the atmosphere around the team that they believe they should be that and you know we talked about and complained a bit about the lack of spending going into the club world cup to like really compete. But when they're on the field, the players who are there are going to compete because

that's like their innate DNA and they consistently are able to bring in players to do that. And I was, you know, kind of excited for the like Paul Ariol as a non-DP, Jesus for like all of that because I thought those guys would then fit into that and they've had injuries and it hasn't been the exact roster we would like to see. But at the same time, very few clubs could still accomplish something with the amount of injuries they've had. And so you watch that game. game and you watch the way Reid Baker Whiting played, the way that Obed Vargas, of course, played and the entire experience around that. But Paul Rothrock, Alex Roldon. Like, we cannot step away from the fact that Alex Roldon was a late college edition as a 10 that they converted to a right

back. Now they have him taking PKs against Inter Miami to win the game. He has the assist. Like, he has become a lockdown player for them. And they're doing it again with four or five more players. I didn't interview with Sasha Sarovsky and Brian Weiss, Georgetown head coach, and Maryland head coach about the future of college soccer, which we're going to be putting out in a little bit. But like Paul Rothrock was like a Georgetown guy. And then it's like, oh, I don't know if he has a pro future. TFC gave up on him. And now he's doing what he's doing in this moment. It's just, it's all pretty cool. I agree. And again, forgive me if I said this on kickback committee. I've been talking so many times into microphones. I forget where I said what. But

Brian Schmetser deserves so much credit for everything, and we gave him all of the flowers, but I'm remiss if I didn't mention that. It used to be a criticism that he didn't develop players. And then, like, criticism in, like, quotations, because if you're winning everything all of the time, guess what, it's okay, right? You don't have to be the best at everything always. He's done that, particularly over the last few years, going back to Obed Vargas, being trusted to be subbed in the Concapt Champions Cup final at 16 years.

years old. And again, maybe, like, at that point, it was like, oh, is this kid just so special that literally any coach would play them? Maybe. Well, then you go on down the list, all of those guys that you just mentioned. Very, very important. And one more point that I definitely didn't say, and I definitely didn't hammer home enough, I suppose. They've done this league's cup final, like the end of the league's cup without, they've been without Jordan Morris, essentially all of the season. That's a designated player for those who forget. Albert Rusnack for several weeks, that's a designated player. He had, he was their best player last year and had been their best player this year. And without Ryan Kent.

I mean early season signing on his previous team any other like most other teams two of those three it's like yep can't blame you you didn't win like I'm sure I I feel like I said on the show when they advanced like if all three of those guys aren't back they're not going to win this tournament well I was wrong and it was just I don't know man like what a moment what an atmosphere the fans were equally as impressive I think and I would add on the young player I thought Koso Rienzi and Danny Lava when they came off the bench around the six 60th minute helped stem the tide, which was Miami in an ascendancy to start that second half. Iende should have scored. It's kind of one of the sad parts about the whole experience,

which was Suarez was really good in this game. Like he, Messi, I don't know where, I don't know what happened. Messy, like, walked off to the side of the field and decided he didn't want to be a part of this game. And like, you can give Seattle credit for that and they deserve it, but it just was odd to see and Suarez was up for it so that would have been a conversation coming out of the game except then he decided to fight kids and spit on staff and do other things which are going to overshadow that and i don't know we still don't have word everyone i'm sure wants to know we are waiting on leeks cup for them to dole out their punishment and then if anything were to happen from an mLS point of view after that that would only come after the leeks cup and so we are

still waiting on Leaks Cup now their punishments will only affect their competition which is obviously over and the expectation I think for a lot of people is Bousquet probably won't play again for Inter Miami and Suarez probably won't either so that part won't really matter and then it will be like what is MLS do after that which has been discussed a million times by you in a million places and everyone else so we don't have to dig into that but I thought then those two substitutions helps them the tide and again Danny Lava obviously a guy I've talked about a million times Unreal at the GA Cup, youth player, all that stuff, has struggled to find his feet at the pro regs.

There are not a lot of MLS clubs that would still have him around and still be finding ways to push him into the team. And I thought he really helped them and helped them get over the line. And then obviously Georgie Manunga, right? Another example of a Tacoma Defiance player. They've pushed in, draws the penalty kick within minutes of coming on the field, helps them stretch the field, helps them sort of open things up and seal the deal against this team.

So it's been really impressive to watch them. I think for everyone, right, this was sort of the like polar opposites almost in MLS of like Inter Miami and who they are and their identity and the way they've been built and Seattle on the other side. And I would love for us to elevate and promote the stuff that Seattle is and other teams are a little bit more in major league soccer. Let's talk about our MLS teams before we dig into the USM&T. And let's start with the Philadelphia Union. They are the first team to officially clinch their spot in the postseason. They currently sit, of course, as the leader in the supporter shield race as well. They had qualified for the postseason seven straight years from 2017 through

2023 before missing out in 2024. I just want to give a little bit of the night and day that we're seeing now over the last two years. Last season, 2024, they finished 12th on 37 points this year, right now, without the season even being over with five games left of. play. They are currently first place on 57 points. So already a 20 point increase. You go back and look at last year, how much has changed. Five of the top 11 of their minutes leaders are gone. Daniel Gazdog, Jack Elliott, Jack McGlynn. The big ones, Leon Flock and then Semmel, of course, was the fill-in for Andre Blake. And then the big one is that Jim Curtin was let go in November, two-time MLS

coach of the year. 11 years as the head coach of the team, 14 years with the club, had won a Shield, been to an MLS Cup final, three open cup finals, two CCL semifinals, and those seven straight post seasons. That was last November. Then on January 2nd, they hired Bradley Carnell, and now the players they have leaned on, the new ones, Lukic, Jean-Jacques, who's increased his minutes by at least 1,500 this year, Damiani, Indy Vasslev, Frankie Westfield, and then Andrew Rick has come in and doubled his minutes as the backup and fill in for Andre Blake and all of that under a new regime in Bradley Carnell. It's not the biggest turnaround we've ever seen in MLS history, Tom, but it is up there.

And it is one of the more impressive jobs we have seen in this league. Yeah, just one thing to clean up. They're the only team in the east to clinch the playoffs technically, mathematically, in the West San Diego and Minnesota have. But again, it's still impressive for all three of these teams, and we're choosing to focus on Philly today because we're going to love San Diego a little more later in the show because they're a lot to San Diego. But mainly it's because I didn't even know those two teams clinched.

That's why we didn't. And, and, you're a big man for admitting that. I was trying to smooth that overview. And Minnesota has a huge, huge week coming up after the international break with, they play San Diego and then they play the host of semifinal, the Open Cup. Anyway, I digress. Yes, this is, this was an absolute huge turnaround. And this was in extremely unpopular decision by sporting director Ernst Tanner.

Like, that's, it comes down to him. the front office for his decision um it was contentious like it listen the rage ship broke down between him and jim curtain at some point maybe early last year maybe a little bit before that they weren't speaking all that much by the end of the season and then um not just there but like the hit jim curtain's exit wasn't handled perfectly right um so both things can be true that i still feel for that and i still think that jim curden is one of the best coaches in this country and it's the other part of this is Philly had a clear vision. Ernst Tanner has had a clear vision since he got here,

and Bradley Cornell fit that. Bradley Cornell was at a point where it's being surprisingly let go by St. Louis. It was a perfect marriage between front office and head coach playing philosophies and understanding that this was the job and this is how we're going to play. We see the game the same way. And guess what? We might lose somebody like Daniel Goszog a month and a half into the season. And you're just going to have to deal with it, right?

So it's been extraordinarily impressive on all fronts. This is a team that I was all my preseason, I was, listen, like I thought, I thought they were going to be playoff, like I thought that they were going to be top seven in the East. And you can check this, maybe don't check it because there's a lot of things there, including Atlanta, probably ahead of them. I digress. My whole point was not to pat myself on the way.

My point was to say, I felt good about them being solid, not great. Solid and maybe not even very good. Like, hey, they're going to be a first round exit type of team, but it's going to be a really good building block season. guess what they are great but my analysis was built on you're going to look at their underlying numbers at the end of the season

and it's going to be a gigin-pressing Red Bull soccer style they are first in MLS and passes per defensive action they are seventh in direct attacks fourth in attack speed second in shots fourth in field tilt that's all that this team wants to be

and I wish that I had ground covering metrics because I bet that they're up there in all of them but Sport Tech does not do that for some reason MLS does not use Opta anymore. Everyone can catch a stray right now. Keep your heads down.

It worked out stylistically. I mean, it's just, it's just a joke. But like, so this team, the resiliency and the, the dead-eyed philosophy and this is how we want to play, and this is the number we have for all of these players. And Daniel, guys like, yeah, maybe you deserve a new contract. We think it's more. We're not going to hold you back. You can go to Columbus, right? And then in the end of S-level, we already got him in.

Quinn Sullivan's going to hit a new level. I'm sure Ty Borebo is going to leave at some point in the next couple of windows because he's played himself into a new contract. Their ability to continually, not just one, like where everything comes right for one group to hit on a number of guys that are surpassing their value, they've done this three or four iterations now. And now over a second coaching staff, it is one of the most impressive long-term builds in a couple different ways, right? They have unearthed players coming in, and then they've used their own academy and push players through. and that is a big core of why there's belief that they could flip rosters and continue forward because there's some level of identity that already exists there, as well as talent. Quinn Sullivan started this year unbelievably, carried them through the opening stretch of the

season, which I think allowed Carnell to settle in and get buy-in from these players. And I think if Quinn Sullivan's not ready to do that and not capable of that, like this is a totally different season. And then since then, they've added the Indy Vasselves of the world. now Milan Alaski coming in Damiani and those players have been able to sort of carry them in moments when they've needed it but overall the cohesive style the cohesive vision and the energy that they play with has allowed them to be one of the best teams as well as by the way Andre Blake being a little bit healthier he has not been fully healthy but he's going to play

yeah he's going to play about a thousand more minutes this yes that was the biggest issue last year and they have gone from the 17th worst defensive team in the league to a top five and that's going to be a big part of it because he's the best goalkeeper. And Andrew Rick's been awesome as well, a player that they've believed in a lot coming through the academy and now getting opportunities. Frankie Westfield has stepped on the field and gotten a ton more minutes for them as well. So I think you see them continuing to try and push the next generation of players. And there's a lot to be excited about with this Philadelphia team.

Can they win trophies? Like that's going to be another conversation, right? There is the debate about what's the ceiling on all of this. if you don't spend at that high number and you don't get that match, match winner that some other teams have a son and a vander players like that in that final moment. And we're going to see it now under Bradley Carnell if it's any different. Obviously, St. Louis came up short in the postseason. That was an expansion year and maybe didn't have different expectations as they went into that series

against SKC. But they'll still be question marks going forward, but they're the leaders right now for the supporter shield. They have a legitimate shot at winning this thing. it would be a massive trophy for them the 2021 shield obviously the biggest thing they've ever won 2020 a weird year didn't get the full season didn't get the full home and away all that stuff celebrate the way they'd like to um and so it would be a a huge deal for this club if they're able to do this exactly and and you look at what they have left so again they're one point ahead of san diego playing down a man for 30 minutes was a huge as well and doyle

Doyle wrote about this in his column, which again, you should be reading every single week. He laid out the numbers of, again, I had kind of alluded to this earlier, but he ran the exact numbers and they were even kind of more divergent than I thought of after they beat Sincere in like March, they maybe had one win against, you know,

with the other top seven teams. They were beating the teams they were supposed to beat and not beating the really good teams. And then they go to Sincere and win that game. I thought not just the three points in the shield race, though obviously that is extremely important. It was proved making a statement, right? And now in their last five games, they do, they play three teams that are above the

playoff line. Two of those games, it's at Vancouver in their next match, at Charlotte in their last game of the season. If they get four points out of those two, you feel pretty good about them getting the shield. And that is a very, very difficult task, particularly going cross-country against Vancouver right now, and we'll see what kind of form. Shard is, I believe that they would tie the record if they win their next game for most consecutive wins. Regardless, they are the hottest team, possibly at MLS history, and we'll see

exactly where they are on Decision Day. But it's not, it's not an easy run. And this is what you do if you want to win trophies. And they are also in the open cup semi-finals. You mentioned in Minnesota. They are traveling to Nashville for that game. That's going to be an awesome game. Villanova alum, B.J. Callahan on the other side, a chance for both those clubs to win their first ever, open cup trophy. So like, that's going to be a big one, which I think maybe makes it a little harder. It takes away a little. How much energy do you have? All of that. Jose Nune is in the chat, who

covers the Philadelphia Union as well as anyone talking about, you know, covering for Ian Glavanovich who went down with the knee entry in preseason. McCona has been a huge part of that. They are very thin at centerback. They are very thin in general in a lot of these spots. So now they have to cover for a red card to

McCona this week and that, or coming up next week after the international break and then go into an open cup semi-final and then come out of it and continue to try and put points at the top of this race. But either way, it is a huge year for them, a massive turnaround. And I think for Philadelphia, no question already, it was best case scenario. Like, this is as well as you could ask for.

And as you said, not a ton of expectations about this going into it. They have 18 different goal scores this season. 18, just an MLS play. And I don't know if there was a random goal from somebody else. Regardless, that is a huge, huge number. There is one player that scored more than five goals. And that's Tyber Ebo. like this is as even

I don't know what type of real celebration but I just did it for anyone who's watching and anyone who's not you missed out and you had the opportunity on that by the way the goal against Cincinnati a bizarre goal Tamiani like rolls Miyazga

on a ball up in the air like he rolls over him around him and then flicks the header to the far post it was a bizarre way to see it go down but it was a huge goal for them on the top of things as we said, San Diego has also clinched their spot in the postseason.

I think Andres Dreyer has clinched his spot as MVP of the 2025 MLS season. There you go. Anders. The pure respect from me for that. He's from Denmark. The goal against L.A.F.C. is one of the best minutes you're going to have. You know, the game's against them a little bit right then. You're on the road in an intense atmosphere.

It's Sun's debut, like all of the energy for L.A.F. and he is a one-man counterattack, shows the poise, shows the composure, destroys the first defender, deeks the second defender, and then has enough power on the shot to get it off the deflection and in the back of the goal. And it's just he's done stuff like this all season. He is second in the league and ground covered. He has been a minute sponge for them. He has been a creator.

He has been a finisher. And wherever they finish in the Western Conference, this is a historic season for an expansion team, and he's the center of all. of it. Two notes here. First of all, I'd like us to normalize Deke in soccer analysis, and I appreciate that. I like that a lot. That's not, I'm not being sarcastic. Um, two, you just let me go on a diet drive about, you know, ground covering and making fun of spell check and then you're just like well actually second in the broadcast. Where did you pull that out of? I need to access to this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do my own research. You're just charting the high intensity. I'm based out of Florida. I like to do my own research. So I don't know what's going on. Listen, the last four games, he's got three goals and two assists. And again, you could take any four-game sample size essentially from the season and regular season play. Those are pretty much the numbers. So it's not just that, like, he'll go on a heater for three games and then disappear for five. Like, he's started all 29 games, which is important for me in, and again, a regular season award

in a season, like last year, part of the argument with Messi, which again, and I voted Messi, it was the right, it was the right, but part of the argument, was like, well, you know, his per 90, I don't give a shit about per 90. Like, per 90 is sweet, not in an MVP race. Like, it matters that you're available for every game. This team, like, needs him. And the fact that he's able to play all of these games is testament to him, testament to the training staff and everything else. And, you know, it takes a little bit of luck, too.

But, like, him being a workhorse is part of his MVP resume. He leads the league in goal contributions at 32, 14 goals, 18 assists. Like, it's been an impeccable season. And again, for me, he's in pole position. Messy hasn't played in MLS that much in, like, regular season recently because of the League's Cup and he had an injury prior to that. They do have four games in hand. We'll see what happens.

Like, again, going into the final day last year, I had Cucci-R-Nandez, number one, on my ballot. Messi had had four goal contributions and they set the points record. So things will go down to the last day because the last day should matter if it is this close. But right now, Dreyer has been in pole position on my ballot for months. now. And again, it's not because that there's no other options. It's because he's stayed consistently excellent and productive and been whatever San Diego needs. And he's settled in to more of a consistent role within this group. But again, like I was saying earlier all season that like what I loved

most in the first third, first half of the season, he could be your inside forward playing off the shoulder when you needed goals. He could be tucking in as a 10 when you needed to create. He could drop in and help with the buildup if he needed to. And it just showed the wide range of both technical skill work rate and then third, like the intelligence to fill all those roles. So I can't say enough good things about what Andres Dreyer has done this season. And again, he's going to win new cover of the year. And, you know, he carried them at times in two people.

It'sano's been out about, you know, the back line for them. Like, it's been fantastic, but they've been playing draft picks and kids and moving players around and they've continued to put up performances. So I think when you talk about on-field, off-field, intangibles, all that type of stuff, leadership, like, he has been a massive part of all of that. And this seems awesome. Like, they're fun to watch. Pedro Somo comes off the bench.

He's trying to play through the lines as L.A.F.C. is charging down them, down their throat and putting pressure on them. Pilcher comes in once again off the bench. He's able to hold things down, being pressured by Boulanga and Sun. like they got a little fortunate in this game. L-AFC should have scored. They should have scored from Boulanga twice at least. And I thought it was interesting that Sun was kind of laying into Argyi, the referee, after the game.

I didn't know that that was a part of Sun's vibes because he's so friendly. I talked to a couple, I talked to a couple Tottenham fans. And they were like, no, it's not like uncommon for him, but he doesn't normally like lose it. I was like, okay, I just wanted to see if MLS referee already broke him or if he was there before that. And so there was a lot going on in this game. All of it was an example of what the San Diego team is capable of, the ethos that they have, the way they play.

And this game was fun. Like it was open. It was fun. You know, LafC has games like this when the other team is also open and trying to push the game and create space for them. There's still question marks in their central midfield. Eddie Seguera stepping into that role for this. one part of the carnage that occurred on that second goal for dryer one of the players that he took

out of the play one v one by himself but yeah there's there's a lot to like about the san diego team and they're going to be fun to watch down the stretch and we will continue to cover all the teams as they clinch their spot in the postseason of course we'll be covering that as well but on the flip side we got to talk about the teams who are dead and buried and what it means for their future and what's happening now at the start of this it is going to be probably a different tone than it gets as time goes along let's just say we've got montreal and dc to hit i think there are five maybe seven teams that are going to sound similar on the bottom of things and then a chunk of teams in the middle that will feel a little bit different and then after that you'll start to get into teams

I get eliminated in the post seasons. We are going to start with CF Montreal because I don't know. They're higher in the standings and congratulations to them who are officially eliminated. Here's just like a quick rundown and then we're going to hit a couple questions about all of these teams every time we do this. But for Montreal, they fired Laurent Quartre on March 24th and promoted Marco Donodale. They have the worst defense in the east and fourth worst in the league unexpected goals against. They are tied for the second worst attack in the Eastern Conference on XG and in the league. So that's 1.69 goal chances created per 90, which is fourth worst, and the gap between

fourth and fifth is pretty large. And then the gap between fifth and the rest of the league is even bigger. And they are third worst for live ball chances created, aka they are boring. They don't really create chances. They haven't been super successful. And then off the field, it has been a tough year for them. They just had one of the members of their sporting structure. Corey Ray leave the club on top of them, firing a coach and hiring a new coach.

And then on the player side, they've traded Joel Waterman. They've sold George Campbell. They've sold Nathan Saliba. They basically let Jules Anthony Vilsant walk away. And then they got a cash for Kate and Clark. Great. Hold on. Worse than letting Jules Anthony Vilsaunt walk.

all go away like they so i would say if you ask me in the vacuum who are the five players you build around who has you most excited four of them are on that list that have left the club and i would argue at least two of them did so under market value i think selling george campbell fine it's part of your process and nathan salibo was clearly ready for the next level and if you can get the right move with the right sell on and kaden clark they did great business side but those are good news it has not been ideal on the flip side. They've already brought some pieces in, so we have to mention this as we do our offseason conversation. Ephra and Morales is sort of the George Campbell replacement as the next one. Maddie Longstaff, Bodie Hidalgo, and Yvonne Jaime have been brought

in as well. Tom, the questions we were going to do is, what do you believe in most? What is your biggest worry and what would you say excites you about this team going forward? Do you want to put a bow on 2025 before we get there? Yeah. I mean, I mean, listen, you tell me, do we, do you want to start with the criticisms and the reality or, or? In general, I like to think that I'm an optimistic sports person and I like sports. I find it really, exactly, I find it really hard. Despite the Jets and a Mets fan who lost AVT the day before the season starting, because that's what we do best. I find it really hard with these two teams, and I feel like we're going to be faking it,

and I don't know that we should open out, open up with faking. So let's just do what we're going to do. Oh, yeah, okay. Let's start. It's your point on, and again, like, they should be celebrated with a saliba, George Campbell. Like, that's all good stuff. But your point about these are the players you want to build around, even when they do, like, let's talk about George Campbell. Great trade.

What has happened since they got George Campbell into selling George Campbell? Kate and Clark, great trade. What has happened in the year since they acquired them until now when they flip them again? And you're going down the list where it's like, you're going down the list where it's like, Yeah, it was a lot cooler when it was the Wilfr-Nancy-led teams, and they finished in third or whatever it was that season, and then George Malajovic and Alster Johnston, and come on, man, all these guys go, Ismail Kone.

That is what you want. That is a gold standard. Well, when you're doing it, when it's just like, oh, cool, we made $700,000 on Katie and Clark. All right, how many games did you win? Or like, what of consequence happened? And there isn't really much. So, listen, I disagreed with the Laurent Coutre firing at the time.

Nothing under Marco Donadale has really changed my opinion on that. And I don't even necessarily, I don't know what he could be expected to do, right? Like, it keeps on coming down to what is relative to expectation. And I don't know how you could look at this team. And again, like we, again, it wasn't the deepest and most difficult thing to figure out. But we clocked this in preseason. It was just like throw a bunch of, I don't know, 15 different guys who weren't really big time additions. throw all of them at the wall and see what sticks.

Prince of Wusu stuck. Cool. Like that's good. That's a good start. And then what, right? Like, so I struggle looking back at 25 for this team for this season and think about, was it, let's say, with Toronto. Toronto has not a good season, but I'm going to be much more optimistic about them when we talk

about them because you can see the building blocks in place. Is Marco Donne Dell the coach? I don't know. I assume so, but I don't know. You thought that the front office had some stability. and maybe it does now, because there's been change there. There's been several starters to come and go.

Thomas Gilead, he's looked really, really good. Is he going to be gone immediately like Louis Binks was back in? Anytime I'm starting to get excited about something, and again, I do have a couple positives I want to get to. Yvonne Hyman, that's a real DP if they trigger the purchase option next summer. Like, that's a great, whether or not he works, like if they put the investment in and keep him, if he shows that he's worthy,

to be kept. That is one big question that has been eluding them since like 2019. So that's a step in the right direction, right? But like, I'm struggling to have a whole lot of realistic optimism. There are teams where we'll talk about blind trust on either acquisitions or I'm going to go ahead and assume that's going to work out well because all these other moves worked out well. You can't really say. No, there's none of that. And I think that's the part that's really hard is the Lauren Quartre, Marco Donnell conversation. It's about process. What was the process they start the year what five games on the road eight games on the road and then lauren quartois doesn't get results out of something what like there was never and even after he was

fired like listen this is the the line we set of like this is what we have to accomplish in this stretch so you have a setup where you can't play home games and you don't really know what the expectations are and then you fire someone off the back of that because they don't perform in a space you don't really expect them to perform. Is Marco Donodal going to be fired next year if they start the first eight games win list? Because you play the first eight games on the road. And I think that's the part about this club that's really, really hard. And like, you can have a process around acquiring players and selling them and leaning on young players. And, you know, there was injuries. Jalen Neil, I think really unfortunate. Like the injury is not fully available. Jekyll Marshall Ruddy.

They took a shot and it didn't really work out for them. And like, that's going to happen when you lean into this side of the game because these are unproven players who for the most part are going to fail like the percentages are against you in this but to do it and just have like no vision of we're going to win one day or we're going to try and win or we have some idea of how we're going to do it they took a shot on veroni it didn't work out again i don't mind that like i understand the point but on evan hyman if he plays right there is no belief that they're going to be able to set up a deal for him to come back unless he says yeah i'll take nothing to come back because i'm happy and i'm comfortable and i want to be there there's just like no belief that this is a club

that's going to be able to do that and so i think all of that is really really unfortunate i mean this is like an insane thing probably to say which it shouldn't be which is georgia mahalovitch moved inside the league to a canadian team for big money montreal could never be in that conversation But this is a guy who played his best soccer of his career at Montreal. And the fact that they could never be in that conversation shows you where the team sits. And if you're not going to spend well, have good process. And having your sons run the team is not good process. And that all of it together makes it really hard to have a lot of belief in anything for 2026.

They have had eight managers since, you know, the middle of 2017. You're supposed to, aren't you supposed to get new batteries every year? What can you build? Isn't what the role? Um, it was, um, Maro Bielo, Remy Guard, Wilmer Cabrera, Tieri Henri, Wilfridunce, Ernest, Ernest, Guzada, and now Donadale. And will there be a ninth in the winter? I don't know, right? Like, it's, and again, so again, you're right. Like, I'm not really killing them that, like, Giacomo Veroni didn't work. Like, the one, like, you're, like, you're, let's find, you throw some darts,

right? But if your entire plan is working to throw 15 darts, yeah. And again, even if three of them hit, like, that's, yeah. Like, again, like you need to have controls, whether that's a head coach or a structure or or a handful of players that like, hey, like Joel Waterman, like, he's not a perfect center. I have no idea. That's a, that's a starting. The thinking is internally that they don't think Joel Waterman should be a part of the team, like long term. And that, again, can be a situation where that's the player saying, like, I don't really want to be here.

But he's under contract. And the fact that he doesn't want to be there is the problem. Yeah, I feel like we've piled on enough for at least. I've, do you have any further points on the negative side? Because I feel like I'm repima. But like I want to do close. No, I think the biggest worry is the club and who they are in their entire identity. And the threshold, that will be something that we won't always say.

But I just say in general, like the ownership in the group that runs the team. And all of that is the biggest worry. And that is probably most of it. Yeah. So, again, on the positive side, again, Prince of Usu has been really, really good. Like, that signing has worked out excellently. and hopefully he's able to say because that is a constant, right?

Dante Sealy has been a revelation for this team. Again, Ivan Heime, like, if he works out and they keep him like, that's one of the big critiques I've had about this team for years. Like, that would be progress. That would be very, very good. Jaywin-Neil, I still think it's a long-term building block. I know he struggled with injuries this year,

and I already talked about Thomas Gilead. Really, really good. And, again, if they have him for two years, like that's a success. And you just hope that it comes at a time where you have enough other pieces around and hey, we'll see if they, like, they'll spend some money on guys that they think might go to Bologna. And, like, again, that sounds like a backhand of competent in some ways it is.

But, like, that is better than not doing it at all because they hadn't done it at all in recent years. So, again, like, the Ukrainian winger, his name's escape me. If he's somebody that does really well in M.S. for two seasons, sorry, Sinchuk. If Sinchuk does really well for two seasons and then goes to Bologna, if Gilead does really well for two seasons and goes to Bologna, that's okay. long as it's being supplemented by Jaime and Ousu and Samuel Piet and we haven't mentioned his day yet and like again some of the young centerbacks

that they've brought in like there is reasons and like their their academy they've been trusting young players and part of that is being cheap but they've trusted young players they've done development those are all good things it's just two things going in too many directions if they're able for it to all come together

then again I try to be positive but even when it did come together they chased the world for not say that we like I like Victor Lottori. I think he's been pretty good for them as well. But again, a lot of these are water carriers. A lot of these are, you know, pieces. And having sort of the like vision players who can carry the whole thing forward, that's what's tough to see for this team.

The best move they've probably made of the year was selling Kate and Clark in a cash fare for $700,000 plus a potential, another $100,000. which brings us to our next team. DC United officially eliminated. They are the lowest in Major League Soccer and chances created from live play. They're the second worst team in the league behind TFC in total attacking numbers. They fired Troy Lassane in the middle of the year.

They hired Renee Weiler in July to move forward. And that is where DC United sits right now, Tom. So we can do this the same. What's your biggest worry about this club? And I would say ownership, the entire club, and the way it functions. Yes, yes. I will say, from whatever, the planning is not always long term. And the resources are not always long term, which I think helps lead to some, like,

I think panic signings is not the right way to put it, but like, oh, like this, like let's get a deal done before our budgets change, right? There were supposed to be another DP coming this summer. That didn't happen. That was the idea, and then it wasn't the idea. Again, René Vallet, I hope that he does well, but I'm worried about his track record as a manager. He does not stay at jobs for super long, and this, I think, a team more than a lot of others in a league

that, like, one way you could help control for chaos above you is structure and, like, again, Gio Savrease is somebody. Like, they did talk to Gio Savreasei. I believe I've reported that. If I haven't, they made a run at Jim Curtin. That was, I've definitely reported that. And that was serious. And, like, that's good.

Like, that's a good process. You're doing the right things. But then, again, I don't mean this to be such a negative of Renee Waller before giving him a chance to prove whether it is a negative or a positive, right? But, like, at least the process started with, like, Jim Curtin and Giusea and some other people that, like, could give them the longstromed ability that they probably need. we'll see if this manager does it doesn't so you're right i echo your thought and i'd like you to elaborate on it better than i am now but the that is my i guess biggest worry is that it's all going to keep changing you go from again ben olson was here for a long time and fans were ready for him to leave would you want like maybe this would be better to have asked at this time last year

but what would you do to get ben olson back right um and that's the ability since then it was you changed from him and it's runy and then Rooney's playing a different system, you throw a bunch of players out, and then the Bentacade deal comes together. You've already traded away multiple really good crossers of the ball. Okay, we need to get more. Oh, Wayne Rooney wants Ravel Morrison on a Max Tam deal. Let's just blindly do that because we have to. And then Rooney leaves, of course, Hernano Lassada comes in a completely different play style. Let's overturn the roster again. We're halfway through overturning it. We sign more bad deals that fits a new system.

We fire that manager. A new manager comes in with a new style. It's just, that's the worry. that it's just going to be a complete cycle of the team trying that the front office or the playing what ends up being the roster. I don't really have a ton of notes of how to describe it because it is what it is. But I think I was talking to someone about this team and they were saying, you know, like the Paul Pogba stuff, right? Let's let's go there. There was nothing that was real to that. What, what, the reality to that was. I thought it was that ownership was interested.

Okay. That may be made a phone. But in general, you have these. It feels like ownership almost over steps and they're involved because they're engaged and they care. If you want to do that, because let's be real, people who own sports teams are bad at running sports teams because they're not, that's not their profession. If you're going to do that, then the way you fix being in the way is spending a lot of money and like making it okay. And they don't do either of those things. And I think that's where it feels like right now, they don't have a two team.

they have one of the lower spending academies even though they are in the talent rich area and that's the biggest part that's hard about this is like yes they brought through Matayak and Boni and they sold him and they made some money and there's some players who have come through it has been in fits and starts it is not part of a pipeline and a process

and that's really really frustrating for a team in one of the soccer rich areas and they do so as well with the DPs not spending to the full max that they can and I think that now you go back into the conversation of process and like all of the things you talked about it doesn't matter if it's Ben Olson or Wayne Rooney or who if the ground is shifting underneath you internally for no reason it's going to be really hard to do your job at a high level and that feels like the biggest problem

right now for DC United and not one that you can fix because you can't find the owner and you can't move on the owner and that is like where this team has been stuck the hope was that maybe they had taken some steps over the last year and a half because of sort of moving Dave Casper who it felt like took a lot of pressure probably off ownership but also because he was so closely connected and linked was sort of doing the work for them and the hope was maybe a different person in that position would find ways to push the ownership group back and and say this is the way things are done in this league and this is what we should do and it hasn't really felt the case so far and as you've said a lot of short term builds and like short term for a team

not winning. So what's what's the value of short term going forward? What's the value of some of these like international signings at positions of need? Like what is David Schnegg for you going forward and Kyle rolls if they're not a player you're going to sell in the future? You're not in a win now mode and I don't really know what you're trying to put together. So it's a team that feels really far away from being competitive. I say that in the context of like we just talked about a Philly team that went from 12th to first, it is possible in Major League Soccer, and it's possible for anyone in MLS because the gap is so small, but D.C. is now running on 10 plus years of proving that they're not going to do the work to fill that hole. And so I think that's the

really frustrating part. And like, this should be the time where we go into what gets you excited. And I name five academy players coming out of D.C. And I can't do that right now. And I think that is like the biggest blight against this team where you're having the year you're having and you still can't turn to that and say oh well at least we got this next step started yeah i think that's a good point and maybe we'll continue to see some more integration in the future again maybe rnay vola will be somebody who integrates young players again i don't know that intimately is history and so again maybe we'll see that next year i was going to say the brightest rock for them is will they be out of the maddie clip contract so they will no longer be

playing a dp who doesn't play in this league anymore they will so that's correct so they they could technically add two more dps this winter beyond christian pentake again whether they go or it's one if they go too well they have to leave the u22 spots open for international young whatever they're going to have because that's clearly a winning model they'll have they'll have that flexibility and those are important roster slots and again i hope that i hope that the investment is there to give the chance to do that. And I hope that this head coach gets the chance to. I hope this front office gets the chance to do that. So

I think that we're going to see a lot of ins and out this winter. I know that there was a decent amount last winter as well, but I think that there's a lot that they can move in and out of. I like the attacking foundation. Christian Betake's game is going to age well, right? He's going to remain aerial

dominant. Look at Kai Kamari. He's still one of the most areas. And again, Ventaki does a lot more than just that. But his elite, elite skill is going to age well, right? I like, I don't love, but I like Caden Clark, Jowal Peglo, Gabriel Perani. Those three guys, I think work better as the third and fourth option. So all that is to say, if a sick DP 10 comes in or a sick DP winger, Peglo, Clark, Pirani, Trout, they all look better because you have, like, what would, again, I like these players on San Diego, like Valacari. What would he look

like without Anders Dreyer? What would Alex Martin look like? Like some of these other guys. Like that's part of the reason why it's not just how good the player is that you sign. It's like the potential knock on effects. Like when you get it right, when you get the carless hill. And again, probably maybe not another perfect example, but like that that's a guy who when he's on the field just makes dudes around him better. And that's what it's been so frustrating about New England as well is that like, man, you have this guy. You have the guy that a lot of player teams are searching for.

So I look at it in that direction. Hopefully you can bring in another defensive edition or of the structure with a preseason or a new manager. Again, obviously Aaron Herrera is one of the best right backs in a league. Not like those are our pieces to build around. And again, I think with it's going to take some surgery. But like again, if you hit on those handful of top. For anyone out there who's trying to picture this all in your head, we have our depth charts fully updated. So coming off the back of the last transfer window, the people who help us out with that, do an awesome job.

And they've cleaned everything up. So you can go in and you can take a look at that. And if you do not, you can subscribe to our Patreon. It gets you access to that as well. So you can take a look at the length of the deals that they have, the depth charts, the way we have them set up, the potential to move pieces or not move pieces going forward. For the most part, this is a team with kind of middle spending, which sometimes is easier to get out of and sometimes is a lot harder. because you've got, like, a decent chunk of players on between $500 and $800,000, and all of them are on two-year deals or three-year deals.

And if you can get off a couple, great, but it still doesn't do a ton of work for you. And that's where a D.C. sits, and they sit with a decent chunk of players that are less exciting. Okay, let's stick into the U.S. men's national team here. Let's get a little bit happier and more excited. I will throw out there are four MLS games this weekend in an international break. Houston hosts in the Galaxy, Chicago plays New England, St. Louis hosts DC United, and SKC hosts Austin FC in a Sunday night soccer game.

I will tell you this. I got vibes from the League's Cup final. I am hyped about Open Cup semifinal. It's going to be hard for me to get up for any of these games for the next 10 days before that. Like, yeah. Like, get me meaningful games and get me out of here pretty soon. Let's talk USM&T since we all did our last set of shows, which was the Kickback Committee

Saccharise crossover on Tuesday, with Jill Sackavits, Matt Doyle, you and Susanna Fuller, which was awesome to listen to. You can listen to it on both of our channels. If you don't already, subscribe to the Kickback Committee podcast feed, putting out a show at least once a week. We've got our live happy hour coming up in a few moments as well with some of the crew. Claudia Pagan will be there, you and me hanging out. But since then, Christian Roldon has been added to.

the roster, I think Maricio Pochitino listens to our show. It was a long conversation that you all had about whether or not he deserved to be and how well he's played and how much he has done to push his way into it. Florian Baligan as well has been added to the roster since

the initial roster was dropped for the USM&T, so two big additions to the team on Roll Don you know, I'm a sucker, like I'm already a mark for Christian Roll Don vibes. I have said, A million times in every direction.

I said it around the 2022 World Cup. I said it in 2019. I said it in 2017. He's a gamer. Like my joke is always, he could play center field or he could play tight end or running back for a team. Like, he's a great athlete. He's a gamer.

He cares. He makes plays happen because of like pure will sometimes. Even when you look at the first goal in the Leaks Cup final, like it's not fully conventional, right? He shifts the man in front of him taking sort of a long touch to the side, but he's putting himself in spaces constantly and then he's able to slip the first pass through the lines that opens up the game now they find Alex Raldon out to the right the second goal he immediately picks up the ball like it's just shit like that where he's like I'm not taking this PK but I'm going to pick up the ball so that everyone comes to me and takes a little bit of pressure off turns out to

be his brother but like he's the guy who does all of those little things it's a team in the national team that it has felt like has no one like that and so even if it's just trying to impact the group from training and the bench and whatever is. I think we're all happy to see him there. I wouldn't be against seeing him on the field. Like it's been two plus years since he's legitimately played with the national team. He has become the center of a Seattle Sounders team that competes. And he plays centrally and he plays a ton of minutes and the responsibilities on his shoulders. So I wouldn't be sad to see him. I am sure that there are a lot of people on the internet who don't agree with me. But either way, cool to see him honored

to get called up. Like, cool to see that what he's doing matters and he gets the opportunity. Well deserved. And listen, like, whether or not, again, whether or not he plays minutes at the World Cup, let alone makes a World Cup squad, let alone is called up in October. Like, these recognitions of just a really good player and a really good dude, you can't take it away, man. And, again, in the grand scheme of things, whether or not it makes a difference on whether

the United States gets grouped at the World Cup or if they get to the semifinals, like it's not always about that and sometimes you need to find the beauty in like, and again, this isn't dismissive anyway. It's not, this isn't just a participation call up and like, oh, congratulations on your call up. Like, I think he can push towards the World Cup squad.

Let's see if he does. But like at some points, like you need to step aside and say that like, yeah, a really good player is getting rewarded for really good form. And I think that's the process you want for a national team of like players being able to see. I mean, it's hard to say now as Portitino's like, like, okay, we're done seeing players like it ends now,

but you want players to believe they have an opportunity and that they can get in. He knows a lot of these players, right? He was at the 2022 World Cup, like he knows this group. I mean, I just think having more people like him. Balligan on the other side, by the way, back-to-back starts, full 90s, got the goal against Strausburg.

Very exciting. It's the big position. Like, you know, we're going to do the three things we want to see. I'll start. The first one for me is Josh Sargent, getting the start at center forward. I would like to see him. get it in both games. I think he is that much better than everyone else and it should be his

spot. I think so, yes. But that would be that exception, which I would be okay with, which is you're trying to lean into the belief that Balligan has a higher ceiling and when healthy and playing can reach that. I'm fine with Sargent getting the starts and Balligan being in the group and then if he plays well enough and plays well enough with the club that he gets brought back to the next camp, and that's where he gets his first start. I'm fine saying Josh Sargent has earned it, and if he plays well enough in the first game, like, I don't need those minutes pre-allocated away from him to say Balligan has to see them, but at a minimum, Josh Sargent needs to be starting against South Korea on Saturday. Interesting. So

I can ease, I can be convinced on your start. Like, I'm content with this. My view on this one was I wanted, again, if it was a split between Balligan and Sargent, I think that that it would be fair and good. I would want it to make sure that both of these forwards get to play with Pulisick and Wea, or some combination of like rather than, hey, Baligan plays with, air quote, the pool of sick, the way as the guys who were expecting to play key roles, Adams is playing, and then in the next game, it's... Let's do it. Let's get me see. Again, I don't want to be disrespectful with any of the players, right? But, like, you know, listen, Tyler Adams, Pulisic, are starting at the World Cup if they're fit.

Like, that's it. Richards. Those three players, right? I want the forwards. And again, the centerback, not a huge impact here on the center forward and the relationships there. But my point is, I want them both to get starts with as many first choice-ish players as possible rather than we have one starting group and then we have another starting group. And then it goes back to your Zendaya's point that you've made over the years that is really good. It's just like, yeah, well, like, then he's asked to play the Pulisicic role when you,

know what? He'd be much better playing. What's your first thing? Rather than in place of him. Yeah, so we'll just stick with Roaldon. And again, I don't, I don't know the likelihood of this. And I'll give Doyle credit for this. I would love to see him playing in the midfield with Tyler Adams. Like, I think that Roldon's intelligence, motor, and elasticity to do multiple different things in the same game and knowing when to do them, freeze up Adams to be a pressing eight. Freeze up, like, like, I just think that that duo has a lot of potential. And we've seen Adams with Burrhalter. And, like, like, I would like to see Rodon get a meaningful run, though it would be a little weird.

But it wouldn't be outside the realm of starting the first game. USM&C over the last five years and what and Pochititino's reign so far and like everything that's happened. No, and so, yeah, and I'll piggyback this one and just like, I want to see Noa Kai Banks get some run and get some meaningful run if that's a start, if that's at least 45 minutes off the bench in one game with either Richards or Ream. I think that'd be good. I have said this a couple times.

You know what you're getting from. from Tim Ream. And I think Chris Richards has elevated his game so reliably that you know what you're getting from him and he doesn't need a million reps so that his relationship with Ream is perfected so that he can cover his flaws. Therefore, I think there are minutes to allocate at the centerback position to other players if you think they can actually change your, like, reality going forward and give them opportunities alongside Chris Richards. And if you deem that that's Noaki Banks, then give him the chance and like let him start. start a game and let him play alongside him, I find it hard to believe, I genuinely find a hard

to believe it's Tristan Blackman. And so I don't know that he's going to get those minutes. And I would say probably if you can get Banks to start and Rima start and Richard starts both games, then like that's probably the setup that I would like to see in that center back there. I will say from a style point of view, I think this is a South Korea team that plays a little disconnected and they like to sit, from what I've watched, they like to sit in and try and build out a little bit, but their front line stays very high, and they don't send a ton of numbers to support them. And there's two ways you could handle that. You could choose to step off the ball and say, well, try and be more aggressive and beat us.

I would love for that not to be the case. I would love for the U.S. to take the game on the front foot, press their front line high, try and create turnovers. Let Tyler Adams be a difference maker for you by leading pressure out of midfield and try and and create chances quicker in transition. So that's my number two thing is purely the style that they play with. Honestly, if you lose one of these games, like, yeah, it'll be a bit of a mess because you shouldn't lose at home. But I'd rather go out and feel like, okay, they're at least being the aggressor in these games.

And I think doing so at Red Bull Arena, although I don't know what that crowd's going to look like because what, Patterson, New Jersey thinks now is one of the, by the way, if anyone's in the area, there is a great career. spa right near the GW Bridge. I cannot remember the name right now, but I will look it up and I will shout it out on another thing. I typed in Korean Spa to Google and I got all ones in Miami. There's like this place right north of the GW Bridge that has like 45 pools

and views of the city and all the different styles. I don't know. I can't remember the name right now or the name maybe always changes. But yeah, I don't know what the crowd will look like is my point, but Red Bull Arena will be hopping for this game like take advantage of that play that way and that's my number two thing yeah um that was not too dissimilar to what my second was going to be in that just I hope that they are that we can see identifiable progress slash like just hey what are you what are we trying to do here what what is the idea and hopefully it's something on the front foot

or in transition which is just high energy right because I think that again anytime you have Adams on the field that that's a he's a pressing monster he's somebody who can cover ground like use that as as best you can Chris Richards is very very comfortable in space Tim Riemis holds up in space for his age a little bit deceptively so again I weigh a pull sick when they're in transition is when they're really really dangerous so I hope that we see that kind of game and that's kind of again you king spa in New Jersey that is the name you are welcome world it is Palisades Park technically right outside of that sounds like it's a good spot like that

Tom you could stop on your next drive fast a midday spa session coming out of CBS yeah from yes you can can I take a nap there so

so my third one is just an overarching and like I'll preface it with yeah dude it's a friendly at the end of the day because they're like my God I'm just so sick of this team losing they lost four games

in a row before the Gold Cup they needed the penalties to beat Costa Rica they hold on for dear life against Guatemala, who were the story of the tournament, and then after a fun 10, 15 minutes, holding on for dear life for the next 75 against Mexico. So at some point, man, like, results matter. Even in a friendly, just go out, play well, get a win, score a few goals. Like, again, it is, you can hear the excitement in my voice. It's just, it's a bad

programs in a bad spot in terms of performance, in terms of vibes, in terms of whatever you want to put in there. Whatever metric it is, it's probably not good. And, hey, there's still hope for the 2026 World Cup. At some point, some meaningful wins need to come. And again, against South Korea and Japan, these are two good teams, two really good teams on the internet. These are, these are teams, I think that the U.S. national team, they should be in this tier. They have not been in this tier since the 22 World Cup. Well, they did lose to Japan and the run-up to the 2020 World Cup in Europe. So maybe they haven't been in this tier since before. than but again i i fully agree with you i like the setup of these fair enough like i think this is a

good setup two qualified teams two teams that will have some fan base yeah two teams that understand this level and can challenge you and prepare you for the world cup i will say hearing south korea in japan i keep having 20 2002 flashbacks which was epic like time in my life of fita and watching the world cup and all of that and the nike with the circle jersey and whatnot and so that's thrown some good flashbacks into my life. My final one is you talked about relationships and guys getting chances with big guys. I want to see Diego Luna on the field with the big stars. I want to see Luna on the field with Wea, with Pulisic, with Sargent.

Whatever combination of that, I want to see him as a piece of that and how he links up with those players and how he can change the game with those guys on the field. So that's the third thing for me. And like, it seems like pretty clearly I've set my starting lineup for that. opening game but like that's to me crucial because i think he's good enough to be a part of that 11 and i think he can be a real factor especially if the whole game doesn't rely on his shoulders like it did at times during gold cup and so that's my third one tom i think you did three already yeah look at us yeah because uh last thing to know before we get out of here it is obviously our 50

states of soccer we've done new jersey you dig in you dug in pretty heavy on tuesday to your native state Me and Jordan went through just the gauntlet of women's national team players that have come out of New Jersey. We will tie the bow on it in our live happy hour, which will go up on the kickback committee feed as well. But I do want to mention in this that the U.S. is honoring Michael Bradley before the game at, I will say, what Tyler Adams said, which is it's Red Bull Arena. It's Mama named it Red Bull Arena. It's named Red Bull Arena. No Sports Illustrated there. Third most cap player in USM&T history with the 151 international appearances, including 48, which he was captain for. He is, in my mind, unequivocally, one of the best soccer players in U.S. history, one of the best USM&T players in history.

He has moments at the Azteca against Mexico and qualifying in Columbus, against Slovenia. He has these moments that are untouched, and he was one of the few players that you could put up against anyone else in the world. My story, which I may have told already is, went deep into the Amazon ahead of the Portugal game at the 2014 World Cup with a bunch of random people from random countries, including an English family. And then when we went into Manowas to the game, I ran into them at halftime while we were all moving seats deciding we had to, like, change the juju. And the dad was like, Pirlo is my favorite player in the world. Michael Bradley is like Pirlo. And I was like, okay, you're doing a lot here, but respect. And I love that.

And he was one of those players. Like, we've talked about Eddie Pope being one of the first on that level. DeMarcus Beasley being one of the first on that level. Obviously, a lot of the goalkeepers, the Brad Fidels, the Tony Miolas of the world, were there. Michael Bradley was one of those, right? He could play in the Premier League. He could play in the Bundes League. He could play in Syria.

The way he played the game at such a high level and understanding of the game. And then he did special things coming back to MLS when he did. And like, if you were ever around TFC in the time he was there, it was awesome to watch. he carried that club from the basement to one of the model clubs to one of the great sporting teams in Toronto history and now he's doing it as a coach with New York Red Bulls too, but really cool to see him honored and just one of the greats all over. Yeah, he was one of my favorite players growing up. He embodied what I think we all loved about the national team in that era.

Like obviously Dempsey and Donovan were the two forward-based stars. he was a constant he's like i think tyler adams is a special special player like bradley like if adams goes to ends up accomplishing what bradley did like that that will be a great great career like i'm not sure like that's been a little bit of a debate just because the the last taste in your mouth for for bradley with the national team was they missed the 2018 world cop and like that's that's a stain but like that doesn't overshadow not just his highs but like the consistency for a decade from like whatever oh seven until 17 in that Fateful Night in Coova.

And again, he's part of it, but I wouldn't put it all on him. I don't think that he was the sole problem or anything. But, like, you think of that. The goal at the Azteca, just his performances at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, like the Confederation Cup, how important he was to all of these teams and how consistent he was, the leader, everything else. Like, Michael Bradley is one of the very, very best players in this Federation's history. and it is really cool that he's getting honored.

It's nice that it's at Red Bull Rehnitz, that it's in New Jersey, it's fitting. And again, like, we don't always recognize our history that well. It's like, hey, because we didn't start in 1875 with a leather ball, that it's like, oh, there's no, like, I love that he's getting honored. He should be getting honored. There are, I think the national team does this better than MLS. Like, there's more history there as well.

But, like, the more and more that you can recognize your legends and, and elevate them like that that's what he is and i think that it's going to be a very cool see saturday and honoring your own there new jersey in new jersey for tommy scoops um so big congrats to michael bradley and um you know morgan in the chat saying never understood the disrespect yeah coming out of 2018 2017 world cup qualifying um it was really tough i think for a lot of people their reaction to him i think he i think he absorbed a lot of blame that wasn't necessarily to him remember by the way he played as a 10 for yurgen clinsman because clinsman couldn't figure out an actual formation that fit the players and that's not his role and he did it as well as anyone could in that

setting we talked about the big goals he scored the big moments he was a part of as a young player breaking into the team at a time when there were sort of question marks coming out of 06 of like what's the future of this team and who's the future and i think from a pure soccer player point of you technique touch vision soccer IQ maybe no one else is equal to him in the us m&T's history and the us m&T pool and he deserves to be honored for that so it's going to be a pretty cool event as well so we will be back next week we will have reaction show in between the two friendlies for you around the us m&T and canadian men's national team as they prepare to play romania tomorrow in their first game and then wales in the second game then we

we'll get you all prepped for the weekend to come in Major League Soccer coming out of that. And then we will be talking about the U.S. Open Cup, as I mentioned as well, which is going to be the semifinals coming up in two weeks. So a lot to talk about, a lot to do. Don't forget to subscribe to Kickback Committee. We've got a couple newsletters that are coming out as well, a World Cup-based one, and a more North American soccer-based one. And we appreciate all of you for being here live.

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