SoccerWise - Soccerwise LIVE! At MLS All-Star, Presented by Bluesky!

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

David, Jordan, and Tommy Scoops are joined by fans, local Austin podcasts, and Austin FC midfielder Dani Pereira for an amazing show at Haymaker Austin. Join us for our first ever 50 States of Soccer, a classic Ice Cream Shop, and a one-of-a-kind Soccerwise episode.

Hello everybody, welcome to Haymaker Bar. Yeah. I was going to do my full school teacher. If you can hear my voice you're too loud but also you guys can just yell and enjoy however you'd like. Welcome everybody I'm David Goss if you don't know me. Thank you very much. Hang out wherever you want to sit. I think you can hear us all the way through the bar if you do choose to go sit down somewhere else. Keep drinking, keep enjoying. Thank you to Haymaker for hosting us. Shout out Haymaker. Huge shout out to Blue Sky who are presenting all of this, including our

confessional booth outside. So shout out to Blue Sky. And welcome everybody to the first ever live kickback media event. We have our confessional booth outside. So if you missed it, for anyone who didn't see, we rolled out our new company kickback media this week. That's another cheer for all of you. I don't have the button set up yet, so I got to do it that way. As part of it, we all did confessional videos, why we love soccer, how we got into the game. We're going to keep doing this over the next year.

There's a booth outside. You can go during the show. You can go after the show. And you can record your own videos. And we're going to use them as we leave the event. And we're going to ask all of you why you love this beautiful game and what brought you all here. So thank you once again to all of you for being here.

Go out and do that when you get a chance. Blue Sky presenting that one as well. And we've got some special guests that will join us. We've got a ton of segments. We've got a lifelong show. We are going to take a break in about an hour. So anyone who's going to the skills challenge, because you like watching people play soccer and not me and Tom talking about it, which is crazy, there'll be a break there and you can leave then and it will be less awkward. and you can leave then and it will be less awkward or you can leave right in the middle and be super loud and like intense about it. Either way is your option. All right. I was going to have him not be up here. Let's

welcome Tom Booger to the stage. Yeah, you could be here. figure it out Tom's making it up on the fly as he goes we obviously have all of our kickback family here So we're gonna have a ton of co-hosts throughout the show We've got a lot of fun segments to do but we're gonna start with a special one Tom in just a moment So first you want to give us any breaking transfer news out of Austin? He's staying that's why he's here! That was great. Tom just lived out of one of his two dreams. If we get a Sopranos quote in here, he'd be having the best day of his life. Let's welcome up our first guest here. Let's welcome up Austin FC CenterMade original Danny

Pereira. We do we have a little music for Danny? We do not have a little music for Danny. We had an intro song for you. And I chose it myself, so you're welcome. What song is it? We don't have an intro song for you, so we're going to leave it. Yeah, play it now. I dare you.

Why is this a song? A little bit of pressure. So this is a reggaeton artist named Mike Towers. You know Mike? I know Mike. And why do you know Mike? Because he's just like my favorite rapper. And I have heard that there's another Mike Towers who lives in Austin right now.

Is that true? Is it me? No, I heard it's at your house. Oh, my cat. Yeah. Tell us about Mike. No, I found him at HUB a couple of years ago outside and yeah, sorry God. Is that the most Texas thing that's ever happened?

So you found Mike outside and you were were like this is my cat now. It was in a cage like a baby tiny and then I was just like call my mom I was like hey can I bring a cat home she's like yeah that's okay I brought it home and I named it Mikey and that's it. And what's Mikey's personality? Just like me sleeps all the time, lazy, chill. So there you so they will Mikey chill with you when you're hanging out at home either watching stuff playing games Yeah, it literally just lays on me bag. Whatever. So yeah Had you have a cat before? No first time. Were you a cat guy never? And now no, I am cat that proud. Okay cat that proud. Let's get it here for the cat that proud

We have to ask the clean case cliche question No, I am cat-dad proud. Okay, cat-dad proud. Let's get a cheer for the cat-dad proud. Yeah! Woo! We have to ask the cliche question. If Mike was a soccer player, what position? Probably a striker. I bet someone money. I bet someone money. Thank you, Jordan.

I said you'd say striker because I think all cats are probably strikers. Yeah. Selfish keep to themselves. Yeah. Tom has two to themselves. Yeah. Tom has two dogs, by the way. So you can feel the energy coming from that one. There you go.

All right, let's get into it. For starters, we're really excited to have you here. Thank you. We're really excited because we first, you said you'd come. And over the last few days, we got worried. So thank you for being here once again. we got worried. So thank you for being here once again. I believe Haymaker does fish and chips and they've got a British lager. So if you want any of those, let us know and we could grab those for you.

Bring them on. Okay. Let's ask you this question. A transfer window happens and you've got like blowhard reporters who talk about it all the time. What's it like living inside of that? Even if it's your friends, like what not? Like are people texting you like, yo, look at this rumor about Sebastian or whoever. Yeah, I mean, it's, sometimes you know more than we do.

It's just like, like I pull up my phone and he knows the deal's almost done, blah, blah, blah. I'm like getting the first call or someone's getting the first call just like, I pull up my phone, he knows the deal's almost done, blah, blah, blah. I'm like getting the first call, or someone's getting the first call, like hey, this thing wants you or something. So. This is the controller you have, Tom. This is uncomfortable.

Yeah. But I mean, obviously we know, like we heard rumors and all that, and we joke about it in the locker room. Like the buka earlier in the year, the year, Red Star wanted them back. We were like, oh, Bucca, you're leaving, huh? And yeah, just stuff like that jokes around the locker room, and that's it. How does that make you feel, Tom?

Uncomfortable. I don't like to think about them talking about the rumors and stuff. I know we would say reports when it's made, rumors when it's made. Same thing. I think. Tom's focused on his legitimacy right now. Let's take it all the way back. You're an Austin year one original. You're hosting an all-star game now at Q2 Stadium. Like you get here, did you think it would be like this?

Did you think in five years this would be your life? Nah, I mean, just obviously being like the first draft pick and all that, you know, meant a lot to me and I've said it every time people ask me about it. The city means a lot to me. It's like home now, been here for almost five years and you know, seeing how big it's turned and like how it's growing like soccer wise you know being

the only sport thank you that's the name of our show oh he listens every week don't worry but I'm not this city is amazing for lifestyle soccer you know just everything and couldn't be any prouder to be anywhere else so just happy to be here. Danny, how quickly did you start to love the city? How quickly did it feel like home to you? Yeah, I moved here when I was 20, so I was pretty young and I was living that young life and then, you know, it was fun. And then you grew up, you got a cat, some responsibility.

Yeah, no, I'm like bad a cat, some responsibility. Yeah. Nah, I'm like bad and stuff. That's crazy. But nah, I'm 25 now, you know, I'm a little more mature, you know, you grow, you make mistakes, you learn and you know, I've done it in the city, you know, and it's just been fun so far. So. Yeah.

You guys? Yeah. Let's cheer for maturity and growing up, but also being young and fun. For people who haven't been, because a bunch of people here are visiting for All-Star, what's the must-dos in Austin? What's the recs? Yeah, I mean the food. Just go outside, enjoy the weather, even though it's hot.

I think we're all doing the opposite right now. Yeah, I know. Like you want to say it's sad. Your conditioning's nice too. Yeah. But, you know, just go outside, you know, enjoy the food There's always stuff to do downtown. Especially, you know go to bars speakeasies Whatever you like you can do it here. So

You said your parents are here as well now, right? Yeah So like is Austin the home like let's say future in your life. You leave not connect to anything Is like Austin home for the Pereira family? Yeah, yeah. I think, yeah, like my parents... Yeah, my parents are not moving. So if I move, it's me, just me. My brother and my parents will be here. So if I come back vacation, I'll probably come back here. So there you go. And people in Venezuela, do they know what Austin, Texas is? Nah, I have no idea.

So they don't know what they're missing, is what you're saying. That's what I'm saying. There is a huge Venezuelan boom now in Major League soccer. Not as much always with Austin. Do you know? Do you reach out when a vino tinto comes in, and it's like, yo, this is the vibe.

This is what it is? Yeah, I mean, for like, Copa America, you know, we had the game here against Jamaica. And I was trying to tell the guys, like, hey, like, enjoy the city, you know, if you're going on a walk, like, the city's amazing. And at the end of, like, when they left, they were like, yeah, the city's amazing.

Had a couple guys tell me, hey, try to bring me to this team, you know, like. You can tell me who after but oh yeah this city's is amazing so you're working on all fronts right now you're bringing players in you're sending players out you've got rumors you got transfer I'll be an agent a player reporter Mitch or whatever, or a snitch. So. That's it.

That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it.

That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it.

That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it.

That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it trying to find out. Play the job. Yeah. Tom, you have a question? You want to do your job for a little bit? I think he wants to talk to you. I think he does as well. Tom's having a tough one. I was going to say, as somebody who's

now one of the longest standing members of this team, you're still getting into your prime. But like you said, you came here as a kid. Have you grown in any leadership role? Or what has that evolution been like for you in the locker room as somebody who's been here since day one? Yeah I mean obviously with Josh you know he saw me as a 20 year old 19 year old you know he saw me grow up in those four years and then I think when Nico came it was more like a hey like he talked to me he was like

hey you've been here for four years so it's time for you to take that extra step and become more of a leader without being a captain or anything, especially in the position that I play. And that's what I've been trying to do this season, you know, try to be more of a leader. I used to like, sorry for the word, but I used to bitch a lot, like complain a lot.

But with my hands and gestures and all that, just fixing those things, you know, but with Nico That's what he's been trying to tell me to do this season and I think that I've been proven that so what what is that evolution? Like how do you kind of focus on that because emotion can be such like a good part of your game if you harness it, right? How do you like actively think about it, but not think about it too much. Yeah, it's hard It's you gotta find the right balance for it, you know I'm not that experienced player, but I'm getting there.

So it's just trying to find that balance of getting emotional without getting emotional. It's hard, but it's part of the process. Huge roster turnover on top of coach this year. Was there a moment for you to be like, I have to explain what playing for Austin is like and what it means to represent this city? To who?

To the new players, to all the group that came in? Yeah, I mean, it's, I mean, every season you get new players, you know, it's just like, for me being here the longest, one of the longest, you know, it's just like, hey, this is a culture, this is how we do it, this is what we do. Even though we had a new whole country staff, you know, it's still the same.

So that's what we try to build around Austin, I see. Within your locker room, another person who's been here since day one is Brad Stuever. And Brad is somebody who the people in here know he's one of the best goalies in the league. I don't know if all of the fans know, he should have been a finalist or goalkeeper the year last year.

But what has it been like for you, particularly with him getting the all-star nod, to get him to see one of your teammates, one of your boys, get some of the recognition nationally that he deserves? Yeah, I mean, his story is also crazy. You know, he never played until he got to Austin. And I think that's what his story is about. You know, just keep working, your moment will come. And he took advantage of the opportunity. When he got here, Terbel was the first goalie, or he was supposed to be the first goalie, and you know happens in soccer when your opportunity comes, you got to take full advantage of it, and he did. So he's deserves everything he's gotten in his way, and that's where he is where he is. I want to ask you about two tournaments before we let you go. Let's start with the World Cup. Venezuela could qualify sitting on the edge. You played in qualifying for this. It would be here.

What would it mean to either be with Venezuela or just watch this team even be in this tournament? Yeah, I mean, it's our country's dream, you know? We never made it to a World Cup and... Manos de Gozela! Well, thank you. But you know, it would mean so much for our nation and we got two tough games.

We got Columbia, Minnesota and then Argentina, Argentina. So we just got to try to get some points there, which is hard, but we're going to work, go for it. And I'm sure we will make it. And the last one's US Open Cup. Can we get a US Open Cup chair? A lot of people in this room I know thought to have all MLS teams in it and hopefully in the future it'll be the case but it's a huge trophy it's a huge opportunity and to do it with a new coach a new sort of error what would

it mean and sort of what does the semi-final represent for you? I mean like I'm telling you we want as much as you guys and maybe more. Woo! We all want to bring a trophy here to Austin. The first trophy will be amazing and that's what we're gonna go for. We got one game against Minnesota and we'll see the final who we take here in Austin. So.

Ooh, well done. Literally could not have ended any better. Can we get a cheer for Danny Pereira? Woo! Thank you. Woo! Woo! Woo! Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Yeah, that's cool. Fun? Oh my God. Thank you. Thank you. One, two. All right. I would like to thank you for coming. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right.

I wish Danny Pereira played for my team. I also don't have a team, so he could play for my men's league team. We would do pretty well. We are going to stay in Austin right now. We have a lot of good friends in the room. We have five Austin local podcasts who are gonna come join us. Everyone, come on up stage.

I could have warned you all a little bit earlier. We have Verde All Day, shout out, cheer. Shout out to Zach at the North End who has organized all of this. Moon Tower Soccer, one of our favorites. Oh yeah, we're going in order here. La Verde Pendant. And we are Austin F.T., Austin TV, who are not here, I believe.

Take a seat. I'm not going to sit either, Tom, so you can stand. You can stand wherever you want. So all of us are part of something called a big ball league. Is that correct? Did I name it correct? Best ball. Best ball. What did I say? That's going to be an edit please. Yeah, get out the David Goss everybody. Yeah. I would love to get the big ball thing edited out and I'd like to not say it again so we

could edit it out as we go along. So all of us did a draft pre-season and we're gonna redraft. But first, yes, this is crazy just so all of you know. Like I did a preview of every single MLS team and I had a local podcast on and there were markets where I like couldn't find a show. And you all have all of this as I fall off the stage. Zacher, I'm starting with you here.

What is it in Austin that has everyone let, there is all this support and all this interest in Austin? I think it's a city that, I was born and raised here. Who? Never had a major professional team. And I was not a soccer guy. Like Austin FC is kind of my, and my co-host, Ian's gateway into

MLS you know becoming more of a die-hard for the sport. We're basketball guys first and I think there was just a hunger here for a major professional team and I think it's the perfect sport for our city because we have so many other big cities in Texas that have the other more traditional American professional sports. Yeah, boo. And I think you see the hunger here from the expansion season. You see it up here with all the outlets, and there are more that aren't even in the league. And you see it with the fan base that

continues to come out, game in, game out, even when we haven't had a lot to cheer for in three plus years. But we're going to finish strong here this year is what I believe. Nice. Yeah, it's also it's also a city of creators. Very creative spirit. I mean, I came here in 94 from Seattle. Very, very kind of similar energy. One of my many tattoos of it's a grackle with strive

and a little scroll here. So that's to me is what it's about. I mean, this city about striving. This is a city about achieving. This is a city about you, this is a city about you want to make things for other people to enjoy. You want to make things for other people to just engage with. And that's the energy that I think we have around this team.

I mean, even before there was a team, there were podcasts, there was reporting, there was energy going around around it. And it's just, it's incredible. We were talking about this last night the the show that we did And in this city you can say this is the podcast that does such-and-such This is the podcast that does this thing whereas in other cities if you're lucky, it's this is the podcast Yeah, it is awesome and like this wouldn't be possible what we're doing right now in every market in Major League Soccer So shout out to all of you for being out. Shout out to Austin.

But in terms of finishing strong, we've got our draft to come up. So we did one round of a draft. We're gonna do this now. We will have more coming out of the transfer window, I believe, because MLS, everyone, Tom has to work. So everyone has to get transferred in and out of the league. It's constantly following it in a pain.

I'm terrible at drafting, as we've learned. We are gonna draft in reverse order, which brings us into our mid-season draft. First of all, shout out to Evan who put all of this together. Evan! Evan is the best. After the show's over, if you want the real show, go talk to Evan. So we start with Verde Dependent, right? Who is in last place place can we get you oh here you can take my mic yeah so we're in last place and am I doing the pick right now right

now yeah okay sadly to everybody we drafted Brandon Vasquez with our with our first pick all right P it's our fault our fault but unfortunately we have to let Brandon Vasquez go, because he is providing no points to our team, other than spiritually. So we are dropping Brandon Vasquez, and we're picking up Chupa Moting from Nerd Rebels. That's fancy graphics there.

Only option available that can score some goals. So here we go. He wasn't drafted? He wasn't drafted? What's going on here? Wasn't drafted at the beginning, and we also had a transfer draft after the primary window. Also wasn't picked. Why don't you ask your consultant? I was very surprised to see this so we are fortunate. I would say just so you guys

get a handle on kind of what we're doing here we pick five forwards, five mids, three defenders, two goalkeepers. Every match day your top two scoring forwards scoring forwards mids, top scoring defender and goalkeeper comprise the team score and it's just a total score throughout the year. So this is the third season we've done it year one, Moon Tower won and I will give Tom credit he came on the north end that that February and he picked the winner he said moon tower would win and then last year uh phil was an expansion team and phil got it done 2024 champion you guys have pro rel or uh wait we're working on it come on man we're working on it there's an owner's vote coming tomorrow with big breaking new owners are here we're gonna have a meeting. Yeah, we'll see if Arthur Blank's interested. So, Tom's gonna give us a little score and thoughts

on each roster as we go through because he is quote unquote a soccer expert. Allegedly. Allegedly, allegedly. I already gave my thing that Trouble Moteng, I can't believe that he wasn't available. It helps you guys that you don't have to use all five of each players in the positions,

because there's a couple stinkers, just a little bit. So you look at the top end here. This team is solid, not my favorite. That's fair, that's fair. Same. All right, let's move on to our next pick. I believe we're at Moon Tower now. So you're gonna go from championship two

years ago to second to last right now. Yeah we're hoping to have a late season resurgence here so in the third round my co-host is the one who did this pick we were we were pretty pleased with ourselves. Oh, Threat Jarma under the bus yeah. No he did a great job we were pleased with this pick. Oh yeah you were in Jamaica on vacation. I think that's right. Yeah yeah pick a Caribbean island working real hard. Andre Blake. We were pleased with this pick but how many lonely nights can I spend waiting for Ryan Gould to walk back in the door? Working man's MVP is he's working hard.

I'm gonna show myself some self respect and get over Ryan Gault, bring in a working class player. I'm gonna take Dylan Shambow. Ooh. Questionable getting rid of Ryan Gault right now. You went through all the pain. Right. I can't take it anymore. It's an emotional one, I can't blame you. Dylan Shambot plays every match. So were you in last before this? Your team has Messi in a best ball

league. Have you not won all of your last seven games? How far back were you? Because we have so many players who don't play. Which is why I chose Dylan Schumbo. I was the last two years. The sources are saying that he's... no just kidding. This season and last season whoever took Messi did not win the league and we've had the first pick both times so we passed on Messi questionably but... Was this a moral sense? No it was more so just superstitious. He's not gonna play ever you know like he's just gonna miss so many games week to week that many games. How's it working, you know? Like he's just gonna miss so many games week to week. That many games.

How's it working out for you? Last year did a lot better. This year not so much. He literally plays 90 minutes every single week. All right, that's Moon Towers pick. We're moving on now to Verde Alde, is that correct? Yep. Who is hot on my heels.

I don't know how I ended up in fourth. Yeah. Like I won this league last year, so I don't know. So you, throughout the draft, you were leaned back at a confidence pose the whole time. I also proudly went anti-Gauss theorem. Yeah, I first three picks. And I was like picking next to you a lot of the times.

I was like, am I doing this wrong? Turns out we both were. Well, we'll see. We'll see. So unfortunately, I had a move done for me, Pedro Vite. Har, shout out to y'all. And Vancouver Whitecaps, my daughter's favorite team. He is, of course, at Puma's right now, so I had to pick someone.

So in part, thanks to Har from Soccer Wise, Rodrigo DePaul from Inter Miami. Ooh. Very anti-Gaustion. You get points for fouls? Recency bias. Very, very recency bias. I get points for fouls? Recency bias. Very recency bias. I mean, I just, I just, part of my,

part of my strategy in drafting is how much fun am I going to have watching these players, so. I like that. That's a good pick. Again, I need to know your scoring system a little better. I think he'll add goals and assists more than he did at Let it Go. MLS fantasy game scoring is how we score the best volley.

Yeah. Do fouls count? Yeah, I was going to say, is he going to fill a DP spot on your roster? Or are you going to find a way around that? It's all DP spots. All right. I mean, it's there's not that many players in the league. Like it's there's there's a lot of DPs in the mix here. You're living in Matt Doyle's heaven right now. Pretty much.

For the next pick, we're going to go to a little podcast called Soccer Wide. I would like all of us right now to say a quick prayer in honor of Patrick Augegaard. Augegaard, shout out. Shout out, Augegaard. out. Shout out Aja Gang. So unfortunately, because of Tom's dumb reporting, I will be dropping Patrick Ajamon from my team. I do not get the Darby County goals,

but I wanted to keep it in Texas. So I picked Ezekiel Ponce from the Houston Dynamo. Who is that? Who is actually. Who is that? Why do we listen to you? Who was actually... Who actually, actually started the season as a Verde All Day player and then I just couldn't take it anymore. If it goes the way it normally goes, this will go really well for all of you, which

means it'll backfire in my face. Tom normally would give commentary, but we know this is the coolest team, it's the best team. You love this team, everything about it. I'm stoked I have Dane Sinclair, because I saw him yesterday. He's the nicest guy in the world. So now I can tell him, because I forgot, that he's on my team. Next we have We Are Austin FT. Austin, I can't say the whole name, FCTV because

I'm making it up because they're not here, right? Yeah so We Are Austin, obviously out there covering Skills Challenge, all the great work that they do and they felt so good about their team they passed in the draft. Passed on the pick, passed on the party here. That is my new vote for who's gonna win. And you know if we would have done it a few hours later then the news would have came in that Veselninovich tore his ACL. So you know we will finish the transfer draft in a couple weeks and they can replace him then. So there you go no changes for them which brings up first place. Collusion, collusion.

They run the league. It is interesting that the scoring is done internally. They have done quite poorly the last few years. It was a ploy. It was a ploy. No comment. It's a long game, it's a long play. Well, and I think we figured out the key

is to just roster the most Austin FC players out of any of the teams. Love it. Because we have Stover, Biru, Mirtua Zuni. And the Biru-Stover stack has been great with the clean sheets this year. Brad Stover's already tied his career high with a clean sheet. All-star Brad Stover.

Oh, sorry. Yeah. Yeah, he is. An all-around great guy. And we've had Jonathan Rodriguez, Cabecita all year and waiting for him to come back. And then of course, a couple months ago, got ruled out for the season.

So we've been waiting to replace Jonathan Rodriguez. And we're going to take the only Inter Miami player who has scored at Q2 stadium, no longer with Inter Miami, now with New England, Leo Capone. Wow. There was a long road. That was a mistake. That was a long road to get there.

Look. You could have picked Jiozi Sardes. That was a better. That's probably a mistake. And hopefully we're going to our first title in the game that we created ourselves. All right. First of all, let's get a shout out to everyone here. Yay! Woo! Woo! Now, let's set the line.

Tom, the bookie of New Jersey over here, is going to give us a predicted winner based off the line or choose a team. I don't know. Whatever you think you're going to do. For me, I see we are also in FCTV. I see them as the favorites right now, because that's a strong team.

Having that midfield is really good. Northend, you guys are in first. I think that that's what it's gonna come down to. You two, do you guys do playoffs? No, just then, yeah. I feel pretty strongly about you two. I respect that. It's gonna be tough for my co-host here today

to get over that line, but we'll see what happens over the last 12 weeks. Well, I don't know where Ricky Pooch is. So we are Austin TV gets the shout. If you now have learned, if you want Tom to like you, don't show up. That's a lesson we've all learned. Before we let you all go, let's see if maybe it will affect what you're going to end up drafting. Because I assume once we get into this, you're going to draft every other Austin player who comes into the league.

Tom, do we have any ice cream shop for Austin fans before we let all of them go? We got a, I feel pretty confident Centerback is on his way this summer. Georgievic from Serbia, I believe. That's who you got to look forward to, but I think the biggest boost would be Uzuni increasing his production. That's the best internal measure. It looks, it sounds like Luca Orojano or Kai Wagner might be on the board,

cause Austin Centerback is coming up. All right, let's get another round of applause and thank you guys for being here. Woo! Woo! You got me a letter from me? Thank you, sir. Come on!

Merry Christmas, gotta be good. So much happy. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. So much of the big, unbelievable. Thank you. Ha ha ha ha. All the goody? Good luck. Thank you. That was fun. Yeah. So much of the big undies. Thank you. Ha ha ha.

Olatunji? Good luck. Remember. We knew it. We got you guys some Nix cards. Woo! Help me! That's perfect.

I would like for everyone to know that this doesn't happen in private, that the North End brought me and Tom, RJ Barrett and Emanuel quickly Nix cards. Shout out Nix. Yo! Bing bong! There's no NBA team here, what are we booing?

Oh really? I think Spurs-Knicks might be as far apart as two teams could possibly get. Yeah. Yeah, good luck. All right, so before we dig in with the rest of our kickback family, thank you once again to everyone from Austin who joined us.

Shout out to Danny Pereira once again. Pleasure. Bless you. And shout out to Blue Sky for making all of this happen. We appreciate you, Blue Sky. A reminder, if you've not heard or you haven't been here, we've got our confessional booth outside. It'll be here all night.

So at any point, if you want to go out there, record your videos. We'll have them on our First Touch Blue Sky channel. We'll be rolling all of those together and we're going to build, I think, some really cool stories. If you want also, you can follow of course Soccerwise on Blue Sky. You can follow this guy too because it's about to be Tommy season. We are into, on Thursday, the transfer window opens in Major League Soccer. Let's dig into the ice cream shop. Let's go big picture here to start before our good

friend Jordan Angele joins us. And let's say this, what are the three, four stories that everyone has to be watching going into the next month? So the big picture for me is this is gonna be a summer that has more to do with big incoming signings and big departures because you look at some of the players who might move in a different window. Jack McGlynn already signed a new contract. Somebody like Diego Luna, I don't know exactly what's going to happen.

I think he's going to stay. It'd be really difficult for him to leave this great situation a year before the World Cup. It's a lot of risk. Again, if a crazy offer comes, that changes. Alex Freeman or Lando are trying to keep him. They might use a U-22 spot on a new contract. We'll see what happens there. But normally use a U22 spot on a new contract.

We'll see what happens there. But normally in a different year, those three players might leave. Things might be different. But I think in this year, in a World Cup year, with those three guys trying to make the team, it's gonna be more about incomings to MLS. So a few of the teams that I'm really looking at this summer,

LAFC, I'll start with them. Okay. So for, I don't know, the fifth time, Denny Buonga. Go ahead. Clue of America, we're linked with Denny Buonga for, I don't know, the fifth time, and I'm at the point where I should stop asking anybody around this story about it because I was told once again, there was nothing there. I thought this was the one.

Not the one. All right. But they do have two open the one. Not the one. All right. All right. They do have two open DP spots. One of it's currently filled by Dilros in their winger. They have some news there. They've extended his loan one day. So he can play Friday and then it's still TBD what's going to happen there.

But this is a team that's really ambitious that could go big. Really ambitious running literally on hourly wages with their designated players. We'll see. I've heard some interesting names. So we'll see where they end up going there. They have a head coach and head coach search that needs to happen by the winter. Yeah. Hopefully they'll play a little bit more expansive, a little bit more fun. But that's the first team that I'm looking at. Kost, what do you think about them?

I think L.A. FC are going to disappoint once again in this transfer window. And we will be in a playoff game where we'll say, oh, it'd be cool if Dennis Buonga wasn't the only dangerous player on the field. And that's what I think about that. What is the next one that you want to talk about? Charlotte FC, I'm very interested in what's going to happen with them.

They've transferred Patrick Adjimon to Darby County in a very big deal. They're looking for a forward. They've had some talks for Yorgos Yakomakis at Cruz Azul. Cruz Azul wants to get rid of him. So Charlotte, are you trying to use that as leverage to get it as cheap as possible? Those talks are still ongoing. That's something that makes sense. But Pep Biel is here on loan for the end of the season. If, when the purchase option is picked up, he'll be a designated player. So Charlotte FC's quandary now is,

do we bring in a DP forward as they want to, and then we'll figure it out in the winter when we have four DPs? Or do they try to do something more around the edges? They've been linked with Charlie Kellman, the late Orients forward, up the O's. We'll see what happens there. Not Josh Windass though.

No, did you want any updates? If you want. Not Josh Windass though. No, not that. Did you want any updates? If you want updates on Josh Windass, follow Tommy Scoops. It's his favorite report. I've sources everywhere, brother. No one else cares about this. Continue. You're the one.

Yeah. So yeah, Adilson Melanda wants to go to PSV. They really don't want to sell him. The interesting wrinkle there is Charlotte's former chief scout now works for PSV so there's familiarity there. Again Charlotte insists he's not for sale but we'll see what happens. We're gonna talk PSV in a little bit because we're talking about Malik Tillman when we get a couple other friends up on stage. Anything else that people should be paying attention to in

the around the league going into? So reminder the transfer window opens on Thursday which means every player that times reported already that player will become available on Thursday So this weekend in a of course bizarre leaks Cup affected schedule change move whatever there are games this weekend Those players will finally become available. What else should people be paying attention to? Chicago they're looking for a DP Riel Salt Lake are gonna have a couple additions as I this week. Victor Olatunji is a setter forward. They probably won't need to use a DP spot on him, so that'll be good. But the West is going to get a little bit stronger as a push for playoffs. But I'm still looking at the Eastern Conference at the Shield Race, particularly with those

five teams at the top. Columbus still trying to sign Wessem Abu Ali. There's been a lot of Egyptian journalists that have gotten my number. It's been very impressive. You guys, Tom is hot right now in Cairo. Yeah, it's been very interesting there. But if they don't sign him, they'll sign somebody else. They're still working on that. Miami are obviously bringing in Rodrigo De Paul.

I was very careful with the wording of the plan is communicated that he's not a DP right now. We'll see if that exactly changes or how that comes down. I imagine the fans in here wouldn't be thrilled if he's not a DP. Am I wrong? I would like any lawyers who are here to make sure that that was correctly worded. So the legal side of this can get joined in. You guys, what you feel right now? This is my life every week. This is a live ice cream shop. This is Tommy Scoops, baby. You want a question?

We have a mustache based question. This is my entire personality trait, so I appreciate you bringing it up. That's perfect. That's all that's remaining. Nothing from Tom Selleck, but it's a good icebreaker. I would like to think he'd be for it. Many people say our new logo looks like an upside down Tom with a mustache.

So that's kind of what we went for on the soccer-wise side of things. We weren't going to do the full questions now. We could do it a little bit later. Yeah, let's do it. All right, let's go. So USMNT. Oh, we're going to get to it.

Yeah, no, USMNT Turner, Matt Freecey, had a great bowl cup. Yeah, we love Matt Freeze, by the way. We have a Matt Freeze interview. David forgot to run. That's going to be coming out on our podcast feed very soon. Oh, where? That's a good question. I think the money line would be even right now. Minus 110. That's what I think. It's neck and neck. Well well key of New Jersey is here and we love him for it that is our live ice cream shop now we're gonna dig into a new segment I'm very excited about because we will have all of you yell at us many many things but first let's bring up our favorite Jordan Angeley I don't know if

he's gonna be so sad Jordan's the only one who knows the run of show. Tom does not know the run of show. It's vibes, bro. Let's start here. Let's give a big shout out to Denver. What a big day for Denver. Yeah! Thank you, thank you.

It's been really exciting. And I feel like a good reception for a crest, which doesn't always happen. No. Because yours is actually good. We put out a crest explain for a crest, which doesn't always happen. No. Because yours is actually good. We put out a crest explainer last week and we were eviscerated for it. So I could feel your pain in the moment. I also was a little worried that I had jokingly taken some of the stuff that you guys would

put out. But luckily- But when we went through it today, it was all right. Yeah. It felt okay. Yours was much more nature-based Very nature-based ours was more literature based at soccer wise that's more what we do How does it feel that you built a professional soccer team?

It's surreal someone just sent me a little clip from the article and it said my name and it said investor and I was I still don't Think that that's something that comes after my name So yeah, it's been a whirlwind of a, it took two years to do it. And to think that in just, what, eight months, we're gonna be playing our first game in Denver. Yeah, it's gonna be really cool. I think that's gonna be another pinch me moment.

Like, how did this happen? Are we all doing chills right now? Are we all doing goosebumps? And we're all gonna be there, right? We are a hundred percent In Austin yeah So for everyone in Austin when you're ready for an NWSL team if you build it they will come so let's get that done in Austin an NWSL team. If you build it, they will come. So let's get that done in Austin. This would be a great place. I was talking to some people earlier about that, if Austin would be a good place. And I think this city would crush a women's soccer team. Yeah. I mean, you look at Kansas City, you look at what's happened, taking it on another level. And-

And just the reception of a men's team, right? I think it would be the same. It's something that you guys know well how to build a culture from scratch. So I hope that happens sometime. Well, if it happens, we might have some player recommendations for you because we are going to be starting on this show right now, live in front of all of you, a segment we're going to be doing every week for the next year, which is our 50 states of soccer. So we're gonna dig into the stories, thank you, of every state as we build towards the World Cup, but in general, it's just nerd stuff

that I like to learn about, and I'm really stoked about it. We're gonna have a lot of different segments throughout the week that we're gonna be doing on all our shows, but on Soccer Wise every week, we are going to be debating the state's all-time five aside. Men's and women's combined, we're going to try and figure out who are the five best players that we want to see in a pickup game. So we're going to do Texas today, and we want to ask all of you, who are the best soccer

players in the history of Texas? Yeah, look at this. Look at this. We got a shirt out here. Let's go. Yeah. So Nogadoches, Texas. Is that where he's from? How far is that from here? Oh, whoa. In Texas. That's like next door. All right. Selena for soccer. Yeah, Selena. Yeah, I 100% agree with you. We got a Wes and McKinney shout, I believe.

All right. Anyone else, Texas, that we should be thinking about for this? Stu Holden. Stu Holden. All right. And Stu Holden's fully wrapped, Texas. We're good with that? Houston?

Yeah. Are they born in Texas? It doesn't. We are unclear. It's not like- Case by case by that. Yeah. It doesn't we are unclear when it's not like case by case. Yeah we're not. We don't. Demarcus Beasley. Well we're saying we're grew up in red. I think we got to keep it that way. Everybody loves Salinas. Yes! So? Olympics, World Cup, women's player, center back.

160 caps? 70 maybe? Yeah. Carla Overbeck? Come on. Let's get the love there. We've got to get Carla Overbeck in there. So that's one, I think.

We've got Dempsey. He's Weston Ardeon. Even at his point in his career, we feel like Weston McKinney, playing in the World Cup, playing at Juventus, playing in Champions League, he is one of the five best players from Texas. Everyone feels good?

We've got a Brex-Shea shout over here. Brex-Shea over here. Brex Shays shout. And they never saw them again. The show fell apart. We got Ricardo Clark. Ricardo Pepe. So now we get into more convos, which is like, how much do you have to have a young player injured all the time? Plays in Europe. I would argue Chris Richards. I was gonna say that. Would you take Chris Richards over Ricardo Pepe right now? Yes, 100%.

I think so too. Yeah. Oh! This is why we do this live with all of you. Chris. Very good. Lee Win? Lee Win.

Lee Win. Ooh, Lee Win. No, Lee Win. Lee win Lee win Lee win Lee win no Lee win it's not it's not about who you played for an MLS no no no it's about where yeah no I think we went down to Texas what about Omar Gonzalez yeah we got Omar love you guys I'm not gonna lie this is a really good segment for Dallas and I feel a little bit bad about that. Kupenstein, Kenny Cooper, another local. Cowan, Cowan Acosta?

We have a... So one of the things that's gonna happen with this is we've got players, we wanna do all time. So we're gonna go NASL. So we're going to go NASL. I researched someone named Kyle Rote Jr. Won NASL Golden Boot. We got a yes from the FC Dallas fan. Awesome fans are getting shown up right now, which is fine.

We'll deal with that later. Then there is indoor soccer. So there is a player from Brazil named Tattoo. T-A-T-U, scored, yeah, scored 700 goals and 520 appearances for the Dallas Sidekicks. I feel like that's gotta be in there. Well, I mean, how many goals would Slate Dempsey have scored in arena soccer?

See, that's the thing. The question is- If it's equivalent, then it would've been- Is it equivalent? I love arena soccer. If he had an offer to play in the NASL instead of the M. ASL or any Well, I don't think it existed at the time My point is if he had an offer to play 11 v 11 and an offer from M. ASL, which would he have picked? I think it's tough to how to value indoor soccer league goals. So then

Domen? Is it that tough? I totally disagree with this. Connor. Woo! He played outdoor. He went to it. And everyone knows about one thing. Fair enough.

So to be clear, Connor is the one who. Everyone knows him? Connor's the one who brought Tattoo up yesterday. And I went to watch videos of him. I feel like we need Connor a microphone right now. Because he's got a lot to think. Tom thought he was going to lean on someone for support, who was his biggest enemy in the room.

That was tough for me. Do we have any other obvious names that we're missing? Brian Clark? Okay. Jeff Agoose. Jeff Agoose is a huge one. Agoose is on this list. My strong vote for Agoose.

Jaden Shaw is a big one as well. And Jaden Shaw is part of, we talked about it, Sam Meza. There's a really good group of younger girls, like women now, that have come up in NWSL. Sam Meza, Kennedy Fuller, Jaden Shaw, Trinity Armstrong, all from Texas. But there's been a gap. It feels like in Texas.

Growing up, I felt like all the best teams were from Texas, some of the hardest teams that we ever had to play. But I was surprised when we started to dig into this how few quality players. So I think I think Jade and Shaw is like on the cusp of that, right? She needs a couple more years to really cement herself into this top five. It's like Ricardo Pepe territory of like, peak has been really fast but probably doesn't have enough. Jeff Agoose, I think, is another non-negotiable. OK. One of the best. We feel good about Jeff Agoose.

One of the best defenders in MLS history. Won a lot of trophies, defender of the year. All like all this. I think his resume stacks up. OK. Carla Overbeck is still not on here. Yeah, we'll put Carla on. I thought that she was already on. Yeah, yeah. I think that's probably. Ask at number four, please.

I think that's falling on the spelling situation, which we are getting to in a moment. Okay, one that we wanted to shout out before we finish is Hailey Carter, who would be the GM of this team, but probably not the player on this team. Yeah, Hailey Carter was a professional goalkeeper. She played for the Houston Dash. I know we have some Dash fans, yep.

Paul, back here. Yep. So she now is the GM for Orlando Pride. And she not only did she lead this team to from being one of the teams that nobody wanted to go play for, to a shield and a championship in the same year with the best record ever at NWSL. So she's got to be, Hayley Carter's got to be the GM of this team. Yeah. Hailey Carter. She would pick a better team than the three of us right now. 100%. Probably.

And she would pick leaders. She loves leadership. She's very good at what she does. Orlando City one, or sorry, Orlando Steel Pride, once again a favorite. Okay. So we have four done. We don't have to decide today. We have a little more time. Do we have one clear... Stu Holden? Does that feel like the fifth? Yeah, that's true. We could have Stu on. Or Davey Arno. Davey Arno is another one I was going to bring up.

Davey Arno is up there. Drew Moore is on there. Is Clarence Goodson from Texas? No? Cool. I didn't mean to say that. I promise I didn't say that. One, two names that I had we didn't say.

Alex and Dejas. Yeah. And Tanner Testman and Bobby Boswell. Bobby Boswell's from Texas. Do we feel good just not having a fifth right now? I think that this is too, I think we need to It's contentious. We need to caucus and figure it out.

Okay. So we are going to put this on social. We're gonna put this on blue. With Stu will be sad and we will deal with that in the, we're willing to put this on social. We're going to put this on blue. Stu will be sad, and we will deal with that in the, we're willing to do that. So we're going to put this on blue sky. Everyone go on blue sky for the rest of this week. Tell us what you think.

We will set up a system so that we can decide, and we will put this out when we get ready on Friday. This is our first ever. We're going to be doing this every single week with every state. I'm stoked for the Idaho and like North Dakota Players a lot of male Idaho players Alaska definitely has five bed. Oh bed. Oh bed. Oh bed. Oh bed and his brother is very good as well The whole Vargas family and I'm saying that we're gonna let Tom go drink a little bit. So can we get a cheer for Tom?

I see it, Tom. I love Tom. I love Tom. Crushed it. Should I jump over? Tom will be back. If you'd like to. I feel like it'd be weird if I wasn't.

Tom will be back in a little bit. We're gonna be doing some Yanks Abroad conversation and our homie, Susanna Fuller, is here to help us out with some styling. Yeah, give it up for Sus. And our homie Susanna Fuller is here to help us out with some styling. Yeah, give it up for Sus. Can we get a quick cheer for the cowboy boots? Jordan was the only one who understood the assignment. I did understand it. I also said, should I wear a cowboy hat?

And I got some yeses from people, but I tried it on and it wasn't my thing. It wasn't your thing. I didn't like how it looked. It doesn't fit well? Yeah, it just made me look like I had a little teeny head and I didn't like that. I've been wearing a hat that makes me look like I have a huge head the last few days and I didn't like that. Okay, there we go.

Maybe right in the middle is good. Same feeling. Yeah. So NWSL is still on its break. It's coming back first week of August. We have done a couple interviews. We talked to Izzy Rodriguez. We talked to Savannah McCaskill.

We've obviously been loving the Euros. Haymaker had the game on before. Epic game. Jordan's family is Italian, so would like a little bit of... Respect. Respect in this moment. Two minutes. That's all they needed to do.

Two minutes. That's all they needed to do. It's the hardest two minutes in the game. It's a real shame. It is a real shame. But we'll see England, maybe Spain again. I'm thinking yes. Yeah, I think that's going to be the final. I was mad about that like three weeks ago when I realized it was going to happen.

And now I'm kind of excited about it with the way this tournament has played out. But we're going to dig into our end up yourself midseason awards. And then we're going to take a quick break. And then we will be back up. So anyone's gonna go to skills challenge you can leave or you could stay. Let's talk NWSL midseason though. Let's start with our awards. Okay. Let's start in goal. Do you remember who you picked? I have zero idea who I picked for anything preseason. Do you want me to try and find it now while we're talking? I don't know. Is it worth it? No. OK. Let's continue.

So who do you have now? For goalkeeper? Yeah. I think it's got to be Lorena. Yeah. She's been, I think, not a lot known coming into Kansas City Current and has come in. And this team, defensively, has been so much better this year

than they were last year. And a big reason is they have a consistent goalkeeper who makes massive saves when she needs to make those saves. So she's not called upon a lot, but I think sometimes as a goalkeeper, that's actually even harder when you're not called upon to make those big saves in the moments that mean it the most. So I'm going to go with Lorena. I'm going to be boring. Just say the same Casey Currant are probably going to win the shield. She, as you said, has been the big gap from last year and it feels pretty obvious.

This one's a little more interesting defensive player of the year so far. Best what? Defensive player. I had a trouble with this one. Yeah. No Naomi Germa makes things tougher. It makes it a little harder when you don't have the best center back in the world playing in your league.

And there's been some really good outside backs, but we all know the rule. When you're being a defender of the year, you're typically not an outside back. You have zero chance. You just don't have a chance. So then I was thinking about the teams that haven't given up a lot of goals. Gotham came to mind. Kansas City, Orlando's been all right.

But who's been consistent? I feel like there's, you could go with, the Danner's been really good in Orlando. There's something about Kaylee Kurtz that I like in North Carolina, just consistent. Even though they are outside the playoffs right now. Even though they're outside the playoffs, they don't give up a ton of goals, they don't score a ton. I don't know, I struggled with this one. I didn't really pinpoint one particular person because, I don't give up a ton of goals. They don't score a ton. I don't know, I struggled with this one. I didn't really pinpoint one particular person because I don't know, was it hard for you? Yeah, I'm looking at San Diego right now because it's.

And then I was thinking is it Jordan Bug? Yeah. And in this three back system, she's been able to be a good defender because Seattle hasn't given up a lot of goals either, but they're not the most fun team to watch. Which is why you're a defensive player of the year. So we're landing on no one right now, is what we're saying.

I would like some input from you, Gus. OK, so I would say I was thinking when I, Trinity Armstrong obviously has already been really special, has not played enough minutes, but has that shocking value. Alana Cook was probably in this conversation before she tore her ACL. You know who else might be in it is Kayla Sharples after our talk with Izzy Rodriguez,

just talking about her leadership and her communication. But then we end up with a Kansas City spy. I know, and that's too much. Because we have a midfield conversation that we have to have in just a moment. Yeah. I like the Jordan bug pick for what she's done so far. She's worked her way into the national team at such a young age. I think that's bug pick for what she's done so far. She's worked her

way into the national team at such a young age. I think that's a fair one. Okay. All right. It would be a shocker if such a young player was Defender of the Year. I would assume there are some teams that will change things in the second half and it will be obvious. One we're going to talk about with you. I think Sarah Gordon can get into this conversation for sure. Really? Let's talk midfielder of the year. OK. We argued about this a lot in preseason. You landed on Vanessa DiBonardo, I believe.

I did. And where do you stand right now? Vanessa's family is waiting on baited breath. Yeah, the best, not just midfielder, maybe a player right now in the league league has to be Kenza Dali. Yeah. Oh, no San Diego fans. Yeah, no San Diego. Anybody? Yeah. Well, we have one San Diego fan.

This is another number 10 who's playing as a six, mostly in a double pivot. And she with that skill set as a 10 playing in a deeper role, she has been able to open up the game. And Jonas Eidevall has told us a number of times, like she's, she knows how she wants to play soccer. She has a very particular style of play and he is very thankful that's the same way he wants to play because she is also very vocal. It has worked so well for San Diego and they are so fun to watch. and a lot of it has to do with just her being the metronome in the middle.

I love the way that she plays. It doesn't show up. It doesn't show up in tackles, really in assists. Like if we got MLS assists in NWSL then. Someone give us a secondary, yeah. Yeah, yeah, then I think it would show up a little more. She's been excellent. And then she played as a 10 against Houston

in the last game of the first half of the season and was the best player, maybe the best 10 this season, which shows you how good she is. I love that. We had Savannah McCaskill on the show, one of the best interviews I've ever done. So I'm giving her a nod here, mention, because I think she deserves it. And they really, I feel like every other game you could say either one of them is the best player on the field. The two of them trade off. It's really, really impressive to watch.

I don't know that there's anywhere else to go with this. Claire Hutton is going to get mentioned. Lola Bonta is going to get mentioned. I think that's fair. There hasn't been like a Croix Bethune this season who's just leading the league in assists right so far. No Ruby would be the one from Washington if you were leaning in that direction. I don't think you are.

I had to do a playmaker, like a number 10. I actually put Monaca as a 10 because she drops back from that nine position so much, but that's kind of cheating. And again, we're gonna land on a T. You're gonna end up with two North Carolina awards mid-season for a team that's not in the post-season. So that's gonna be a little bit tough.

I'm gonna go Kenzadali as well, my final vote. Let's combine these two Golden Boot and MVP. Oh, well that is I don't think it's gonna be the same person. Okay, that's what I was hoping for. I think Temwa Shwinga is gonna win Golden Boot again. She's only two goals behind Asher. Let's go.

Asher has 10 goals this year, but Kansas City- And then has crushed Euros at the same time. Yeah. I just think it's so hard to stop Schwinga. And they look like they're running downhill every single game. I think Schwinga will make that up and score more. Do you think it's going to be Esther?

I think it's going to be Esther. And then I think Schwinga is going to win MVP. Really? I think if San Diego keeps playing, I think Delfin Castorino will be MVP of the league. I think that's fair. I she has three goals, five assists. That's eight goal contributions. Yeah. You're looking at a star who's got 10. Yeah. But it's all goals. I just I Cascarino is the best player in this league. I don't disagree with you. I'd be

surprised if San Diego finishes high enough for her to worth or higher. And I think that will lose their higher. Yeah. San Diego finishes. Yeah. Finishes. We're going to talk about our teams that are going to turn it around. OK. Let's have that conversation right now. Who is must watch in the second half of the season? I'll go first. OK. I'll say Kansas City. It's a cliche. It's an easy one. If you haven't watched Kansas City Play, it is watching a possession-based, skillful,

talented, high press all happen at the same time. It is a delusion your face. When they are home, it's arguably the best environment in soccer right now in the US. So it is must watch. And I don't think they're going to take a foot off their gas. I think they understand last year wasn't the way they wanted it to end. And they're going to take a foot off their gas. I think they understand last year wasn't the way they wanted it to end, and they're going

to try and destroy everyone every single game. Yeah, you have to watch Kansas City. If you've watched this league enough, they are the must watch. But can I go in a different direction for a must watch? I think that there is a team, Angel City for the first half of the year has been like a wild team. You're getting four to seven goals every time you watch them play because they're giving up goals, but they're also scoring goals like crazy.

And we didn't do Rookie of the Year, but Riley Tiernan would be my Rookie of the Year. And that's one of the reasons why they're scoring all these goals. Shout out to Jaden Perry, who would be in that combo as well. Yes. I'm just throwing out names now. I forgot we didn't do Rookie of the Year. Yeah, we didn't do Rookie of the Year. I'm just throwing out names.

Continue. So the Angel City team gets a new coach. They brought in two European players in Janstadter. And then the new one is, oh my gosh, what's her name? Should I have prepped this? Sarah Dorsen. There you go. German international center back, which they're going to need

to replace Savvy King, who's most likely out for the rest of the season. Shout out to Savvy King, doing better. We love to hear her talking. Absolutely. And then they bring in U23 Central Midfielder Eveline Shores. They're bringing in three really quality pieces,

and they already are a team who have shown that they can score goals. I think they're gonna shore themselves up defensively. Yon Starter is gonna continue to get goals and I think Angel City has already been such a so different from the years past. They look good. Really fun to watch and it's only gonna be better now that they had the benefit of this break is they've had a month to really work on it. Under a new coach. Yeah and I think the players coming in with their European experience, one of them played in Germany and she's going to be she said she's really excited to play

for the new head coach and I can't think of his name now. What you learn the head coach Mueller Mueller. No. Okay. It's not that. Okay. Continue on. I think it's like Schreuber. Okay. It's a coach's name. You on. I think it's like Schruber. Okay. It's the coach's name. You guys were yelling German names now. Yeah. I don't know if that's offensive or not.

But she's really excited to play for him. So I think it'll be an easy transition for those players coming in. And yeah, Angel City is going to be one of my teams to watch. So Strauss. Strauss. I knew it was an S. Similar to Mueller and they're both German. Yeah. I think that's a great shout. I love Angel City.

Angel City right now coming into this moment, they are sitting, I just wanted to make sure I had this correctly, they are sitting in 11th place. How high do you think they'd have to get for Alyssa Thompson to be in an MVP conversation? She should be in that conversation. She's been great.

And now that- We forgot to say her, we did forget to say her. But I think it's because of where they're at in the table. Playoffs. Yeah, because if they're in the playoffs, she's going to have to play a massive role and we'll have led them there. So in the San Diego Convo, they're one spot ahead right now in third place of Washington Spirit, I don't think that will stay the same. So if they finish fourth or fifth, I think it's going to be tougher to have a Cascarino MVP. It is going to be close, and Gotham is still lurking. Like Rose Lavelle is healthy, Esther is arguably alongside Cascarino, the best player at Euros right now.

It is going to be a big conversation when they get there and when they are able to play. Okay. Do we feel good? I feel good. We still have our confessional booth outside, presented by Blue Sky, so thank you once again. We also have merch, which I never mentioned at all. So we have hats that I am wearing. We've got t-shirts that say play the kids because you know the vibes.

That is what we have, and we've got stickers over there as well. We're going t-shirts that say Play the Kids, because you know the vibes. And that is what we have. And we've got stickers over there as well. We're going to take a quick break. When we get back, Susanna Fuller is going to come up here. And we are going to run through some Yanks Abroad conversation. We're going to talk some styling around MLS. So everyone hang out and enjoy yourself for a minute. You