SoccerWise - USMNT Roster Reaction, MLS Sprint Season, Concacaf & USOC w/Charlie Boehm & Matt Doyle

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

The soccer weeks seem to just get bigger and bigger recently. This time we have two massive competitions going on with US Open Cup kicking off and Conca-champions closing the Round of 16. David is joined by one of the biggest soccer writers Charlie Boehm to cover it all. First they dig into the massive CONCACAF ties that finished from Nashville's win in Miami to San Diego & Philly's struggles in Mexico. Then they dig into the Cupsets we've sign and all the other wild and wacky of US Open Cup. Finally they talk about the breaking news around the specifics of the upcoming 2027 MLS Sprint season.3:30 Conca-Champions Review34:31 US Open Cup Round 1 Cupsets & Highlights46:35 MLS Sprint Season Specifics54:38 USMNT Roster Reaction

everybody to Soccerwiser. Favorite show covering all soccer, big and tall across America and North America. And it's one of those shows today. We've got Conca Cap. We've got Open Cup. We've got national team. We've got all of it to do. And I am so excited to dig into it with two of my favorites. If you're listening on Sirius XMFC, welcome. Thanks for being here. Sometimes we run a little long. So if that's the case, we'll give you a warning. And you can go to the on-demand player and listen to the full show. If not, just kick back and relax and enjoy yourselves. And you can always search soccer-wise anywhere you get all of your podcasts to listen to our show on demand. We've got Matt Doyle, who'll be joining us in a bit to react to Mariso Pochitino's latest roster,

which will be, of course, the last one we'll see before he names the final 26 that are headed to the World Cup. But first, we've got the legend. You know him as Charlie Bowman. You've read his work everywhere. He is the national writer at MLSSoccer.com. He contributes at scuffed as well. And Charlie, you've been on this show before too. So welcome back. Always an honor to get the call up, Goss. It's always always get that little, those good butterflies. Should I make a cap? Should we start doing caps? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I know you got that. I know you got the budget. Get that owl. Get that owl logo on everything, dude. I will say this, though. Marisa Pocitino said it as I will, just because you're in promotional material, just because you're in photos. Those are.

not mean you're in a safe spot. But I got an empty spot on the wall for a soccer-wise cap if it comes through. I'll give you the David Beckham, the 150, we'll make it bronze or gold or something, and we will send it over. I think that was, Beckham, whatever, he had 100, 120, whatever it was, and they gave him an actual cap. It was the first time I realized in my life that they're named after actual hats. Like, you know, you never put it together until someone actually explains it to you,

at least I didn't. So that was my moment. So thank you to David Beckham for doing that. But we are going to talk about the wild stories we've seen in Conccaf and Open Cup. And, Charlie, you've been in these content minds as long as me. You've been a sicko as long as I have. I think this is a week we thrive on while also withering inside. Yeah, dual 11 p.m. kickoffs last night was heavy, heavy concacafing,

even by Conca Calf's own standards. I use readers nowadays as I get into middle age, but I'm glad because they maybe hopefully cover up the bags under my eyes from a couple weeks of round of 16 late night midweeks. It'll blow your week right up, but man, it's worth it, right? And the 6 p.m. Open Cup starts to like bookended of like you could tell, I could tell my wife like, oh, by the way, I'm going to be watching soccer. Like, she doesn't care. She goes to sleep.

That doesn't matter. She's like, okay, what do you want to do before? It's like, there is no before. Oh, sorry. That wasn't clear. I'm going from you, a champion's league as well. I'm going from you wait for Champions League into Open Cup, into Conca Calf. And on this show, we call it Champions League,

as much as people like to fight it whenever they want to. Let's start at Conca Calf and then we'll get into Open Cup. There are big picture stories, but I think we can really go through these series because they each have their own stories. And we sort of laid it out before we got there. And we're going to start, I think, where everyone's going to start, which is Nashville's triumph over Miami.

Messi, the goal in the 6th, and then who else? but Christian Espinosa with the equalizer, which on away goals, which still counts in Cockcaf because we love Cockcaf baby. It ends up being the victory for Nashville and trying to have. We've gone over and over and over the connection these clubs have. And obviously the playoff line last year

and where Nashville really bumped up against it, and then the off season they have, and then to come in and be tested out the gate of like, oh, you thought you got better, prove it. Here's the measuring stick. And for Nashville to come up, and be equal to it is just huge. Yeah, so Nashville had been knocked out of the

2023 Leagues Cup final by Miami in the euphoric early weeks of Messymania. They were knocked out of 2024 Concordia Champions Cup by Miami, and they were knocked out of, emphatically knocked out of last year's playoffs by Miami. I had the record, we pulled up the record last night.

After this series now with two draws, Miami is now eight, one, and four against Nashville since Messi arrived. Now, two draws don't make that number look any like daunting, but the beauty of Conca calf is that it's enough. One one aggregate over two legs puts the coyotes through. And wow, it had a, it was one of those rare occasions, I think, where the team that achieved did it and earned it and Nashville earned some flowers. and they felt like a major step in the proverbial project for BJ Callahan and company.

This was a major win for them to claim to show that they belong in the elite conversation or are at least on that path. And it was equally a fracas for Miami. And Javier Mastrano clearly knew that. He understood that they had, from the ownership on down, ever since MLS Cup, even going back to the past couple seasons, They've made clear this is what they want. This is the only trophy that they have regular access to that they have not claimed. And so getting MLS Cup made it that much more of an urgency. And Mastrona repeatedly said, huge disappointment.

We put a lot into this tournament. And I take full responsibility. I am the one. And he fell on his sword in this. And to the point that it made me wonder if there could actually be consequences, it still seems unlikely to me. But clearly internally, this was a. this is a major, major face plant for Inter Miami.

Yeah, there are really two sides to this story, and it is such a huge moment early in the season for both sides. Let's start with Nashville, though. The victory, obviously Espinosa scoring the goal is fitting. I thought leg one, I thought they looked fine, but they kind of sat in the middle. They didn't create a ton of chances, but I didn't think they really got pulled apart by Miami,

and I thought this game would open up more. and I think I was wrong about that. There was quality, and I think you saw both of these teams' ability to create. But with all the talk of Espinoza and Hany and Surge and the danger and all of that, it was the centerback additions that they've made. Well, Lodzzi has been awesome as an ad to this team. It is about the strength in central midfield for this Nashville team, whether it's Yazbek, Tagseth, Kokeren, even when he struggled at times,

a young player, getting minutes in a good spot. And I think it's their ability to sort of like not be overawed by Miami and to be able to stay in their game plan. And when they won the ball back, knock it around a little, take some of the air out of the game and not over panic and send seven guys to Messi and go sliding around, which is what they did last year. I think you see the development of this team in this series and obviously sets them up for this historic win. Yeah, I mean, so many worst case scenario sort of signposts were happening for them, right? you you fail to take your chances in the home leg you don't get the goal you're left to do extra work at at Miami a place that's been a house of horse for you and then messy opens you up seven six minutes in right as six seventh minute or eighth minute whatever it was and he scores by

the way he's not on frame he is off the left like he's off the near post and cuts it against his hips back to the far post I know messy's great I know we talk about this but like what a goal. Through Wolodzzi, if I remember correctly, right? So just that little hesitation to open up the defender's legs. And yeah, I mean, you're just, that sinking feeling so often, right, that in a two-legged tie situation, you're thinking, here we go again. But the mental strength they showed was really impressive. They kept their composure.

They kept the intensity in the press. So, and Machino complimented NSC for their ability to make things difficult for his team to kind of chop up the game and make it very difficult. to progress. So again, to remain organized and have that pressing intensity, I was just pulling up the expected goals numbers. Miami did not crack one. Neither side had a lot. It was 1.06 for Nashville. 0.87 XG, according to Fott Mobb for Inter Miami. That is an extremely impressive number to put up against a fully motivated, rested Leo Messi, right? And remember, they had played their kids at Charlotte, had Miami at the weekend and to get a road point. All the eggs were the basket on this one and and they just they couldn't break him down and then you know it really

felt like this was the Rodrigo de paul kind of game he was he was doing his thing the dark arts the management the the gamesmanship all that stuff but it really felt like Miami thought one zero would would get them through but they left the door open the away goals rule left them vulnerable and I think messy had to know right that they needed to to go find another one. But Callahan made some subs. He changes out his entire left flank to get some fresh bodies out there. They maintain the level.

And then it just took one really dangerous foray into the box. And we see this complete collapse of composure and organization on the part of Miami on Espinososal. And then the panic set in. And again, Mosharoni himself said the desperation really played against him in those final minutes. Bert Tarame has not finished his chances. That will be a story. And I think he'll go on to score double digit goals. But how long it takes is part of one of the worries for MLS teams of like, if this is

the competition you want to win, you can't do your work in the off season because those players are not fully settled in. They're not fully available. And that's where Nashville's advantage, I think, of having Esmanosa being in league and sort of already knowing it. And yet, Bertrami is not far off. Like he's playing in Conccaf before. So it's not a whole new thing.

But he is clearly one step off. He had a chance before Messi even scored that I think in the last five years, he scores 70% of the time. And then you go through the game and I think you start to feel that tension. You start to feel that pressure. And as you said, for Casa, a huge moment for this Inter-M Miami team. They're going to open up their new building in three weeks. This game that was out of their control. They couldn't move it and have it be later.

And it was going to be this crowning achievement. And it still will be. They finally got it built. They won MLS Cup. But this really throws a. wrench into, I think, the good vibes. And for a club that has gone off the rails quickly at times with Tata Martino just walking away two years ago, like, this is a dangerous moment now early in the season.

I mean, Messi wins everything, right? I mean, what trophies has he been in contention for that he has not claimed? So, you know, that is the maniacal aspect of his competitiveness. That's even in his advanced age, he wants this badly. The Moss brothers, I think, want this badly. I mean, they're already, they're musing openly about, you know, trying to get MLS teams, meaning themselves, into Copa Libertadores, right? Which is a massively ambitious gambit on every level.

You have to applaud the ambition there, but you can't really make a case if you're going out in the round of 16 for CCC. And this is where, and it's going to apply to a couple of the other MLS clubs we're going to talk about the hardest reality check available on the continent is CCC. Typically, it's administered by League of MEC East giants at altitude or, you know, in hostile territory. In this case, it was Nashville. And what a massive triumph, just a huge signpost in their project.

And showing the depth first right now in the regular season, now they're moving into the quarter finals. They will face off against America, who will talk. about in just a moment. Wanted to spend some time on that game. Now let's go over and talk about the rest of the games, most of them more straightforward. San Diego, they came in with the three to win. The first leg was arguably the greatest performance in Concorda Calf history. They finished down two men. They play the bulk of the game, down a man. They beat the reigning back-to-back League MX champions. 3-2 at home, 3-1 for most of the game. But we knew the challenge that it would.

always be. You go to altitude, you go to Toluca, and you're going to be missing Manu Tua, which is the real big story from the red cards from that first leg. Lewis Morgan gets his debut start for this team, but they were never in this game. For a team, Charlie, that we've, I'll just straight up say, we've never seen them not play their soccer before. And obviously, they never been in a setting like this. This was the first time that San Diego looked human. They could not keep the ball. I mean, they have had a mastery, and even against Toluca in the first leg, even with 10 men, they were pinging it around them. They were making the best team in Mexico chase, and there was just none of that. The pressing was withering.

I think their lack of depth as well as a shortcomings in top end talent really got exposed here. So I've written about San Diego a couple times. I'm super high on this project. They're still in the early phases. is my guess is that they have a master plan that this moment came early for and that they weren't prepared necessarily to go all in. But this is a team that's that was already on the two four designated players, U-22s model, because it is youth focused. They are, they're exiled, their most talented. They're carrying one of the two.

They're famous player, right? So they've already, yeah, they have exiled Chuky, still without a destination, right? They haven't gotten any assets for him. They haven't removed him. Mikey Varus was asked about him in his match J-minus-1 press conference this week and said he he's not in the picture essentially right affirming this so they're tied they've tied one hand behind their back to be not using all their premium roster spots at the moment and you know what you could have used a premium player last night someone to bring something different they didn't have anyone to bring off the bench to change the game they the loss of manu doa which turned out was massive

Maybe we're telling a different story if he can resist that urge to put out the chicken wing and give up the second goal and the second red card because that put Toluca a little bit more in striking distance and it robs you of your best defender. And then there was this cascading effect because they were dropping not nominally but sort of informally they had a tweak where yep at Svskoff, who's an elite excellent number six, maybe the best six in MLS. but they're dropping him into the back line last night, I guess to try and shift the numbers and give Toluca a different look. But there's that cascading effect from your best player being in a different spot, right? And so they couldn't replace the two starters. I think they got away with stuff with their game model in MLS on the week to week and the trust in young players that got exposed here.

So maybe they have to stick to the master plan, but it really felt like, you know, this is where you see the margins, right? that second goal, that second red card. And then even while they're getting, you know, pummeled last night, they almost get to halftime, scoreless. That would have been absolutely massive to weather that early storm, get into the locker room, get your legs out, you know, breathe some oxygen.

Yeah. It was odd because while they were getting, while they were struggling to possess the ball, I didn't think in the run of play they were getting pulled apart throughout most of that first half. Most of the big chances were set pieces. but because they're defending the whole time, there's a million set pieces and restarts in their defensive third.

So whether it's corner kicks, free kicks, dangerous throw-ins, whatever. And I think that's something that San Diego will struggle with, right, most of those players on the field because of their quality and possession. And then I think the other piece with Manu-Dua besides being a presence in those moments and being a leader and an organizer is you can also play through them in a way that you can't play through centerbacks like that. And I think that release valve of like, I'm in trouble, I can always go backwards. and we can clean it up and play around people in our defensive third and then rebuild again.

That kind of went away. And I think you could feel it sort of way on this team. But I'd argue up until that first goal, the tension in the building was on Toluca. And Paulino is struggling to finish. And so it felt like maybe there's a moment where there's a bit of a formula. And then they score. And then it just, it felt like the flag. A self-inflicted wound.

And you have to, again, it's a compliment to San Diego that we have to remind ourselves some of the ages of the kids involved, but they got a 19-year-old kid in goal, and he hasn't looked 19 until he decides to try and play out of the back in the 42nd, whatever it was minute. You know, halftime is so close. I know the fidelity to the philosophy is admirable, but he makes a howler playing out of the back.

You just can't gift to Luca a goal at their place. And the fact that it happens right before the half, we know it a backbreaker that is in almost any situation. So this is my loser mentality coming out. I'm a Mets, Jets, Jets, and Knicks fan. I know it's there. I can't avoid it. I think year two, to beat Pumas the way they did, and to beat Toluca Legoon the way they did, and go toe to toe, I think this was a successful run for San Diego.

Me and Doyle talked about it. A shot across the bow to everyone in your market who is League MX first, which is a massive part of it. Like, we can play with these guys. We belong in this conversation. and while you'd love to get past a round of 16 on paper, compared to what the LA Galaxy have done, San Diego has accomplished more in Concordcaf this year, and maybe the galaxy will go on to do more than the average MLS team does.

So that's, I'm throwing that out there. Anytime I say something like that, people tell me I'm a loser, and I agree with them. It's just who I am at my core. But I think that point has to be thrown out there about what San Diego did so far this year. Let's go on and talk LAFC. They go down to Costa Rica.

We talked about how hard it would be. Al-Holense, Giants of Costa Rica right now, dominating the league. We're able to hang in there in L.A. atmosphere off the charts. This is one where I'm like, I know I should go. I know I should just experience a league game there, whatever. And you watch and you're like, why am I not there? And then you remember it's far away.

And it takes a lot and all that type of stuff. And L.AFC, they're able to survive. It wasn't easy. They had the bulk of play. but it didn't feel like the breakthrough was coming until the Venezuelan god David Martinez lining it up with the world baseball classic decides he's going to hit a banger

and this is what we've been waiting for Charlie which is LAFC have had this sort of like line of Diego Rossi to Brian Rodriguez to Christian Olivera like David Martinez is supposed to be next it's not linear with everyone it takes time but it feels like he's arrived that was big we were just

talking about the fine margins that makes such a big difference in this tournament at this level. It's a little strange sometimes to see them break in in the favor of the quote unquote giant from MLS this time, but that's what it was. They were very frustrated. I mean, Youngman's son's frustration was palpable. He got clipped on a professional foul. I think it was early in the second half, popped up, you know, gets in somebody's face. Like they were discomfited by the whole situation, you know,

Dewey wet pitch, loud crowd that's right on top of you there. You know, it's humid. It's just, it's different from what they're expecting. This was right. This was right in, in, uh, Aloi Lenz's hands. If, if things break a little differently. But it looks like they didn't quite read the scouting report. Martinez finds a little pocket.

We've seen it watching him weekend. We got an MLS. He's got an incredible shot from distance. That left foot is magical. And he just finds that little pocket with four defenders around him in zone 14. And he can release the shot. Pings one upper 90. Injury time.

I mean, what a dagger. It's a compliment to Alihuela that they had to sweat and scrap and claw to that point. But wow. And also a statement about LASC's roster construction, even when things are not quite hitting for the big, the big duo of Buonga or Sun, there just keeps being someone else stepping up. In the league, we've seen Mark Delgado pinging shots.

Schwanier, Eustachio. Like there's when the, when the, so far, when the stars are neutralized, there's been someone else stepping up. But, man, the miles are stacking up. And you and Doyle talked about this the other day. I think we're going to be talking about Mark Dos Santos's rotation and squad management decisions probably all year,

if it keeps up at this rate, because the stars have played a lot and you can already tell. So they go to Austin this week and they were in Dallas, I believe, last week. I think I'm off by one week. No, they played St. Louis at home. They played Dallas two weeks ago. So they'll go to Austin and then obviously Kankyaf stuff will continue again. So, yeah, at some point someone has to rest.

And it's not international breaks because it's not an international break for Sun. I haven't looked at Kibuong's schedule. I don't know if Bwong is going to travel for them. but also go down the list of these players. Juan Yer Oostakio, they'll be with Canada. Like all of these guys are in international conversation. So that's not a break for them. It's actually extra miles on their legs.

But LAAFC, able to survive, able to move on and go to the next round. Those are some of the big results. Let's at the last few quickly. And by the way, LASUL.A has Cruz Azul April 8th and 15th. That's speaking of margins, man. And Chris Zool just look quite comfortable, quite confident in dispatching Monterey. So major, major tests there. Let's talk about the Philadelphia Union who went down to Mexico in their game.

We kind of knew they would be up against it. They end up losing by one goal on the goal differential to 1 to Club America. And, you know, I had the read coming into this. And I had some Philly fans response to me, which I think is fair. I said it didn't feel like Bradley Carnell took this seriously. Like they came in and Damiani doesn't start, Blake doesn't start, Westfield doesn't start, Danley doesn't start. I think though, I mean, Damiani and Blake, I think no question Westfield by play. And Danley's been one of the best to me.

But the response from some Philly fans was, well, we're, oh, and three. So like, I don't know that anyone's a locked in starter, which is fair. So fine. If Carnell wants to try something, he wants to try something, then it's working. they've equalized that one one. They've come out and played well to start the second half. They're playing in the attacking third. They're creating chances.

And then they take Kevin Sullivan out of the game, which is a conversation as well, which I think we'll bring Charles Barkley in and he'll start a conversation for us, was what I put down for this one. But like, there's so many ways to go with this. To me, the big one is just Philly's self-imposed insistence that they will come up to the line but will not be able to do the work to surpass it. And a lot of that goes to financial stuff. But like it is once again, they're on the line with the giants of the region.

They lose by a goal. They're in the series. But they don't have that extra punch to be able to get through. Yeah, this was infuriating. I don't think I could make the point any better than Matt Doyle did in his dispatch on tactics free zone.com this morning. Bradley Carnell seemed to have a predetermined substitution pattern lined up that he was simply not. willing to to deviate from because Kevin Sullivan was their best player last night. He was the Quicksilver, the difference.

He was different from everyone else wearing blue, right? And I have to preface this. Like, Kevin has not been a starting caliber player. No. For since he signed that contract, right? Like they, they wanted to break Freddie Adu's record. They did it. They got him on the pitch at age 14 in an MLS game to signal how it's,

special this kid was to show their faith in him. I was at that game. It was special. Like the buzz around him was real, but then it, we hadn't seen enough in first team action to justify, right? He was, he was getting a little brother last year when he played. He didn't really grab the eye in most of his starts. It felt like there was this long range path that they had him on and they were being disciplined. Okay, great, development club, sure. He's taken a step this year, right? It's different now. And this is the, I think it's maybe just the nature of development. It's not. It's not, not always linear. Nope.

He seems to have taken a leap, whether it's that he's grown into his body, he's putting it all together. And this was, this felt like Kavin's coming out party. Whether this was a blip in the bigger trajectory or if this is a sign that he really is here now, whatever it was, you could feel it on the pitch. He was making America defenders very uncomfortable. He was putting in dangerous service consistently. They had in Mexico City, now granted, this is not at the Azteca.

There's a whole backstory, just like in the U.S. venues, they're renovating Esteka. So Club America of all clubs are nomads right now. They're not playing in their preferred venue. But still, you're in Greater Mexico City. They were rocking. Philly had them. They just needed one more goal, right? And it could have been just like Miami, Nashville.

And then you pull Kavana Sullivan out at the hour mark to put in a defensive midfielder. Granted, it's an excellent defensive midfielder, but that is not what this game was calling for. I don't know if Carnell and his staff are not readjusting or re-evaluating their priors about Cavan, but he was the special one last night and you put your most dangerous weapon on the shelf with the game on the line. I'm going to throw something out there that is purely subjective and probably the wrong thing to do. I have a theory that I've come up with over the last 12 hours. I don't know that they're controlling his minutes limit. Reminder, right? He's got a contract with Manchester.

also this whole setup is because his family is extremely smart about managing careers, extremely driven and plugged into soccer, right? His parents, both captains in college soccer, his grandfather, college, like, we know this story. So I'm wondering, and this is me just putting that out there, of like, if that conversation is actually somewhat, because it feels, I don't understand, Malik Yakuovich is brought on the field. This is a kid to play the last 15 minutes of this game.

So like you're watching Kevin succeed. There's no world in which you say, let's get him off and let's get on an unproving kid to like take us the rest of the way. Right. So it can't be he doesn't trust young players because he's literally doing it. And as you said, you're watching the game. He's performing. So it can't be well, he's not performing in doing the thing. So to me it feels like there's something else that's connected to it.

And that's pure speculation, which is a dangerous thing to do, which is why I'm really proud of myself for doing it right there on the show. Okay, let's hit Seattle first and then we'll get to Open Cup. Seattle ends up wiping out Vancouver in Spokane. Reminder, as you talked about with Club America, Seattle are another World Cup venue, so they are a bit of a nomad to start the season. Road games now in league play with a little bit of some home games at Spokane. it felt cool from afar it's like 5600 people that it can hold it's a u s l league one venue and a u.s. uh super league um yeah gainsbridge super league yes uh yes they do have i was just trying to remember if it's a pro one inside or us l w um and so seattle Vancouver came for it like the full starting

lineup for them i thought after the first 20 minutes where they struggled they created chances they should have had a couple more step fry actually stood big in this one as he returns into the starting lineup. Bodwell gets the goal, which was beautifully taken for Vancouver. And it really was just too much work. Like three goals is going to be a lot to come back from. But like the thing you walk away from, Kingston comes off the bench, Pauly Primetime gets a goal, is just this pipeline that Seattle has built.

And for all the complaints and issues maybe of they haven't gotten an avander, they haven't gotten a messy, they haven't gotten a Buonga, the middle of that roster is as good as any we see in MLS and maybe as good as any we've seen in this league. So we talked about LAFC having those role players to step in a third heat, right, to use that phrase. San Diego did not have that. Philadelphia does not have that. Seattle has that and they built it themselves, right? They haven't had to go and spend money on the market to do it.

they're growing them within their system and bringing them forward. It was really interesting to see Paul Rothrox does the stand-up interview post-game, and he shouts out, he's like, he shouts out Kingston, and I forget who the other one that he referred to, maybe it was Lopez, but he's like, I want to shout out the defiance guys because I was in their shoes. I was one of those guys, right? So everyone understands how this is going to work. Everyone knows that, and they're, it's not that they're not in,

investing, right? And this is the thing we talk about Philly a lot. They put in the money in a different place in the pipeline, right? You invest in the structure in the hope that in a few years it's going to pay off in productivity. And it has. It's very impressive to watch. They've built the culture around it. The veterans support it. I spoke with Christian Roldon for a piece a few months ago and during preseason and those guys are all in on it. They know they have a role to play in the process. And then of course, you have to mention too. I mean, Jesus Ferreira, who is another team's hit a player that you go and get at a discount, he's,

he is just dealing right now. I mean, he's, we, he's, he's one of those, maybe he'll end up being a what if kind of story. I don't,

I don't know if that's quite right, but like, he's that, that talent that has, yeah, maybe not fully fired. His legacy could be great, and it will be different

than what we thought it would be when he started, right? Like there's a chance, Jesus Ferreira in five years, is in a rolled on, Jordan Morris, Nico Lodero, conversation of like Sounders legend won trophies.

We thought it was going to be a UEFA Champions League like conversation and national team started. And he might still get there on the national team side. But it is going to be different. The path is different than what we expected. But it's interesting to me, the three teams we talked about here that want in Nashville, in L.A.F.C. and Seattle have made themselves attractive places for people like Christian S.

and Jesus Ferreira and Stephen Oostakio and Ryan Hollingshead and Matthew Schwanier to go to. And I think that comes partially from the environments they build, the training grounds, the cities, whatever. But I think it goes to ambition as well. Like you're an athlete. You want to go be a part of something. And I think there is like something that you can feel. If you're going to go to Philly, you kind of know, like you build a great team and then they're going to sell the pieces that they can and redo it again, where you go to these clubs and it is going to be about winning.

They're maybe not spend $50 million on a player, but it's going to be about how can we get ourselves over the line? And I think you feel that in the guys that want to come and be a part of these projects. And that to me is what I take away from this round of Concaalf of like there is a difference right now. And it's not the haves and have nots. It's the ambition and the middle ambition of the league. I got to throw this out there because someone put it to me on blue sky. So Peter Kingston, right? I got the first name right.

Yeah, Peter because it was Peter and Paul. Peter and Paul came up. he's from Kirkland, Washington, and I said on Blue Sky, his assist, it looks like Sebastian Burrhalter. It's soccer IQ where he sees that the Vancouver defender is sort of relaxed for a moment. He turns quickly, then the strength, which is to me one of the underrated parts of Burrhalter is like, the guy's a bowling ball, but then clean in possession when he gets contact and then pinpoint precision. And someone messaged back, well, he's the Kirkland brand of Sebastian Burrhalter. He's the Costco brand and I'm obsessed with that.

And I absolutely love it. And I do want to say, I do want to say to that again, Vancouver, that game started the way Vancouver needed it to. Right? If you're drawing up a blueprint of how can we claw back from 3-0 down an aggregate far from home, everything was moving. the steps were in place. It says a lot that they made it a going concern, but too, also Seattle, again, with the game intelligence, to sort of ride that out and hold it off.

Now Schmetzer said he gave him a tongue lashing at halftime because he thought they were a little bit passive, but you just see the way they managed that game in a way that Miami wanted to and could not, right? So very interesting, I thought, detail there as well. Awesome night. awesome week so far in Conccaf. We're not going to be hitting FC Cincinnati or the LA Galaxy because those games are happening tonight while we are recording. Feel safe to say the Galaxy could be

going through up 3-0. Cincinnati does not feel as safe. So it'll be a fascinating conversation we will come back to when we are back for the next show. Let's talk, though, about the U.S. Open Cup before we get out of here. It is one of the most fun competitions opening round. We got a full slate of amateur qualifying teams. I believe the most in tournament history coming up against, for the most part, fully professional sides in the USL League One and USL Championship. We've gotten three cupsets so far as we sit down to record this. Each one may be better than the one before.

Vermont Green takes the victory over Portland Hearts of Pine in a sold-out, unbelievable atmosphere to like launch the whole week up. in Burlington, Vermont. So congrats to my friends with Vermont Green. We are so excited to watch you guys continue to succeed. Then Asheville, they get revenge against Greenville. Last year, it was a PK shootout victory for Greenville over Asheville. And then this year, Asheville wins at 3-1. And then Valley 559 beats AVALTA at the end of the night on a, I am not going to misspeak on this one, a Quincy Ameriqua goal. Yeah. That guy.

2009 San Jose Earthquakes, 2013 goal of the year, I think it was, for the quakes. Full career after that, still trucking along. Mental Strength League, baby. For this Valley team. Charlie, these are why we love this competition because these things are possible. Just, yeah, what a start. It's such a trip, too, to see a place like Vermont.

I mean, the term grow the game is kind of trite, right, and overuse and it doesn't, to the point that it doesn't mean what it should. But this was, I associate the Open Cup with summer days, right? This used to be a summer tournament where you had, you know, PDL teams, college kids in the, in their offseason, whatever else. And now these guys are flying in, the college kids in many cases, like in the case of Green, right? They're flying in weeks ahead of schedule to try and be a part of the Open Cup. And it's 23 degrees Fahrenheit. at kickoff with a wind chill in Burlington, and it's still a pact, and they had 36 hours, I think it was, of training. They fit in as much tactical work as they could and still look like, you know, granted, they are the reigning league two champions, but against professionals, they were sharper, they were more organized.

They granted there was a goalkeeping howler involved with the goal, but they get the break and then they make it stand up. suddenly to have a place like Burlington, Vermont, be on the soccer map where it's simply wasn't in the way it is now just a couple years ago. It's so special. They've tapped into something great there. Portland has as well, right? I mean, what a cool derby environment. That was the one that I got to watch the most, and you just, you wish you could be there. I think there was something like, I don't know what the percentage of lottery or demand, you know, was able to fit into that stadium. But I hope they get another one because they, seem to be able to pack that place out.

So much fun. And then, yeah, Quincy Ameriqua, that's a certain breed of MLS Sicko will hear that name and smile knowingly. The other thing about it is, so I was helping someone do some work on Open Cup who doesn't have as, you know, deep a background. And like, in my head, Quincy Ameriqua is like a star. And then you're like to explain it. I go to grab the stats and I'm like, oh, huh.

Like there's not a lot there, but it's like when you were, if you were around at the time, you know, I think in my head it almost. was like Dom Dwyer levels of like this guy was a real goal and then you go look and you're like you know he was on some scrappy teams and he he filled the role but like yeah he and then he's 38 now and continues to do it yeah and for those who are unaware this is because he he he was briefly on DC United so and I interviewed him a couple of times and chatted with him and stuff he had his own line of merch printed and it was he said this isn't MLS this is MSL, Mental Strength League, and he had the gear.

And this was his personal sort of branding. It was like MSL because he was renowned for getting into the head of opponents, playing the mind games, you know, all that kind of stuff. And I didn't get to watch much of this game, but I have to imagine there was some of that going on. And it's so fun, too, I think a sign of hopefully a healthy ecosystem is that the early rounds you have these amateurs and kids and and and retired guys or whatever else trying to knock off the USL League one and the USL championship teams and then the survivors of that process get to go

and try and do that to the MLS teams and knock them off and everybody's you know anybody can get it right which is it usually ends up with like so many tournaments around the world like this the pro top pro team is probably going to win the thing but but it's it's the finding out that's That's a blast. I mean, to have Davids, you have to have Goliaths, right? Like this is part of the build. You have to build everywhere. So while you want to build up the pro ranks and make them big,

it then also opens up for these opportunities, which gives these moments for Vermont to say, like, come into the building, see this experience. And then obviously Vermont doesn't need it as much. But to have this, like, what does this mean now for a Nashville club? Can they go out and maybe get some sponsorship, which gets a little bit of money to be able. or sell more tickets to be able to help fund the experience for these players a little bit better.

To be able to travel maybe players in a little bit earlier, like these are the small things where it's like a proper ecosystem, as you said, there should be this trickle down that's able to strengthen the game from the grassroots up. It doesn't always feel that way with the way things are set up. But one of the things that fascinates me and like deep into my nerdsum is so one of the games was New Mexico against cruisers, which is a great name. Spelt with a Z. Great name.

And three of the guys on cruisers were like GA Cup stars, and they were homegrown. Afonzo Accompo Chavez for Seattle. Jacob, I'm going to butcher his last name because I haven't said in a while, like Akra Kanji, at centerback who was a San Jose homegrown. They're like 23 or 24 playing on these teams. You know, I think in the olden days, an open cup, you know, unknown was this person never made it into the system. and now maybe at 25 or 26, as they aren't an amateur player, someone sees them and is like, I wish we had. And now there are so many players coming up through the pipeline

that some will fall through the cracks or some won't make it, but there are still places to play high-level soccer, and there are opportunities to reemerge. The guy who scored both goals for cruisers is 24 years old, started with the Oakland Roots four or five years ago, has been on pro teams, clearly fell out. Maybe two goals against New Mexico is a way to get back in, But I think part of that is also the strengthening of the ecosystem, which is if someone locally wants to go watch good soccer, they could go see really high-level players who have been in great spots, who maybe still have big careers ahead of them, that you could go see, which I think is just a really cool part of all of this, as well as the atmospheres that these teams have built, which to me, the in-stadium experience is still the biggest selling point of the sport, and it's still the most unique selling point for American fans.

and the more of them we can have, the better. You add a Burlington to that situation. We've seen what Chattanooga has done in the past. Can some of these other teams continue to add that in and sort of like be these big experiences for everyone? There was quirky. There was wild. Two games got moved inside.

And I've watched a professional soccer game inside. And I don't know, ever maybe. That was awesome. Unfortunately, that Pittsburgh game we were excited about got delayed because of the weather. Spokane went on. the road because Seattle Sounders were playing in their stadium so they couldn't host Ventura. There was three pro sides that scored in the 89th minute or later to steal wins. So even in some of the non-cup sets, there was still really tight games, which I think goes

to how exciting and interesting and how much talent there is across the world. And then there was the fascinating story of Kalanji Pro, where Bradenka, Colangie, 14-year-old, was the youngest goal score in U.S. Open Cup history. Braden Kalanji playing for Kalanji pro under Coach Bruno Kalanji alongside his brother Kalan Kalanji is named for the team as I guess the dad started the club and put their last name on it

and now his son is an international super suck family affair baby you like literally cannot write this stuff and to go on top of it the goal was a saved penalty kick where when you watch it you actually can't see the shooter and the goal keeper at the same time. Then it gets knocked back out to the top of the box.

Braden Kalanji literally one touches it from the top of the box looping over the keeper into the far post, runs to the corner, kicks down the corner flag. And my favorite part is one of his teammates runs to the corner flag and resets it up and immediately turns the referee and apologizes like, sorry for the kid. Because he's like, I'm not risking a yellow card here. Like we are up against it against this team in Chattanooga. And it's just like, again, the quirkiness and wildness. Of all of it, El Farleto, one of the big darlings, for everyone, their trip came up short as they fell in extra time against Sacramento and then proceeded to go off the rails.

I think there was three ejections, 27 cautions as well as fighting in the crowd. And then fighting the part of the lot. Now, you got to admit, it had to, I mean, it had to have hurt, right? They push a USL championship team to extra time, which is, in and of itself is a, a, impressive. It's a moral victory. It hurts to leak the two goals they did. One of them was a blocked goalkeeper kick. So, so probably a painful ending to a long night for El Farolito, the Brito Boys. But apparently they got nasty peanut gallery up there in Sackdown. I don't know what it was, but something set off multiple members of El Farolito sent them sprinting into the

stands to beef with with fans. There was talk of parking lot. parking lot scrums the the for once you know the YouTube stream left us wanting more yeah they they cut the broadcast while there was still a lot of hubbub and milling about and I suspect that at some point someone at the Federation will get down to handing out some some suspensions we'll see if anything approaches the the famous infamous red card wedding of the sounders timbers game of of your in which Clint Dempsey tore up a referee's notebook that that's the standard to me that in the Quatamac Blanco,

um, uh, punching a DC United Stadium, uh, staffer to get a lengthy public cup band. That's the, that's the, those are the standards that we'll see if,

if the burrito boys, uh, get into that conversation in terms of, of open cup discipline. Uh, but it was a huge week, not just for, um,

Kalanji, a number of high school young teenage players scored, a 16 year old scored for Phoenix Rising, um, 18 year old US youth national team, forward scored for Charleston Academy Homegrown Academy High School signings scored the winner or excuse me scored for New Mexico. So a lot of interesting stories all around. And our one knocks, of course, for Susanna, we are a one knock show and Ian as well. They came from behind and were

able to get the victory in their game. Okay. If you're listening on Sirius Radio, that's all for you. For this one, if you want to hear the rest of the show, we've got Matt Doyle, who will be breaking down the U.S. men's national team roster with me, as well as a little more conversation with Charlie. Just go to the on-demand player, and you can find the show there or search soccer-wise anywhere you get your podcasts. One big news note for us to dig into here, Charlie, before we go, is the official announcement for Major League Soccer about what the sprint season will look like in 2027. So, MLS has announced that they are going to shift the season from what it is right now, which I guess you would call spring to fall or spring to winter,

over to what is being called the international window, which is going to be fall through spring. The season now actually we get confirmation in that setup. We'll start in July and run through May. So I wouldn't call it fall through spring. That's not normally how I described July. But those are the details that we get here. But to do so, MLS is going to have a sprint season to reset the calendar

after the current season we are in. So MLS Cup, we got the confirmation on playoff structure and all of that. That will be in December of 2026. And then to turn things around, there will be a 14 game regular season that will be played at the beginning of 2027 in which every team will play every team in their own conference. They'll play each team once and they will play seven games at home and seven games on the road. The top eight teams will make the playoffs a single, elimination playoff competition and one team will be crowned what is called

MLS Cup champion after that there will also be a shield winner there'll be five Kankake Gaff Champions Cup births that will be determined due to the sprint season and then 18 teams will qualify for the league's cup so I did a little social video about this my first reaction to this is this is fun this is Apatura closer this is the high stakes of what we see in League MX, which is two games in, coaches get fired because you still got a shot at the playoffs. But at the same time, if you sneak into the playoffs, you can make a run. It is maybe not the best version of soccer all the time, but it is high intensity, high stakes every moment the teams are on the field. It figures, if nothing else, to be a drastic contrast to what we see most springs in late winters with, you know, the transfer, even right now, right?

there's there's we can sort of talk about how philly, winless Philly are pressing the panic button and so forth but it's not really the case in the MLS context right everybody looks ahead they know there's there's a summer window they know there's months to go there's a tolerant playoff format that gives them time to get back into the mix there will be genuine urgency yeah one year from now right you cannot sluff out of the gate like the transfer window if you if you're going to think you can leave your business late in the sprint season it's probably not going to go well for you right if you want to go for it and i don't know maybe not maybe teams will approach this differently maybe everybody's building up to the start of the the new the new calendar in the summer and maybe

this is sort of like mLS is back where you could tell that there were differing different levels of intensity of commitment to going after it but like like i'll say it now like come on Go go for it. Go have fun. Like don't be a dork. Like don't treat this like preseason. Like go win something. I mean you have to.

Easiest title at your disposal. You have to think by the time you get into the final three games, everyone will be within three points of a playoff spot. Right. Like there's just not that much time to have a huge break in there. If you're playing halfway okay soccer and with sort of we know the home advantages that exist in MLS, I'll be fascinated to see like what does a Montreal do? a team that normally starts with the six, seven game road trip. Like do they straight up play half the season, half the season? But those are specific issues that, you know, we will learn about.

But you have to think everyone will be in touching distance. So it's like, like you said, like just go for it at that point. And I have talked with people forever about could this be a format for MLS where even once you get into this new season style, there is going to be like a two month break in the middle of the year. A two-month break to me sounds like an off-season. And if there's an off-season, do you not just break up the two things into two titles? It is, I understand, the most foreign concept to American sports fans,

and it might be too hard to explain and sell. But I bet you in market I can sell a championship game. And if Nashville hosts the Aparo Tura final and then Portland hosts the Klausura final, I bet you both fan bases are going to show up. And both markets are going to get excited because they're hosting a championship. What the hell do they care about who won it six months ago and how it split and all of that? In saying that, I find it a little odd calling this MLS Cup. I think you've built up MLS Cup as this entity.

It is your league champion. And this sprint season format, if it's not the way you're doing it going forward, I find it a little odd to still put it in the same list because MLS's back was a different trophy. And Portland had the decision of how they wanted to handle it and treat it and all of that. but no one said Portland won the 2020 MLS Cup Championship, right? So that is the one thing that stands out to me. You detects trophy inflation. Is that what you're saying?

Potentially, yes. Frothiness in the trophy. Yeah, I mean, I think, and we talked about this a little before we started recording, I think it's, I think it makes sense. It's defensible to say there needs to be a 2027 champion of Major League Soccer. and even though you only have to run half as far, maybe you have to run faster to get there. This is for the fast twitch muscle fibers among us, you know, maybe.

And it is a, it's a fun quirk that the calendar builds in. The one thing we know about modern football, right, is there must be games. You simply can't not have games. We got, we got, you know, lights to, light bills to pay, and players want to play, fans want to go to games. It is going to be interesting. Like, you know, this is a spring and early summer tournament. So weather's going to be a bigger factor and all that kind of stuff.

So we'll see what the details look like. My favorite thing, too, is that there's a built-in quirk to me with like League MX's format, which is the Apertura is in the last six months of the year. Don't even. It took me seven years to learn that. I could not, yeah. So there's built-in confusion. So, you know.

I still, to this day, check myself every time I go to say it. Same. For anyone who doesn't understand, the aperture is the opening and Klausura is closing. Those are what those words mean. And the aperture is played at the end of the year, somewhat termed the close of the year. And the Klausura has played at the opening of the year. But it shifts from the international, quote-unquote, window, which is, in theory, let's say you take England, the first half of the year is August through December and then the second half.

half is January through May, and that's what they decided to do in Mexico. But this is going to be interesting. The last little quirk on this one is I love the throwback to like old school baseball where you never play the other conference until the final. So it's like Duke Snyder against Mickey Mantle one time if they make it. And it's this like foreign entity that you've never seen before. It'll just be a Western Conference team versus an Eastern Conference team one time for the whole season. And of course, we'll continue to cover all of it here at Soccerwise. Charlie, thank you so much for taking the time to come join me.

I told you it would be quick, and it wasn't because we love this stuff so much, but I appreciate you joining me to chat. We know it, man. We know how it goes when we get cranking here, Dave. Always a pleasure. But we're not even close to done. Let's go over to Matt Doyle and we'll be talking about the USMNT roster that is coming in for the friendlies against Belgium and Portugal.

So we're going to go through. We're going to talk about some of the big storylines about what came. out of this roster and we're going to talk about some of Mauritio Pocetino's quotes as well that have come out of the roster release. But to start, let's make sure everyone knows what we're talking about in terms of the players on this team. So we're going to go position by position and Doyle's going to give us some thoughts as we go through it. So at goal, we have expected Matt Turner and Matt Fries and then the other two getting called in, both of which have yet to win an actual cap are Chris Brady and Roman Salentano. Yeah, I mean, those last few guys are competing for the number

three spot. I'm surprised they're both there over Patrick Schulte, but actually both have been better than Patrick Schulte, I think, in the league this year. So just poached taking a look, but it's clear that Matt Freeze is the number one and Matt Turner is number two. So I don't think anybody should get too upset over anything happening here other than maybe Patrick Schulte. It's also clear that we're so Pogetino posted up in Spain crushing MLS season back. He's probably like one of the guys like, when did they change it from season pass? How do I find the games? And he's clearly like, this is great. I can watch Pluribus now.

Like this is the best change that we've ever met. Great show, by the way. You know, soccer, I'm going to need my, I'm going to need my subscription confirmed now so that I can go in and watch all of the shows that I need to catch up on. On the backline, in terms of defenders, we talked about it on the last show, positions, probably five in the back. We've got Tim Ream, Jedi Robinson, Miles Robinson, Chris Richards, Mark McKenzie, Joe Scally, Max Arvston.

Alex Freeman and Austin trustee. Yeah, two left backs in Arstyn and Jedi, two right backs and Scali and Freeman and then five centerbacks. I think the only real surprise here is that Austin trustee got in for that fifth centerback spot, but also can't be considered too much of a surprise because he started against Uruguay in that five one and he played pretty well. So it kind of makes sense that he's there over like Tristan Blackman. But he's competing for a job, I think. Probably Miles Robinson and Mark McKenzie are as well. I don't think the door shut.

Yeah, I think for trusty, obviously playing for the best club in the world, playing on Martin O'Neill, a true manager, like, has really probably helped boost him in the standing. Let's go to midfield. We talked about on the last show, sort of the way we saw it most likely being a bit of a box, two holding midfielders, two attacking midfielders, in that list, which is combined a bit with forward in the way I have this written down. We've got West McKenney, we've got Christian Raldon, we've got Giorina, Malik Tillman, Johnny Johnny Cordosa, Aden Morris, Tanner Testman, Sebastian Burrhalter.

And then I would say in those attacking spots, Christian Pulisic, Brendan Aronson. And I have Timothy Wea down here because I think that's how U.S. soccer listed it, but that will be part of the conversation we will have coming up a little layer. They actually listed Wea as a forward, which is like, okay, we'll get into that more. But for these midfielers, like there's zero surprises, right? like Tesman and Burrhalter are the eights. And with Tyler Adams, hurt, it's rolled on, Morris and Johnny Cardoso is the sixes. And I think those last two guys, Morris and Cardoso are fighting for a job.

Malik Tillman listed here as, you know, either an eight or a ten. Gio Raina listed here, obviously a true 10. Weston McKinney, either an eight or a ten. How he's used at the World Cup will be really fascinating. actually how he's used in these two these two friendlies will be really fascinating and maybe tip punch his hand towards what he sees what he wants from Weston at the World Cup.

And then we've got the three forwards which is as we expected I think in terms of this lineup with Baligan probably the first one, Patrick Oshamong and then Ricardo Pepi getting the call. Yeah, no, Haji Wright due to injury. So I mean, I think Haji would have been there regardless.

And like we've talked about it a lot on this show. Bolligan is the clear number one. And it's then those next three guys in some order. Personally, I think the onus is on Pepe to prove his usefulness against these types of opponents. If he can't get off the bet. And remember, he was there in November and he only played 15 minutes in the first game. I thought he was going to start against Uruguay.

And then he didn't even get off the bench. So I think really the pressure is on him. Ajiman, I think, is probably more safe because he fills a specific need in terms of his size and his ability to win the ball in the air that like none of these other guys can really match. And then like I said, Tim Wea is listed here as a Ford, but we all know he's a wide player. And then Brendan Aronson listed here as well, very obviously kind of a second forward on the same line as Christian Pulisic listed in this group. And, you know, how he fits, how productive he can be. That's something that, look, he's on the fringes of this squad, right? And this is it.

This is his chance to win a job. You mentioned the injuries. So the three big ones are Haji Wright, Tyler Adams, and Sergenio Dest. We have heard anything with death. I think there's a fourth. And Diego Luna. I was going to get there. Okay.

Relax for a second. But I get it. Moonboy. I get it. There's a lot of juice there. So with Wright, Tyler and Sergenio Des, with Dest, I think the news that we've gotten is somewhere between six to eight weeks. So it is going to be a very tight timeline, but we already knew that as we did the show last week. Hadji Wright and Tyler a bit more recent and touching go. And then Diego Luna is out because of an injury.

He did play this weekend. And the line was that the coaching staff wanted to give him more time to return to four. This is the quote from Pocitino when asked about specifically these guys. He said, quote, what I can tell the players today that didn't reach the roster is not that they are not going to have a possibility to be on the final roster. And the players that today are on the roster, they cannot think that they are going to be in there in that final roster. It is worded like I would word something. So it's not the easiest thing to follow. But it is the second language.

And the point is very clear, which is no one is locked. you have to think specifically the three well actually all four of these that they're in a pretty safe spot they seem to be favorites of mariso pocettino and he is going out of his way to say i told them that they still have a shot to make this team but the most interesting name probably on here is giovanni rey and yeah we talked about it for a while on the last show we had differing opinions i think for me it was questionable that he should be a part of this team. It was questionable that he should get the shot even in this

camp because of his lack of playing time with club, as well of some of the issues that he's had off the field around teams, both at club and international level over the last few years. For you, you are such a

in the hole for anyone with a clean touch and smooth vision that can move around a field that Giorana could walk into time square and shoot a hot dog in the heart and you would still put them on this roster. Shoot a hot dog in the heart. Okay.

Yeah. Again, if we were France or Argentina and we were producing these guys by the truckload, okay, you can ignore them, but we're not. We're the U.S. men's national team and we just don't have creators at this level. And I think if there's going to be a differentiator in attack that can get the U.S. to the point where. we're playing like a semi-final World Cup caliber team, it's Geo Raina.

It's what he does on the ball and the way he amplifies the skill sets of the rest of the attackers. Like Christian Pulisic does not do that, man. Christian Pulisic finishes plays off. Weston McKinney, he's a really inventive one-touch passer and really good with his box arrival, but he's not a guy who is going to beat defenders off the dribble and then open up the game with two or three touches and Gio Raina is. And I know he doesn't get to show that for his club team, basically ever for a variety of

reasons, the biggest one being the litany of injuries he's had over the past four years. But whenever he's gotten on the field for the U.S., he has shown it and Pachsa. He said, I think Gio was fantastic in November with us. I think everyone praised him in his game against Paraguay. And then in the way that he was involved and committed with the team and with the national team, I think I was really happy with that aspect and the factor that he was involved.

Before the last decision for the last roster for the World Cup, I think it's good to see players that maybe are not playing too much, like in the case of Gio. But that is a very talented player and we know he can add to the national team. Let me,

that's like you have a special talent. You have to bend the rules. That is like that is the way it goes with, sports teams of basically every strikes. So this is so funny because on the last show, I talked about Diego Luna being injured and obviously playing an MLS. He has not played in four or five months. And you said to me,

how can you as Mauricio Pocetino and his crew talk about culture and talk about the culture you've built and not take the guy you've built it around and not take the guy who has exemplified it, even if maybe he's not getting the minutes? And then on the flip side, Pochitino says this, quote, we cannot follow some rules because I think it's not fair

to judge all in the same way. I think the most important is what the player can add to the team and it can be the right player to help before for the right team. You can't say both. You can. No, two things can be true.

Two things can be true, right? And with Diego Luna, I want to be clear, I was saying that about him not being there for the World Cup. I actually think it makes sense to let him get to full fitness with RSL.

No, for sure. Haven't skipped this kid. But part of building a functional culture is you make sure that the guys who are intrinsic to that are there to keep the level high and to keep things copacetic in the locker room. And that gives you the foundation to include players who actually detract from that culture, i.e. G.O. Raina. Right? It just is what it is. And, like, being a manager is balancing all of this match. because it's never going to be perfect.

But if, honest to God, if we omit Gio Raina from this team, we're basically saying, eh, round of 16 again is good enough. And it's not. It's just not. I don't, first of all, I don't believe that. I understand the ability he has to elevate the team. I'm not sure that the analytics on heart and culture say, well, if you're a 0.7xG, but you can progressive pass, we'll put you next to a guy who's a negative.

you'll even out to zero. I think normally the thing about good culture is it's pretty much across the board and therefore everyone is bought in and everyone's connected. And that's the whole question that Pochitino has to answer, which is what he can do on the field versus what he could affect off the field. And both of these are what ifs? He may not be available on the field. He also may be fine off the field. Like there is not a one history with Gio that no one wants to play with him and he can't be in any team. Right? We saw when he came back, from the World Cup into the Nations League final and help the team win it and how emotional he was about being back with the guys that he grew up with and the guys that he believes in and

believes in him. And so we've seen these moments of it. And obviously he has good friends in the soccer world. And he's played on some big teams with some players who have continued to come back and be around him. So none of this is like, this is a blanket and it has to be the way that is. But that's the balance that Portratino has to land on, which is the payoff going to be worth the potential of the other side because it blew up the last World Cup and whether they were

going to get out of the group and beat Netherlands or win the group and then not have to play Netherlands without GEO. I don't know. But it's all we did. For three weeks, it's all we talked about. It ended up being all that happened with the national team. After, though, right? During. There was questions about injury and what's happening. Like Eric Wendalda was losing his mind and everything, but the U.S. didn't lose to the Netherlands because we couldn't create enough, right? Like that team was actually really good

against the Netherlands. What happened is Tyler Adams didn't track a runner, and Sir Geneo of Deaths fell asleep, and Eunice Musa didn't rotate. And Eunice Musa not in this camp, by the way, which is really disappointing because he was like my favorite player four years ago. And Jedi Robinson fell. Like, it was

young player lapses. Afterwards, it became more and more and more. Well, externally, but internally the afterwards was because of what was going on inside the camp and i will note this in the in the paraguay game the friendly the one goal conceded geo makes no attempt to close down and it's a direct ball from a defender up i think it's the almeron up the left channel which leads to the goal and geo is walking across the midfield line to quote unquote close down so there are negatives on the field as well but i understand the concept of if i can't

can build the structure clean, I can have this one wild card in here. And if I can use it at the right times and the right ways, then it could be the difference maker in some big moments. It may not be every game, but for the games you need it, I can understand being excited about it. The last 30 minutes, the last 30 minutes against Australia or Paraguay, we need a goal. I mean, it's like, who are you putting out there? For sure, but you're talking semifinals. And the assumption would be that in this group, you should be able to get that goal against Paraguay and Australia in a group stage anyway. And the question is, is he coherent enough in all phases of game to be on the field against a Portugal in a quarterfinal, right?

That's to me, the gamble that you're trying to figure out if it's worth with this guy. But if he's not, Doyle doesn't have to watch the World Cup because he refused to watch this team. If Chioreena is not on the field. That is not true. I have high hopes for this team outside of Gio Rata. But like, he's a special talent. Pachitino is right. He's the guy in the attack that can elevate everybody around him and has in the past in big games.

I'm going to go back to the stat. I think I dropped on this show last year. Gio's played three continental finals. I think it is in his U.S. career. He has five combined goal contributions. Yeah. Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan combined played. 12 finals for the U.S.

and had six goal contributions. This guy is built for big moments. He's maybe not built to play 90 minutes, right? He's definitely not built to play defense, but he is built for big special moments in attack, and he's delivered repeatedly. I'm glad he's here.

I hope he plays great. I hope everything off field goes great. If he does, I'll feel a lot better about the U.S. chances of advancing to the quarterfell. finals and maybe even beyond if we get lucky what to draw. I want to sift through a few of these other conversations you sort of brought up as we went through the roster.

I think one of the quotes I pulled out from Pochino, it's not shocking, but it's, you know, I think interesting to hear is we're not going to pick. He literally said, we're not going to pick the best 26. We're going to pick the right 26. And I think that's one of those things we're going to come back to as we talk about a Johnny, where if the guy starting for athletic home adjourned in the Champions League, the assumption is he will be on a U.S. roster that he will be a major piece. piece of it. But as we go through this, we are talking about, well, how does this person affect

the other players around him? I think it's part of the conversation with Austin trustee, probably the last guy onto this roster as I look at it personally. That's just me guessing, outside of the goalkeepers, who I think there's a piece, an element of playing at Celtic, you're constantly breaking down low blocks. Could he be a specialist for a moment like that? Also a guy can help cover behind. Is he someone who can help fill in to those? wide centerback spots and give you a little bit of mobility naturally left footed where I don't know that Austin trustee in this setup with the three centerbacks will be one of the five best options because I think Freeman or Scali might be a better option as a wide centerback,

but I won't be shocked if Potch says, well, I think the way he fits into what we'd use him for would make sense. And if he proves himself well in this camp, he should have a pretty good angle at making this team. So I'm not entirely discounting your theory. I just think it's more of the fact that he was part of the November camp and he started against Uruguay in the 5-1 and he played pretty well in that one. So he earned his way back into this camp. And it's like bad luck for Tristan Blackman that he got injured when he did last year

because I think he would have ended up in those October and November camps, but he might have missed his window. I would trust Tristan Blackman's passing over Austin Trustee's passing with a ball if we're trying to break down a low block. But the hope is that Miles Robinson, Mark McKenzie, and maybe Alex Freeman sliding inside. The other thing I want to see, I want to see Jedi Robinson sliding inside because we're going to go through it again. We do it every show. But it's important. The U.S. defends mid block and low block in banks of four.

so it looks like a 4-4-2 at times. But in possession and in pressing, we go to a back three. And one of the fullbacks slides out to become a like touchline to turn or endline to end line wingback, right? I, people just assume that with Jedi Robinson's return, this is the first time he'll have played in the system, he's going to be an endline to end line guy. I actually don't necessarily want to see that. I would rather see him slide inside and become the.

left center back in the three because I think in this system, right, his skill set on the ball is more valuable in that sort of phase of play on the back line rather than pushing forward and initiating the attack because Jedi is at his most effective in the attack when he's overlapping, not when he's carrying play. The wingbacks in Pocitino system actually don't overlap. They carry play. So that's a significant difference that, doesn't necessarily speak to Jedi skill set. What does is his ability to get on the ball and actually beat the first line of pressure with the ball on his foot, which was then compromised the shape of the opposing midfield.

And on top of that, he obviously still has the speed to cover in behind. And I think he has the physicality to handle the vast majority of center forward. So I would actually like to see him and Freeman, with Freeman at right back, turning into that wing back so he can overlap and do what he did hopefully against Uruguay. And I want to see Jedi in that true defender position in this camp. I think we're both going to be upset because I would like to see Freeman right centerback. And it feels like in bringing in five centerbacks, it's probably unlikely that one of them gets a shot, especially with trustee being a lefty that actually gives you that option there.

But I would remind everyone, it's two games across four days. So there will have to be heavy rotation. No matter what Pochitino wants this camp to be. who he wants to see. Like, he can't roll these guys out twice in four days going into a World Cup. Like, it's just, it would be irresponsible. And so I think we're going to have to try and, like, take the breadcrums. What are the pairings?

He would. He would very much. I actually watched him in a video yesterday. I was like, I forgot about that guy for a second. But, yeah, it's good to be reminded. So I think we're going to have to sort of lock it on, like, what are the pairings and what's he trying to see in all of this? Freeman and Scali coming in at that right back.

right wing back spot, obviously with no death. So this is a big chance for both of them to sort of solidify their spots. I think for Freeman to lock himself in and for Scali, he is probably one who is playing for the end of the roster based off a number of injuries. He could slot in at centerback in full back. And so he's probably one of the guys sort of nipping at the bottom of the roster. And then central midfield, I think is going to be the big learning spot with this one. You mentioned Johnny.

Adam Moore's been fantastic. He gets called in. that's good to see Christian Roldon as well, Sebastian Burralter, but it's a lot of names in there, and it feels like there's a clear top two with Tyler and Tanner, and with Tyler not being available for this camp, it gives a ton of minutes to these other guys to prove that they're the ones who deserve to be on the roster.

I mean, I still think that Christian Roldan has kind of won the backup number six job, and I think if you look at the way the U.S. played with him in the lineup, specifically last autumn over those course of games, And the other thing that I, you know, I think I've mentioned it to you before and maybe on the show before. In that Uruguay game, Roldon didn't start, right? And he was at a point in his season where he had logged a million miles for the Sounders. And then he was playing every game for the U.S. as well. And it came down to the final five minutes of that Uruguay game and it was 5'1.

And, you know, there was one sub left to make. And I thought it would be Pepe coming in to get some run. and Pachitino brought in, rolled on. And to me, I read that as I want to reward the guy who was with me as we finally turn this culture around, a guy who not only just like knit the thing together in the locker room and there's no doubt that he does that, but also played a huge role in changing the way we played for the better on the field. And I took that as confirmation.

of what I had been seeing with my own eyes, which is that Christian Roll Down is ahead of Johnny Cardozo right now. He's ahead of Aden Morris right now. He has played better than either of them for the U.S. national team. And I think Pachitino sees it too. And I expect him to get one of these starts. And then the other game, it's just going to be who's had the better camp, Johnny or Aiden.

Yeah. And that will be fun to watch as these rosters come out, as these lineups come out. And we're going to have a ton of coverage for you here at Kickback. soccer wise. You mentioned Jedi, by the way. So he was called up in October, didn't play. He hasn't played for the U.S. since November of 2024. So this is going to be a big camp for him if he's able to get on the field. And obviously it makes a lot of people feel a lot better. And I look at this roster and whatever the geo debate is and whatnot, it's a good team.

And it's sort of in a spot where I think 10 years ago, if we had said like, this is what this team looks like this is the amount of time these guys are playing with their clubs this is the range of clubs these guys are playing on this is the value they have because i go to obviously we do not only care if you play for a european team you look at the value sebastian burrhalter has in a vancouver team you look at the central force deagle luna has been for an rsl team um you look at christian ral don and going to a club world cup and leading seattle and winning a leagues cup over messy and all of that stuff and i think in the dark day This was sort of what we talked about.

And it has been a weird road up and down as we've gotten there and there's been social media platforms that have gone under that people debated this on. And social media platforms that have popped up since then that people have debated this on. So to give everyone a little point of reference, 10 years ago, nine years ago, Weston McKinney played against Portugal.

He will be the only player on this roster to have ever faced Portugal or Belgium as they go into these two games. He scored a goal. He was the third youngest player in USM and T history at the time to score a goal. It was in Portugal, and it was the first game after the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. You and me did a live show, the night of KUVA. That was painful. You and me did a live show after this game, which was less painful, but still fairly painful,

because it was kind of this moment we were sitting there saying, like, what are we doing any of this for? We are five years away from this team potentially being able to play in a World Cup and prove who they are and prove what they are. And besides Weston McKinney, there's one other player who was on this roster who makes the roster now who did not appear. And there are some names Doyle that you don't want to remember playing for the U.S. Do you want to throw any guesses out there? Is that a Miguel Ebarra game? It was not a Migueli Barra game. I think Ybarra was only Clemsman.

This I think is a Dave Saracan game. Yeah, it's definitely Dave Saracan. I do not remember who else was on. I'm a little surprised that Austin Trustee wasn't on that roster. I'll just say that. Yeah. But okay. So Ethan Horvath and goal, the future of the position, which was great.

Jesse Gonzalez on the bench, who has not played professional soccer in a long time. And Bill Hamid, the backup goalkeeper. Just retired. Who just retired. So congratulations to Corpus Christi A.F. C club football day, whatever, on bringing him in. The names you'd expect on the backline,

Carter Vickers, John Brooks, Matt Miosga, Danny Williams, Eric Lehigh, Jorge Viafanya. Swine. And it's in this game. But the attack is the beautiful part of all of this. So Weston and Tyler,

and then you get Swagadillo. All right. I think DeAndre Geyrd. I think Dianjadlin started on the wing. And then the Linden Gouche, C.J. Sapong, Dom Dwyer. rotation through the central attacking positions.

Yeah. I think CJ Spong was like 30 at the time of this game and got his first cap in this game. And it was just like if you were in Coova, you're not allowed to play for the national team. But the reason we failed in Cuba is because we have no in prime players. So here's a random list of players who will come to this game. And we were stoked because West and McKinney scored in the future was bright and the golden generation was coming and all of that.

for all the complaints and issues and everything in between. I think that this is a team. I said over and over in 2022, it was a team built on a young core that there's no history of those teams winning. A lot of that young core is back. A lot of them are playing in really good situations and it feels like a cohesive group under Pocitino.

So for all we've been through, I'm pretty excited for these friendlies. I'm excited to watch them against real big World Cup competition in Belgium and Portugal at a World Cup venue in Atlanta and then everything else. But we'll continue to cover this. We've got shows that we'll be doing around those games. And we've got shows that we'll be doing every single week going forward.

So Doyle, as always, a pleasure. I'm not going to let you go yet. I'm going to ask you for what is the one thing you want to see? Like, obviously the one thing I want to see out of this camp is 90-ish minutes over the course of two games of really good play from Gio Raina. That is obviously the number one thing I want to see. Do you want to see clarity on the back line over who the partner is for Chris Richards or something sussed out and central?

What is the number one thing you could come away with from this camp? I don't need the clarity because I think, to me the most important thing on the back line is the clarity of the formation in this style and that knowing, okay, these are the piece, this is what the pieces have to fit into. That's my number one thing, a.K., does he continue with what he's been doing,

which I think he will. From a player point of view, my pet project that I want to see is Aiden Morris. I think Aiden Morris gets stuck the fuck in, and I think he's clean on the ball. And there's a decent chance he goes to the World Cup and plays zero minutes. Yeah.

But he's the guy I want on a roster. And in that entire group, he's like the one I want. And I think he's kind of out of sight out of mine at times. And the champo, I thought he was good against Ecuador in what was a tough game, as it should have been. And he was good in ways that I expected of,

He wants it. He's not scared of pressure. He wants the ball. He's going to help his centerbacks. He's going to be an option for the wing backs. He's going to support his central midfield. He's going to take a guy out from behind as they're breaking out. And it could be a killer moment.

So that's like my pet project player. He's got the same Florida man energy that you do is what you're saying. 100%. Listen, it's hailing right now and I don't even care. We'll do anything in Florida. You should have seen yesterday, 459 degrees. And everyone shows up to the game in pants. a sweatshirt and they're like, could we still play? Should we still play? It's like you guys are

ridiculous. But yes, that's my one pet project that I want to see. Otherwise, I just like watching Tim Wayo play for the U.S. Men's National Team. So I'm always happy when that goes down and when that happens. Okay, Doyle, we'll be back again on Monday. We will do our full MLS weekend recap with the headlines. All the big stories we will talk about as well, what the national team pool was able to do on the weekend as we will every single week. And then we'll look forward to whatever else is going on. So thanks for being here, and we'll do this again soon. See you on Monday.