SoccerWise - USMNT vs. Senegal: What We Learned presented by Soccer.com

Episode Date: June 1, 2026

David Gass, Michele Giannone, and Matt Doyle react to the USMNT's 3-2 win over Senegal and discuss what the performance revealed ahead of the World Cup. They examine Christian Pulisic's standout showing, Ricardo Pepi's impact, Mauricio Pochettino's tactical setup, and the biggest lineup decisions still facing the U.S. ahead of the tournament. Plus, they discuss World Cup expectations for the USMNT and where Canada and Mexico stand entering the World Cup.

Welcome in everybody to Soccer Wise, a post-USMNT Senegal show live, as we are going to be doing, going through this World Cup, as we are getting ready for the biggest games, arguably in USMNT history. To do so with me, I've got, of course, the crew. I've got my friends. Matt Doyle will be joining us in a little bit after he's done writing, so make sure to subscribe to tactics for his own. And with me right now is the one and only McKellie Gianone. What's up, Mikele? How are you? Are you feeling the World Cup fever? feel it. I feel it. Finally, I feel it. I got to tell you. So it's been building for me,

World Cup General. I've been prepping on rosters and I've been watching friendlies and all of that stuff. I watched the HBO USMNT documentary today before the game, three episodes in which I was unaware that Paul Tenorio was an HBO actor. He is the voice of this series. I did find Sammy Stache one photo. I found Joel Lowry as well. I did not see you. So, I'm still waiting on your cameos inside of it. But, yeah, Trinorio is basically the voice of the entire thing. Like, VO's segments where he explains Cop America and Concaf and all of that. I honestly don't know if I'm there.

I cover that team. Yeah. The whole, the whole. Those are, besides Paul, the only moments people are in are when they grabbed footage or video of people yelling about stuff and complain. Charlie Davies is in a lot because Chuck D. Baby, he's got the vibes. He's got the hype. So that got me going a little bit. And then I think this performance did as well.

Well, this is our soccer.com, USM&T coverage. They are going to be sponsoring our coverage, the entire World Cup. We're going to have pregame shows for you, preview shows for you, about every World Cup game. They're going to come out about two days before on the Soccerwise feed as a podcast. We also will have our daily show, which of course will cover the U.S. It will cover Mexico. It will cover Canada. Huge disappointment from Marcelo Flores last night, but we'll talk about Canada a little bit as we got their roster.

And we'll cover all things World Cup. I'm really, really excited for that show. show if you go and you want to buy a USM&T kit or an L-Tree kit and you type in kickback into the promotion code you can get a free goal club membership which gets you a ton of goodies, a ton of points and all that type of stuff. But this thankfully is not a sad show, McKelley. And I think the thing that hit home for me in watching the dock and remembering things. And it's something that I wish I had said more when we did the roster reveal show, which was a fake roster reveal show because we all knew the roster already.

was that this is the high stakes core moments of being a fan. And for us, it's a little different. I'm already a USM&T fan, but I remember being on the edge of my seat for Slovenia and for USA Ghana the first time and the second time and the third time. And Benny Failhabber's Gold Cup like volley. And these are the things that create fans.

Those are the things you think back to. And I think there will be a generation of fans that have those moments over the next two weeks. And we'll say, oh, yeah, I've been a fan since. Remember, the Senegal friendly on trash turf in Charlotte when we won three, two, and poached throughout two different 11s in a full game. Like, that will be a moment that will happen for people.

And then just the stakes of what's about to occur. And how tight this whole thing is about to be. And in watching back the highlights of 2022, it just reminded me of like the way a goal. And then just I can picture the bars I was in screaming at the TV as time ticked down. and free kicks were given up and marking maybe wasn't there or was there. And that's what we're on the verge of.

And to have a team come in with this strong of performance of just effort and energy was the perfect cherry on top for me of this day. Yeah, absolutely. When you speak with coaches and the best of coaches that I've had the opportunity to talk with in U.S. soccer and also covered in League of Mexico, they tell you that this sport is about moments. It's about moments. And like you said, as a fan, as a player, as a coach, or as anything, it's about moments.

And I remember asking Christian Pulisic during the 2022 World Cup about his goal with his private part against Iran, you know, because Donovan had his moment. Yeah. Right. Against Algeria. And Hamas Rodriguez had his moment in 2014 with the goal against Uruguay. Those are the moments that people remember. And Pulisik said, yeah, I have my moment, but I hope it's not the last one or the better one, right? Yeah. So everything is being slowly building, slowly building to this moment, this 2026 World Cup.

And today, we saw a team that can give us, and everyone, great moments. Yeah. Obviously, it's difficult to extrapolate and analyze the whole game because when you have 10 subs at a half time, it's difficult. Potch just hates me. Before the game, when I saw a tweet, I remember who would say. Ghana, the U.S. already talk about doing 11 subs. I said, okay, the second half is going to be basically.

Senegal. I was like Ghana. Uh-oh. Senegal. I'm sorry. This is going to curse me. Senegal. Hey, and don't bring champions of Africa. Don't give me that BS that they did.

They wanted on the field, but anyways, I'm diverging. The first half was a great step in the right direction. What we want to see from this team, what we didn't see in the games against Portugal and against Belgium and what Pocetino asked to his team after those games. when he challenged, basically he challenged Christian Pulisic saying that he's not one of the best 100 players in the world. We just saw that this Pulisic can be, could be, in my opinion, is one of the best 100 players in the world when he plays at this level. Having said that

for the World Cup, this has to be his floor. For the USMNT to have a good World Cup, to have a moment or great moments in the World Cup, this has to be the floor of what we need to see from Christian Polis. That's one of my early thoughts. Yeah, I think that's a, I think starting there is always fair because he's the most talented player on the team, but he is very specific to the way he plays the game. And one of his issues with the, he's obviously having problems everywhere, because he hasn't scored for Milan in 2026. And this goal, You could see it in his reaction. It was the first thing I put on blue sky.

It was like the emotion to score the second goal in the first half of a friendly against Senegal was a little overwhelming from him. And he had the assist on the first goal as well. But one of his issues with the U.S. is he pushes to be the man. And he, for as central as he is, the things that happen, both at Milan and when he was at Chelsea and everywhere else, he is not the high volume. I create the game. Everything has to go through me.

I take every set piece and I control the pace of play guy. He's a finisher. And he is a creator as a finisher as well. That doesn't mean he only finishes chances. It means as the flow of the game occurs in other places, he makes the right run and he pops up in the right spot to break the game, whether then it's a shot himself, a dribble, or another pass. Yeah.

And with the U.S., he wants to be the central thing. He always comes in and gets the ball and wants to set guys up. And I think even in the first five minutes, like there was a very, in the second minute of the game, Jedi's wide open alongside him, and he tries to stand up a defender and take him 1v1 and loses it. But then the next play, he plays the Jedi's feet, Jedi gets him to the end line,

and it should have been 1-0 at that point, where he puts the pullback behind Raina a little bit and had a couple runners. And that's when Pulisic's at his best, and then you start seeing it across the two goals, where Pepe sets him up and he's making runs off of it, and then once he's on the move, that's where he's elite.

He is an elite finisher and creator at full speed. At standing speed, he's okay, and there's mistakes sometimes, and it can be a little bit flubby and whatever. And when they got him into those places in that first half, you saw it. And for, I think, coming out of this game, for him to have that recognition, for him to get the goal and have the emotional lift there. And then I think for the team to be able to say,

hey, look, like, we can create enough that you don't have to come in and get the ball from everywhere, that all has to be best case scenario coming out of this game. Yeah, absolutely. I think for our generation and people older, Ranos, I'm 42. So I grew up in the 90s with, you know, with this great, incredible players that were number 10. So I think there's a sense still that if you were number 10,

you have to play as a 10, right? It's like a psychological thing that fan expect, or if you're the best player in the team, you have to play as a 10. You just said it. Christian Polisic, when he has, has played best at Chelsea at Borussia Dormann when he was younger, even with the USM&T, or the current iteration of him at Milan, maybe not this season, but last season when he was

probably the best player in Serie A, was basically playing as a second forward. Yeah. Behind the nine. And behind the nine, I don't mean as a 10, but moving around or behind. Right. He doesn't have to occupy specific spaces because the nine holds the centerbacks and other guys pull wide. Exactly. And we saw it today. So my first thoughts and overall stepping back a little bit is that

and kudos to Pocetino because one of the big criticisms that I remember we had because we spoke after the game with Portugal. Yeah, one of the criticism is that we didn't know, we didn't know what Potch wanted to do. He showed nothing that we could take away from on those games. Now we we saw today that this is deformation, especially when you have players like Sergio Desk on the field, he's basically a winger. This is a back-tribing possession that defends us for with Freeman, clearly as a right-back defendant, and you give that freedom to death. And then you obviously relieve some of that pressure to create, to find spaces, like you said,

towards Pulisic. He, obviously, for all the mythology that we've built about Christian Pulisic, he needs help. He's not going to take the game and make it his own and be a complete game changer like a typical 10. So he needs players around like Stringio Desk coming on the right side, like Pepe moving around, to get his best. So I think this is the formation. and I think we just saw what could be with maybe two or three changes, health depending,

what's going to be the starting 11 against Paraguay on day one. I'm going to pull Doyle in here to join us. As I said, out the gate, make sure you subscribe to Tactics Free Zone. Highest level paid membership, but whatever you're going to do, great. My goat!

That's where you get Matt Doyle's written stuff right there, and then Doyle will come along and join us when he gets the chance. Doyle, we're about 10 minutes. been chatting a little bit. I already gave some of my USM and T Jews, which I know you got some via text so far today because I'm a sucker for, you know,

a quick sizzle reel and everything. But we weren't talking about something I know you feel strongly about, which is Christian Pulisic. And the success he had today because of the way he plays and the way he fits in. And it's feeling like this was the first game in a while where he recognized and the team was able to do what's necessary to get him at his best in this group.

Yeah, they were really secure on the bottom. and the attacking third. Like once they got into the final third, they weren't running out of ideas and they weren't turning the ball over in bad spots, at least until, you know, just before the break. And I think when the U.S. is playing like that, maybe it's psychological with ballistic

where he's like he doesn't feel like he has to come get the ball. He can just play the game, you know, and find spots. And finding spaces is what he's always been best at. And that his movement, when he does find those space, like he's always been quick and decisive. and that was the version of Polisic that we got to see today. The way I put it in my column was the U.S. played to him rather than through him. And the U.S. gets in trouble when they play through Polisic as a playmaker because he's not.

He's a winger. And two aspects that are baked into that discussion, Geo Rain is a true number 10, right? And even though he wasn't magical today, you could see how comfortable he is on the ball. in those spots. So you want to play through him. And then Ricardo Pepi's holdup play. Mother of God, right? Like, I did not realize, I've made a note, I think 90 seconds into the game.

Like, he beasted one of the Senegal centerbacks. And I was like, oh, this is a new and improved Ricardo Pepi. So I think those two things together. And then, you know, the good, simple passing from the central midfield to make the game big and let Dest on one side and Jedi and the other try to be more decisive with their passes, I think he kind of freed up Politic to just be an attacker, and that's when he's at his best, and this is his best game in years. I've watched it back three times, and I can't tell.

Do you know on the second goal, is it Rainer or Desk that plays Peppy into the channel? Because it was a quick, it was from the goalkeeper. No, no, no. So it's, so it's Freeman, who's actually underlapping. And he, he's the one who, he's the one who. plays peppy into the chair i think reina came back to his own goal got the initial throw or whatever it was and laid off for freemen going forward that's what it probably i know and i and i think there was moments like that for rena where yeah he wasn't magical but he was clean he kept the game going

and like one of his advantages for this team is he has safe feet and when the game gets quick or tough whatever set burr halter does too we're going to talk about a lot of these guys but pulicit goal and it's this huge moment mckelly and has Doyle said, Pepe was a big part of that. Goes out into the channel to help create both goals, did a ton of work, had the chance. It was like classic pickup where it was like quick throwing goalkeepers off his line. I'm just going to shoot.

And I was screaming it. And I love that it happened. But like another good performance for him. And it felt like the whole attack fit together and had a really strong game. Yeah. And it's funny because obviously one of my first half thoughts was like this should be the starting 11 that we're going to see against Paraguay with the same system with maybe two or three changes,

health depending. And one of the assumptions that you can make is that it's going to be Balo instead of PEPI, but historically, historically, PULISIC has played better with strikers like PEPI than with strikers like Balo, and that was a big issue with Bairhalter's team. So we didn't see that today.

We didn't see Balo with Pulisic. playing together, but Pepe and Policy played really, really well today. So I'm and and and and that's Matt you, I was we were talking before you got to hear that Christian can play up top and his best at least at Milan, not this season, but last season, is playing as a second forward. Yeah. Moving around around number nine, even playing sometimes as a nine as a finisher. So when you have Pepey that can bounce back.

and then policy can go forward. I don't know if you have that with Balo. So I'm still trying to find an excuse to put Pepe as my starter, but I don't think that's going to happen. So I'm still like, are we going to see it against Germany? Because what we saw two in the first half was really, really encouraging. Yeah, and funny enough, in the second half, I thought the chemistry between Wes and Balo was actually incredible.

And when you think about it. Yeah, and I think way it to an extent as well. With Wes, he likes to come back when he's playing as an attacker. He likes to come back and check to the ball and receive with his back to goal. And when he's doing that, you need a number nine who will run the channels. And that is Balligan's strong suit. Whereas while Pepe did a really good job of running the channels today, he's more about occupying centerbacks as a number nine,

which then in turn let's Pulisic run the channel. So it's a good point you're making, Michali, about just the fit. And sometimes, you know, and Pachitino said this when he was picking the team. He's like, it's not about the best players. It's about the best team. And that's something that they got to think about when it comes time to pick an 11. And look, man, if we have Balagan coming off the bench for the final 25 minutes as a super sub, I'm not going to be crying about that.

Like, that is the type of problem that we want to have as a national. And same thing, if it's peppy coming off the bench instead. we're in pretty good shape, it seems, with our number nine depth chart. One thing that's interesting is I think most of us assumed it was Balagan, Hajie Wright, and Pepe. And I think many of us thought Pepe was trying to be the last guy in on that pool. Hadji Wright doesn't play. He's one of three players that doesn't appear in this game.

Matt Freeze does not appear. I don't have news around that. I don't know what that means. I think we'll learn about it in the post game interviews as well as, again, Sherman, if it was Balligan and Turner, or sorry, Freeze and Turner are fighting for the spot, and one got this game, the other didn't. and I assume you wanted Brady to get his debut,

and it's harder to do it against Germany, and you're not going to do it in a World Cup. So this was probably your chance to do it. Either way, and Brendan Aronson got married yesterday. So congratulations with Aronsons. I'm sure there are a bunch of broken windows somewhere in New Jersey to celebrate the great day. But Hadji Wright, not getting an appearance,

is a little bit interesting there. The attack, obviously, some different pieces in the second half. But before we get there, because I had it written down first, and then I blew right through it, because I was very excited. I think the top line of this is the energy that they played with, that they played on the front foot,

that they played aggressive, that they counter-bred, like all the BS that it felt like came back against Paraguay and Uruguay last fall, which completely disappeared against Portugal and Belgium, that was back in. And my fear was, you had the bad window,

so the confidence was down, and now the moment is big. Like, this is it. You came back from New York City, and it's like, you are hosting the World Cup, and it's now or never, and we've talked many times, it's not going to be perfect,

they're not going to be the most beautiful team, they're not going to change the way we perceive the game and all those things. Now it's about getting results. And the difference between a quarterfinal, a round of 16, and a semi-final is potentially the direction of the sport in this country. And if they were going to wilt from that or not,

I wasn't sure because of what we've seen. And this performance out the gate, for whatever tactical things and whatever happened, We saw that and that is huge. Yeah, I think. Yeah, go, Malik. No, you go ahead, bud. You go ahead.

No, I was just going to say about what we're talking about. I think at the beginning, this deformation. And this formation helps players like Des and Wea. And with Tillman, when he pressed and the first goal that Balo got taken out, was Malik Timon pressing on the left side. So these systems allow those players that are not great defensively to not have to think about that. And they can play with more freedom,

especially with like we saw in the first half. And I don't want to be so main focus on the first half, but then with all the subs in the second half, it's difficult, right? Yeah. It's a different game. So that's why, and you saw the closest team to a best 11 from Senegal, and you saw the closest team as a best 11 for the USMNT.

So I really like what I saw and on that sense. And I think again, now unlike the last window, we saw what this team can do, will do, and hopefully Pocetino doesn't mess around with it again. Yeah, that's what I want to see, some consistency. And not just the formation and the faces, but the way they get into that 3-4-2-1 shape or really 3-2-4-1 shape that they attack with because both wingbacks were so high. And to that end, like the big difference from March was, remember, it was Testman dropping back to split the centerbacks in March or Burrhalter when he would drop back or Morris when he would drop back. He wouldn't split the centerbacks, but he would go to like a right centerback position. And the U.S. just couldn't get those rotations down.

They were too slow. They were allowing too much space in central midfield. And that's where they got ripped apart. And this year, I mean, you know, this game rather with Freeman there, simplifies it, you know, because it's just going to be like, okay, he's the flex back. And both fullbacks are going to go and attack. And the six and the eight are there to sort of just protect and keep things simple and keep things moving. You're not asking them to, you know, really break a ton of lines with passing and take a lot of risks.

But then the thing about Freeman is he adds that dynamism with the ball in terms of his ball carrying and his passing. and he can create, like we saw in that second goal, these moments of indecision and unbalance in the opposing shape. And the U.S. did, like, he's, I've come to believe he's just as important in that starting lineup as almost anybody on this roster other than probably Tyler because he, like, the U.S. can be kind of turgid and struggle to have those moments of possession that turn into penetration if they don't have that little unexpected punch coming,

from somewhere. And Freeman's been really, really smart about when to add that. No better example than today. I have a question for you about that, because we saw it from Freeman on the second goal. And we saw it in the past with Jedi, and we saw it on this game a little bit when Jedi just sneaks in and plays in the midfield basically as an eight. Do you think that sometimes can be too aggressive, especially on the left side?

Because if Jedi leaves Riem on an island, like he did it a couple times today, then it's big trouble. So here's my thing One, the Jedi thing His issue is he loses the ball Like the times Reem gets stuck on an island Is because Jedi's made mistakes in possession Right

I don't think it's as much the positioning But that's bound to happen On the death side of things The reality is he's gonna try shit And he's gonna lose sometimes Yeah Like if you push Sergenio Desk Well you're not worried with Freeman

You're worried with Ream Well My guess would be if Sergenio Des starts four to five games at a World Cup at the wingback position in this setup, we will concede a goal because of the stuff he tries. We will be better off for it because we will create more chances. Right.

And this was like back to when Greg tried to get Tyler to be the inverted thing. And I just, I have always felt that Sergenio, that's a special on the ball in a way. No one else, very few players in this pool are. And you take the good with the bad with some of it. With Freeman out there, you protect it to an extent. But I think the way this group was set up was a good balance. of it's going to work sometimes.

It won't other times and you can live with it. Yeah, I agree with that across the board. And I thought the first 25 minutes were really the first 45 minutes were a very good example of that. Like I thought Riem was really, sorry, Desk was really protected, right? Like, okay, he was in a position where he could try that stuff. And even though a lot of times it was Geo who was closest to him and Geo is not the first

guy you think of when you think about a counterpress, Gio actually did a good job of being in the right spot, not to win the ball, but to at least turn it sideways. And so there was like a little bit of symbiosis on that side. And then Tyler behind them, Tyler's not going anywhere, right? He's going to be that one who is just devastating in the counterpress.

I will say, I think on the goal conceded in the first half, Jedi gives up the ball and then I don't know what he's doing running back. I do think part of the problem was Seb Burrhalter is shaded right. so Tyler is shaded right to protect that space and when the ball got lost to the left which doesn't totally make sense because they had possession there

but I think that's what happened because I've never seen a counterattack against the US where Tyler Adams just never comes into the picture. I can think of the one against the Netherlands a few years ago. Well, he wasn't a picture but very, very far away. Yeah, the far left of it.

That was a different moment. So I do think that's one of the things that can pop up from this. And Burrhalter already wants to go to the right because he wants to swing in balls if he can with that right foot and all that stuff. I thought that was the one thing. It helped Raina in that they were always in the same area, which, by the way, we're never going to get this because it's U.S. soccer. But what is it like between the two of them and this group?

Oh, my God, dude. Are you kidding? That's the first thing I thought of with those two guys. I was like, I noted it, like I made a note the first time Geo passed the ball to Seb and the first time Seb pass the ball. I was like, okay, they're being good professionals. You know, nobody's going to screw this up, hopefully. but it's it's wild man it is why it is so far past sports right because they were best friends and family friends and then the rain is did what they did to the burrhalters which yeah the whole thing went back through my head today and i was like holy crap and then everyone else around it like

imagine you come in and they're the only two in the room like doing stretching and it's like oh what's up guys like what are we talking about like what a crazy dynamic How's your dad? Yeah, exactly. But yes, they did pass to each other and they did play on the same side of the field. And they played well. So let me ask you guys this. Freeman had a strong game.

I thought Mark McKenzie was pretty good. Was Mark McKenzie playing to show he could be Richards replacement and that's it? Was he playing to show he could be the right centerback or the left center back? Like, what was he auditioning for today? I didn't think of it like that. I thought of it like he was just playing to show. Like he was just playing the role he was given. And I don't, I can't imagine that he would go, like to go into that game and thinking,

I have to show I could be Chris's backup. I thought he was just playing as the middle of a back three. And he had one, Mark McKenzie pass. Like he's good for one of those every single game. But other than that, now it's perfect. Because Burrhalter, right before he does it, Burrhalter will point to him and just say, calm. Because Vancouver plays through everything. And you saw Sebastian Burrhalter literally turn to McKenzie and just be like,

don't rush it, you're good. And then McKenzie's like, I'm going to try and bash this thing between four people. Yeah. It did not happen. But like, I agree. He came out. He played well, but what is he playing? Like, what, where, how does Mark McKenzie end up on the field if everyone's healthy against Paraguay?

I think it's richards replacement. And that's the way I saw it today. Um, I think this team, if this is not this starting 11, it's, again, health depending should be richards above McKenzie and Weston above Gio and Ballo against above of Pepe, the rest should be the same, who, on paper, who's Richard's replacement? It's not Freeman. It's McKenzie.

Yeah. I think Miles is, it's blast on the depth chart. Because trusty should be Freeman's replacement on the right side of that back tree. That's the way I saw it. So I didn't put too much stock on it. The issue with trusty is he's so left-footed. Yeah, right?

So I think if you're going to have him in that back line, you just have to play him as the left centerback. And like if you want him to be doing the ball carrying, then you just mirror the setup where it's like, okay, our left center back is the flex back who will carry the ball forward. I agree with you completely about Miles. I remain like genuinely shocked he made the roster.

Especially because like I think the lack of central midfield depth kind of showed itself today because if Wes is going to be, a 10, then we really only have three central midfielders, only two of whom are sixes in Roldon and Tyler, and that will make me nervous for the entire time we're playing in this tournament. Like, honestly, if if if Parch dropped Miles tonight and I was like, you know what, sorry, we're calling in Aidan Morris, it would be ruthless and I would feel terrible for Miles, but I don't think it would be the wrong decision because I think just having. that, you know, little more depth in central midfield, as opposed to a ninth string centerback

who is prone to the mistakes like the one he made today. I know which one I would choose at this point. Also, if you have clearly, you believe Freeman is going to play that spot because you started him in the first game, you are now seven deep at those centerback positions because Scali can play in there and will play in there. It's the only place, Scali plays. Right. The only way he's a national team caliber player is if he's playing as that flex back on the right he's not an international caliber fullback on the overlap yeah and he's not a centerback in a two he exists to play that freaking role okay like I have no problem bringing him over

miles Robinson so yeah you're seven deep at centerback like I'm still I'm still shocked yeah that we're seven deep there and we're too deep at the six I'm really happy for miles we got to remember he he missed 2022 because of that the injury when he was at his peak with Atlanta. He was coming on from the Gold Cup, goal winning Gold Cup and great playing level at the Gold Cup 2021, et cetera. But he's not going to see a feel at the World Cup.

Yeah. Like if he sees the field at the World Cup, it's because a lot went wrong once the final roster was delivered. So I agree with you. I'm still shocked that Test Man is not on this roster. Like, completely shocked. I think we're very thin at midfield.

That's not something new. I'm just basically repeating what you said. But I am the biggest Christian Roldan fan that you ever made. I think I've shown that in the past. I'm not happy with what I saw today. Maybe it's the nerves, maybe it's the, you know, the pressure to show up, why you made this roster. But after, if something happens to Tyler, back it up.

Yeah, it was not a great day for Roldan, which will happen and is fine. Yeah, of course. Yeah, absolutely. But I would argue it wasn't a great day for any of the second half subs. And I think part of that is making 10 changes at a half time of a game. Like, it was a bad situation. Put people in. Miles specifically had the huge mistake in possession to give up the second goal,

which I think puts the team on tilt a little bit. And then there was good connection between those attacking four we talked about. Weston was really good. Malik Tillman read his movement I mean that triple chance that doesn't go in Tillman we're watching on a TV and I'm like just slip that pass to the left side

it's a no look pass duh no one does that that's not going to happen and then he did it and it was great and then they all stayed engaged to follow up for the second chance and the third chance and on the goal that gets scored Weston's fantastic Timothy Waye are you kidding me at full speed you're going to pull that ball back

hit at the speed it had to be hit it touches the toe of the defender who's recovering and is into bolligan's body like what an unbelievable ball and that goes to 2022 world cup qualifying of like the jamaica game the costa rica game like all these games he changed with his service from the right side where if he puts his head down and beats a guy he's really accurate once he gets there all of that was better i felt like the shape fell apart as the second that started and like i don't know how christian raldon survives inside of that because like he kind of reads the pieces and is what he's good at and keeps it together and the reality was there was nothing keep together in what he was in the game yeah but even within

that he's got to just be cleaner on his touches like he his first few touches were were nervous and he recovered well he always does because he's he's got that engine and that responsibility but like if he's replacing tyler for any like he just needs to keep it simple keep the ball moving and avoid turnovers and i don't think he did that in the second half Coming back to midfield, are you guys worried about, remember 2022, the USM&T was the team that run the most in the world, most kilometers as a team way, I think it was way over by far. They didn't run the most, and we saw it against the Netherlands,

the midfield was shot. Tyler was shot, Wester was shot, Musa was shot, and that was because basically Berhalter didn't rotate at all. He didn't have the names to rotate at all. And he was going to die with MMA. any, whatever it needed from them. Are you worried with that on this team or having that Ber Pochitino

that, oh, I can drop Tillman, I can drop Weston? Are you worried about running down Tyler, running down Berhalter on the first, at least on the group stage? I would say I think there's more days off in this World Cup because of the way it's formatted. So I think that helps a little. I would also say the opponents are different.

Like for as much as Iran's not a powerhouse. It's going to be three Iran or two Iran games. Two Iran games. Yeah. Australia and Paraguay are going to be like facing Iran. But I would say Iran forced the game to be faster. And I think Paraguay is going to slow the game. So even in the, we're trying to break down an opponent.

I think there'll be even less ground coverage in this one. Like I think that game is going to be as dry a game as possible unless the U.S. is able to spark it. So, yes, that's what I would say in terms of those specifics, but it goes back to the same thing of like, if something happens to Tyler, this team's screwed. So, yeah, I'm worried about it. I mean, the big thing, as I knock over my desk here, the big thing is that, as you said,

there's more days between games. And then also the US is playing two of the games indoors. You know, so it's going to be perfectly manicured and 73 degrees, if that, and, you know, it won't be the heat of, not that cartelauer was the worst heat. world, but it was pretty bad compared to playing indoors. Then the other one is in Seattle, which will probably be pretty nice as well. So there's more leeway, but just in terms of quality, the gap between Tyler and Christian Roldon is pretty substantial, you know, and I still think

the gap between Weston McKinney and said Burrhalter at the number eight is pretty substantial. And I would feel, I would feel a lot more comfortable about this whole thing if I had any hint that Maricio Pontchitino saw Westin McKinney as a number eight, but so far he he's yet to give us, give us that. But that's from a, you genuinely think this is from a depth point of view issue or you genuinely think on the ball and the way he plays, he's a difference maker for the U.S. at that position. I do, yeah, I think he's a difference. I mean, think about the Iran game.

Yeah. The pass before the pass, he hits to set up the politic goal. You know, he reads the game really well. That's why he's able to play a bunch of different positions so effectively for a pretty good team in Juventus. And he's done it well within a structure for the U.S. before. And he has real chemistry with Tyler Adams. So I'm not worried about any of that. I would rather have him out there and, you know, take my chances with that than go with it.

There's still really good player except Burrhalter, but I think pretty clearly inferior to Smykine as an 8. I would just say I don't think Weston, I don't think anything Weston does requires him being in that position to do it. So I think if he's on the field, he can still be the same difference maker from the other position. So that's where I don't have as much worries where we talk about some other players where they're neutered if they're not in the right spot. Let me put it this way. If you had to choose between the rest of that lineup that we saw today, except Weston as an eight and Zendahas or Raina starting where Raina, started today or away versus no no just i can't put away there oh sure you can but nobody nobody in the right mind would um but i agree that it's where or desk period uh yeah reina or yeah way or

d'est out wide reina or zendejas as the half space merchant and then weston as an eight versus uh weston as a 10 and then seb as an eight and reina zendejas's both on the bench. I get your point, which is you get one more game breaker on the field. Like you have a whole additional one. I will say this. One, I'm a set Burrhalter guy. Like, I'm in the bag, baby.

Come on. You got service like that. You're clinical. The technique is that clean. You're always going to get me involved. So I didn't think he dropped the level. And I think he actually provides a level of safe feet to help clean things up around the middle and the back.

He is not as dangerous going forward. but he still can be in addition with his ability to strike the ball and some of the passes he sees. So I didn't think he hurt them in any way. And then we get into the list of like, I like Zendayaas. I don't know that I want him starting. And how many times can I start Giorana?

Because I'll be the first one to do it in five years. So I don't know that I'm allowed to do it four times. And this was one of them, although it only counts it as 45 minutes. So I can see your point on that, but I still think, and I do actually think Weston is better for this team as one of those dual 810s because I don't need him to be positionally sound in rest

defense and transitional defense and he can take more risks higher up the field in possession. So that's my debate. That's my debate point. All right. It's clearly something we're going to be talking about for the next couple of weeks. And I suspect that Maricio Pochitino goes to the David Goss School of U.S. men's national team tactics. So I think Weston as a number 10 is what we'll likely to see.

And the Sebastian Burlter screams when he does get things. And he gets into it. Speaking of botch, we kind of knew this, but hydration breaks her timeouts. That's what happens now. So at some point, they're going to have the cushion chairs they have in the NBA. They'll put them in a little circle and everyone sits. But like, we knew this. Alex Caruso will keep everybody out of the huddle.

Just waving people off with his headband nine feet tall. But like that, that was kind of. of absurd. You're going to go full watch the video on laptop. But Doyle, you had talked about it in the March window how much this team struggled coming out of those breaks when other teams switched. It wasn't perfect today, but it seemed a little bit better. Oh, I thought it was a lot better. And I don't know whether that's because I wasn't really picking up on us doing anything different, but I wasn't also picking up on Senegal doing anything different. So maybe it was just keeping the level high and, you know, making sure that they're, you know, they limited the bad turnovers, which

easier said than done clearly. But I was pleased because, you know, if you think back to the 5-2 versus Belgium and the 2-0 versus Portugal, we were in those games, the first 25 minutes. Like we weren't the better team or anything, but like we were in those games. And then the hydration break happened and they got their asses kicked in both. And it's just nice to see that street. break. Yeah. So we have Germany coming up. So that game will be on Saturday afternoon. We will be in Chicago for that. We are doing, we're doing a ticket giveaway along with American Outlaws. So make sure

to follow us on social media, follow us on Blue Sky and Instagram, soccer wise, first touch KSM, and soccer wise, woe so. And we are going to be giving away some tickets to people who are around and want to go to the game and potentially their first ever game. And obviously it's a lot easier to get to than some of these World Cup games. The crowd was very good in Charlotte. And I think It shows that if the games are less than $1,700 to get in the building, people are going to show up and watch. That's sort of the issue. You saw it at the Mexico game last night as well.

So we're going to have a conversation we'll do later this week about fully what we want to see in the Germany game and what we expect to see without knowing all the details. McKelley, what do you make of goalkeeper between Freeze and Turner? Just talking about Germany, they beat 4-0 Finland today. Nice. Robin Ludd couldn't hold the level. Florian Words played very well.

And Musiala, so I think it's going to be a good test, you know, maybe. I think I've said it before. I think it's going to be freeze, but I think it needs to be Turner. He has the experience. And if we go by momentum and how Dave reached to this point in the season, Turner probably has been the best goalkeeper in MLS this season. I think it needs to be Turner. I think what we saw today is just like giving the opportunity to Turner than to Brady.

And then I'm pretty positive we're going to see at least for the first half. I don't know if he's going to do the same thing. But if Freezes your goalkeeper the whole game against Germany, I think that's going to tell a lot. My opinion should be Turner, not just because he's level. It's better than Freezes right now and what we've seen in MLS. But he has the experience. And when you talk with the players and any player at any player at any. level, that first game, when you're

lined up on a World Cup and the National Lampons does to play, experience matters. I think it should be, I think it should be Turner. I wouldn't hate that. He's, for all the reasons, McClellan said, he's been better in

MLS play. He has that experience. He's also kind of been through Helen Beck in terms of his career arc. So he, like, he has that steadiness. We saw him today make, a couple of really big, really impressive saves. But I don't feel like Matt Freeze has done anything to lose the job. Yeah.

You know, that would be, that would be, I think, a tough grenade to toss into the locker room. The guy who has been your number one choice for more than a year now, without having played badly at all, suddenly is, you know, carrying the clipboard. So I, like you, I think what happens against Germany is going to be very very, very telling. If Matt Freeze gets 45 minutes and then Matt Turner comes out at half time and gets the second 45, I think Turner is going to be the guy in the sticks in game one. If Freeze gets the full 90 minutes, then this conversation is dead. It's Matt Freeze's job. The we had, we used our gradient data and cat help put it together. Comparison of the two keepers. There's not a ton of

minutes for Turner, but what we have, Turner grades out better in every category except for big mistakes. which is like one from Turner, which because there's not that many minutes has skewed that whole category, but it's probably not one you want to be worse at going into it. But I was surprised by how big the gap was on the passing numbers and everything that Turner has done, this was over the last three, four years,

including the very few minutes he played in, the big leagues he played in, off the line, connecting to the back line, winning crosses, all that stuff he's been better at. I think we already know he's, a better shot stopper because that's his big super power. And that's the thing that as he has played with New England this year, it feels like the confidence, at least from the outside, has come back on that side of things, which is he's sharp. And if that's your superpower, it's hard to be great

and you don't really play that often. And so if Turner is back to 2022, Matt Turner, he is a better goalkeeper. And as you said, McKelley, he has experience as well. I can tell you that he thinks he's back. I had the opportunity to do a couple, maybe, I don't remember the match day, but when New England play Miami at Miami, I spoke with Matt before the game, and he said on the record in our pregame interview, I'm back, like I'm back to my level.

So he has the confidence, and like Matt, you said, he went to hell and back. And when you have that confidence, I think you should write it. But against. to that point, the underlying numbers say he's not just back, but he's just had the best 14 game stretch in terms of shot stopping of any goalkeeper in the American soccer analysis database,

which would be Georgie Petrovich and Matt Turner from the last five years. And he's actually a level above that. So he's been spectacular for New England. And none of us, like, I don't think anybody here would have a problem if he was the guy in the sticks. I also wouldn't have a problem if it was Matt Freeze though because Matt Freeze has given me no reason with his US national team form to actually doubt him. Do you see any scenario where there's a goalkeeper rotation?

No. I can't imagine that. You have to make the decision coming out of Germany and unless they lose the spot. Like I don't, you're, I feel like I'm talking to the St. John's coach. I don't think you're doing the halftime change and I don't think you're doing the game by game change. It's just unnecessary.

because that's not the issue. Like, the issue is choosing one, which is because they're both playing well and they both deserve it, versus I'm trying to fill the gaps of this guy's terrible at collecting crosses, and we're going to play against Paraguay, who are, you know, Australia,

who are going to be hot, like, playing a lot of high balls, all that. This is like, you've got to make your decision, which clearly from the email situation is not Potch's, like, super strong point, but it's his job. I think it's going to be free, and one point for Fries is that Potch already had him as a goalkeeper on competition, right?

On Gold Cup last year. So he already went through it with Matt Fries and Fries responded. So I think it's going to be Fries. I think Fries is going to be 90 minutes against Germany. I would choose Turner, but I think it's going to be Fries. Yeah. The Germany game will be interesting on that side of things because. What if, okay, now the question, what if Germany.

it's 4-0 against the USM&T, and freeze doesn't look great. Are you going to make that decision based on just one game against Germany? He didn't based off the Belgium game, right? Because Turner gave up three or four in that game, and he got to start today. So he didn't determine it based off that. So my guess is whatever they're using and however they're doing it, it is deep enough to not just be purely on those numbers. although you do threaten a situation in which that goalkeeper might lose confidence if they

give up four goals in front of 57,000 people going, you know, the week of going into the World Cup. But that's for another day, I think. And we'll talk about this. We'll have another show of our U.S. soccer coverage presented by soccer.com coming up. Midweek, we'll preview that Germany game. As I said, we'll be out in Germany. If you are around, we will be at the soccer house bar. On Friday night, we will be doing a little bit of a little bit of.

a live show there and then game two of the NBA final. I'll be doing a Nick's watch along. Yeah. Well, we'll be done before that game starts because we're not going to be on air when that thing happens. And then we'll be at the game on Saturday. So if you're around, shoot us a message or come out to soccer house as well. And then once the World Cup starts on June 10th, we're going to have our daily show

coming out every single day. The World Cup starts on June 11th. We're doing our first one on June 10th. We will be live every single morning and we will put it up as a pie. immediately across all of our feeds. So we will be recapping what's been happening, giving you all the big news, helping you preview some of the big games

coming up later that day and talking all the big stories around, plus U.S. coverage, Mexico coverage, and of course, Canada coverage as well. So Jesse March dropped his 26 on Friday. He is forced already to make a change. Marcelo Flores, non-contact injury in the Concordiaf Champions League final, which takes him out of the roster.

congratulations to Toluca, unfortunate for André Pierre Giniak would have been cool for him to win a trophy on his final game ever as a legend Antigris and all of that. And for this Canada group, it seemed like it was mainly questions around health. Shaffelberg trying to prove he was healthy. Ralph Pryso trying to prove he was fit and healthy and could be a part of that group promised David as well. And it feels like Jesse saw what he needed to from most of those guys

and put them in the team. They will play two friendlies coming up. They'll play against Uzbekistan already. I think Schaffelberg, as it said, will not play in that game. Richel Luray is good for 30 minutes, which is tough, because Alfonso Davies is not going to be fit and available. So there's questions in this group, Doyle. There's also, like, a ton of talent.

I was talking with people who don't watch the soccer we watch and was like, Ismail Okone is going to be a star in this thing. And Tejanon Buchanan is going to be, like, there are so much pop to this team. And I think they're going to be one of the big surprises. I hope so. I hope that it all comes together for them. And it feels like the odds are stacking against them because of all the injuries that you've listed off.

The big one, though, is Alfonso Davies. And it's obvious. And look, we saw it in the Champions League semifinals because that second leg between PSG, you know, we all know what they did yesterday, PSG and Bayern Munich completely changed once an injured Alfonso Davies got on for the final 20 minutes. because he was out there dealing. His ability to go from a standstill to a dead sprint is maybe best in the world, but also he passes the ball like attacking midfield

or whether he's standing or sprinting or both. So he's a level above anybody else in Concoqaf, as far as I'm concerned, and he's a match winner of the highest level. And Canada, for all of their talent, they're not necessarily overrun with those types of players. They have a lot of solid players, a lot of guys who are going to be tough to play against, but not a ton who make the game in the final third. So that's where the press comes in.

And then so if you're going to press, you need fitness. You need guys who are 100% and able to empty the tanks executing on that game model. I hope it all comes together. It would be a landmark sort of moment for Canadian men's soccer and be a landmark moment, obviously, for Jesse Marsh, who three. of us known. I know Jesse rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but not me. I like Jesse a lot. Yeah, I'm jealous for Canada that he gets

to be the coach. Who do you think gets Florida's spot? Nelson? Yeah, I think it's probably Jaden Nelson, right? The other one would be like, I don't know if Preso gets in because they think they're going to go to a different group in the back because it feels like there may not be a left back for two games. Like, Alfonso,

Dave is going to land in Edmonton, I think, today. and do some testing because he's been continuing rehab with Byron, which is what Canada worked out that they wanted him to do. If he's not ready in the group stage and Richie Lurre is already on a minute's limit and Nico Seeger has literally never played there before in his life, I could see a scenario where it's like we can't actually afford to replace Schaffelberg. Let's go get, you know, let's bring in Pre-Soe and maybe we end up sliding a Moist Bombito out here or we play three in the back to try and cover for this position a little bit more.

and we play Tejaan Bucannon as a wingback or whatever it is. So that's the only wrinkle I'd throw in there. Otherwise, like for like, yes. I think that should be the move. And I think when healthy, he's good enough. He's also never healthy, which is one of the worries for this team. But Bombito being back, won't have played since October. That is a huge game changer for this team as well.

Because if you're going to press, you need to have someone who can cover over the top and clean up messes. And him and Derek Cornelius are like the huge different. from 2022 to now for this team. And it feels like that's absolutely massive. One other piece in the region last night, Mexico beat Australia 1-0 in this weird sort of send-off game. Memo a show got 45 minutes. It was wholesale changes at a half-time for them. McKelle, I don't, I watch the game. I don't walk out with a ton of confidence for Mexico, but at the same time, you've got to get the group together and get that first performance in. And for all the negatives they

have had of actual losses and getting booed by their. fans, none of that happened. Yeah, I think we didn't see the Mexico starting 11 or something similar that we're going to see at the World Cup. We saw that against Ghana on the game before. Javier Aguirre is going to give his final roster tomorrow, tomorrow or no, later today. I think tonight or sometimes today. Today is Sunday.

I don't know why I think it's Saturday. Today is Sunday. Obed Vargas made the team. He's going to make the team. Brian Gutierrez. Makes the team incredible. I mean, I'm so happy for that, Kate. I remember when we were talking about how the U.S. soccer never gave him a chance.

And then he leaves MLS for Chivas. He's making all the right decisions. And now he's potentially a starter. We're talking about Mexico midfield with Brian Gutierrez potentially starting alongside Hilberto Mora and Alvaro Fidelgo on midfield. And then if they're going to play, it depends what they're going to play. I think it's unclear if they're going to go 433. I think the best option for Mexico

is to have four in the back with Edson Alvarez as a centerback, not as a PM as a centerback, with Lira, crucible captain, as a number six. And then you have Fidelgo, Hilberto Mora and Brian Gutierrez, playing as an offensive midfield trio.

And then up top, you have Quignones and Ruel Jimenez. I think that's unclear because if you go 4-3-3, then you have to drop one of the midfields and play Alexis Vega. Anyways, I'm pretty positive on Mexico.

I think they're going to be the best team out of Concaf in this World Cup. I really think they can make quarterfinals. I mean, I'm biased. I love Mexico. I love, I need to, wait, I need to fix this camera because this is, this is, just assumed the sun finally came out in Connecticut for the first time in 65 years.

I've been playing with the ISO here. So I think, I mean, I'm so happy that we're going to get Hilberto Mora healthy on the World Cup. I think he's beyond generational. I don't believe there's a player in the U.S. soccer pipeline that comes close to him. And after this World Cup, I think Scholler is going to sell him by $30 million easily. So I'm pretty high on Mexico. I think the team is really well balanced. That's the price of Brandon Aronson. So come on.

Let's not flex to work. Well, we know that Mexico has, it's, league at Mexico is not the best. It's on a different grade. I think last week Agare asked about him, he compared him to Kwa. Like, Javier Garay, unprompted, compared him to Quatamac Blanco.

So. Listen, I, Quartermo Blanco has been the most talented player that ever come to Mexico. maybe the best career it's been Rafa Marquez or Sanchise or Chicharito but as a talent

Cuotemok Blanco has been the best it's like Italy with Casano pure talent he's been the best but he never like got to that level

because of all field issues but talking I still talk with ex-players and my colleagues in Air Univision with Gonzalo Pineda with with Marcosas with people that play

at the highest level of Mexico and all of them say Hilberto Mori is the biggest talent that Mexico has ever produced, period. So I'm very excited to see I'm very high on Mexico, I'm very high on him, so hopefully we get everyone healthy.

So the game obviously has gotten a little bit younger. You look at PSG and it's like young players are trusted, I think, in more central positions. So in my head I was like, Giobarto Morris, 17 years old, they'll be 17 year olds. I think he is going to be the only 17 year old who actually plays at the World Cup. I didn't have that.

Like Leonard Carl is older, Jan Diamande is older, and Endrick. So not only is he going to clearly be the most central to his team of young players, he is also going to be the youngest, and he's probably going to have the keys to the card to his team.

No, I absolutely agree with you. So going through it, Mexico, they get to play a third place team, as is the U.S., if they win their group, which is a bit of a gift. The groups that they get lined up against, and I have no idea how this is going to end up working, out are not the easiest ones.

Like there's a chance it's an ivory coast. There's a chance it's in Ecuador if they make a mistake. So it could be like a reason, a Sweden, whatever, Japan, Tunisia. It could be a reasonable opponent. But it will be round of 32 and round of 16 in Mexico City. Yeah. And I would love nothing more. Nothing more than for a European team, obviously the greatest region in the world,

specifically England having to go to the Estes. and to lose and to come out and say the reasons they lost. They're going to get crushed. We're the altitude and the smog and the crowd. If everything we've been saying for 20 years that it's actually harder than you think because it's actually harder to go to El Salvador and win a freaking game comes to fruition from this World Cup, it would be the one time I would cheer for a Mexico win at a World Cup. I mean, you get that and you get the Knicks in the finals.

It's the best of your life, David. I listen again I'm biased but when the national team plays and and we got to remember that that Mexico plays older friendlies older tournaments in the US they're playing their send-off series in the US to go to Mexico in LA yeah which hey it's fun fact LA is the second city in the world with most Mexicans besides Mexico City there are more Mexicans in LA than in Guadalajara or in Monterey it's crazy so when Mexico actually plays in Mexico, you see it on the club level.

El Volcan, in Toluca, or when Azteca is packed, like you said, if Mexico advances in the group, and I believe Mexico is going to win the group unlike the USA, and having those games at Azteca against teams that are not used to that, Europeans or whoever you want,

I think Mexico's poise on paper to have a great World Cup. And another thing that I like is that defensively, they've been very solid, very solid with Edson playing as a centerback, and Johann Vasquez, who I think it's the most underrated player in Concaf, he's been a solid centerback at Seria, which is the biggest come on.

Genoa. Let's just, let's not act like we're talking about Milan. But it's still Seria. I mean, you're facing Milan, you're facing Roma, you're facing Inter. And he's been steady for Genoa. And, I mean, Seria is the most difficult league to play for a defender. So I think Mexico is poised to have a really, really good World Cup.

Hopefully, I mean, I love Mexico, so sorry, US-MENT. My heart is more Mexican-American. I'll say this right now. I feel the best about all three that I felt in a long time. I think as it's gotten closer, mainly as I've looked into the other teams. Like you do this thing where you're like, oh, here's everything that's going wrong. and then Senegal shows up and they shit the bed in their send-off game. And it's like, oh, we're not the only ones with problems.

I watched half the Switzerland Jordan game and was thoroughly unimpressed. So, like, I don't think there's a giant in that group with Canada. And Bosnia lost one of their starting center forwards. And Qatar is probably the worst team at this World Cup. So I think Canada's getting through the group no matter what, because you just have to beat Qatar. And I think for Mexico, they got a very easy draw. There are no teams that are capable of coming out and taking the game from them. It is going to be about can they break through and score a goal or not.

I mean, the issue with the Mexico team that we've seen throughout the entirety of this decade is they beat themselves. Yeah. In a way that Mexico never used to beat themselves until it was the round of 16, right? From about 1990 through to 2020, Mexico did not beat themselves against teams that were there for the take. right it was something spectacular like maxi rodriguez in 2006 or something destiny like what the u.s did in 2002 or a great game against germany you know like this mexico team as talented as they are and as solid as they've been defensively i still think it feels like they're coming out there with like a dark cloud out over them waiting to screw up now maybe that's gone this summer because i felt the same

way about the u.s national team then for 25 minutes they look like prime Barcelona. You know, like, maybe that's the version of Mexico that we're about to get. I do think that that's in there. I need to see it before I could be like, oh, you know, this is a team that's going to win its group. Yeah. We did, I did some preview stuff.

I've highlighted Julian Canones. I just think he, and probably part of it is not being from Mexico. I think he just isn't affected by all of that the same way. And I think he will come in and just play. And they need a spark in the attack. it's too much for more to do all of it and Raul Jimenez since the head injury has never been the same player

and if he was that player he'd be that spark he needs help and I think Kinones is the one to give it to him and obviously in Mexico unlike the US and some places in Europe like fans and media are extremely harsh against the players and the national team we saw we recently listened to Chicharito

when he was at the Culligan's I recently saw a Wardado interview when they all said and I lived it because I was and when you're a foreign living in Mexico you asked them like why are you so why are Mexican players more loved outside of Mexico than in Mexico like Chicharito it's the it's the the number one goal score in in national team history and he's despise by fans like Guardado said I was more loved in Bettis than in the national team Carlos Vela quit the national Oh, yeah.

So, and from Hugo Sanchez to Rafa Marquez, like the problem with Mexico, like you said, Doyle, is that, and we saw it with Colombia in the 90s. The external pressure, sometimes it's just too much, but the talent is there. So hopefully now that with Javier Aguirre, that has the, I think this is Javier Aguirre's third World Cup coaching. And he played in the 86 world.

Right. And his main assistant is Rafa Marquez. Maybe they can now, and with players like Kinyon. that doesn't think to get bothered by that. Brian Gutierrez, who's basically new to the environment, Obed Vargas, new to the environment. Fidelgo, he's Spanish,

and he's basically new to the Mexican national team atmosphere, but he played and was the best player for America for a long time. So I think that will help to, like, deflect that pressure. But still, it's a hard thing to overcome. Last thing before we get out of here, Australia was the opponent for Mexico. So in watching that game, they were horrendous in the first half. They came out flying in the second half.

I think Tony Popovich probably tore part of Rose Bowl locker room. He's probably not the first coach to do it. There's probably a bunch of dudes at Penn State and wherever who have done it a million times before. But it was the second half was the performance that we saw from Australia in the first half against the U.S., which we, me and Doyle talked about in our previews that's soccer. com sponsor that we did of each team, which is, while they don't want the ball, they are not passive when they are good. They have their trapping moments.

When they go, they go. And the combination of size and physicality, they can play direct centrally and create chances because they just cause chaos and they're all around the ball. And there's a little bit of quality in the attacking third that's come through some of these younger players. I think if you want to know about what the U.S. can face

and the dangers that could exist, watch like the 45th to 65th minute last night of that game and it will show you an idea of if Australia is good that that's what it will look like. But they were terrible for 45 minutes. So you could lean on that as well. And you could go with that. There's an Australian Italian player who just landed in LA.

It sounds like he's going to choose Australia. So that's an added piece of talent that's coming to the team in the attack. Big talent. Yeah. Well, because he's Italian, obviously. I mean, he's a big talent. can I say. Yeah.

But, you know, with young players, it's always like, you know, you tend to, we all tend to overhype them, but he's, he's, he was regarded as a big talent and like, like, potentially like one of the strikers of this new generation. So it's a big loss for Italy for sure. Christian Volpato is his name. He plays at Sasuolo. On the flip side, Riley and McGree, it sounds like it's out for the World Cup, picked up an injury last week, and we expected him to be a starter.

Charlotte FC legend, right? Exactly. The most useful signing in Charlotte FC history for what he provided that team. Obviously, Patrick Yazbeck's already injured. You see the loss of the pop in some of that, but Harry Souter back, I think, the first time of like two years,

he played for the national team, and he's like nine and a half feet tall. He looks like Chet Holmgren. So puts up similar offensive numbers as well, but different game, different sports. So you never know what's going to happen. Okay, anything I miss before we get out of here? I'm just like, it's nice to look forward to the next national team game.

Because I had honestly, after what happened in March, I had honestly been kind of dreading this one. So I'm glad that the players were in a better place mentally than I was. And they showed it. Yeah. Yeah. No, what I was going to say is that we, and this is not for us, but everyone, no matter what happens against Germany for bad or good, don't overreact, right? because it's going to happen and we know that

these games mean something but they don't mean a lot at the end. I think for this team though you can't let go of the rope and stuff like this like the Switzerland lost last year the Belgium loss you can lose games you can look bad

but one of the things in watching back when they played Uruguay and Copa America I remember them being terrible and they lost that game 3 to 1 like that's acceptable that will happen. You'll be the worst team and you'll lose sometimes. You can't give up five goals just because you're having an off day and you're not locked in.

At some point, someone has to step on the field in that group and like clean shit up because you can't lose five zero the day, you know, the week before you go into a home world cup. And it's going to be a big one to start because I feel fairly strongly at this point that Paraguay is the worst team in the group. You have to have three points at the gate. The goal differential probably doesn't matter, but you need the three points at the start. So you have to play on the front. but the way you did today in that opening game.

I have a question for you guys before leaving, because everything is about expectations, right? Now, what's the expectation against Germany or what was the expectation against Portugal or Belgium? But on the World Cup, like, when we talk about what this team could be or where they can reach on levels of the World Cup, right? For example, with 2022 saying, or the history of this team, it's like quarterfinals, oh, quarterfinals will be a great result, right?

quarterfinals on this World Cup means more because then it's an extra elimination game, right? What do you think is the ceiling for this club? Because quarterfinals means winning two elimination games for this national team. That feels like the ceiling to me.

You know, and I think I said it last week on this show, quarterfinals by definition, this team makes it there, that's a success. Successful tournament, no matter how they make it there. If they make it to the round of 16, playing good soccer, that, like, engage his fans, that is also success.

Round of 32, I don't care how great they play in the group if they lose in the round of 32. It's going to be perceived as a failure because it will be. I agree with all of that. I think the other piece, Matt Turner talked coming into this game about signature wins that like the thing they, one of the things they lost with Copa America that they did to an extent at the World Cup,

but not exactly is like having a signature win. Beat one of the teams people have heard of and believe in. And like do that one time. And I just don't know that we're going to get the full soccer that we want where it's like we inspire the way we play and all of that. Get a signature win in this. And if that's the round of 32 because different team slips up and like I don't know how the bracket works exactly because of third place seems like let's say it's Germany. And Germany has a terrible group stage. And they end up as a third place team and you beat them.

That's a signature win. That will be for everyone. Or if it's in the round of 16, which is more likely. Mexico and 02 was great. It was perfect. It's like the exact juice you needed for the rivalry. you need to do that one, at least one time, to someone who's considered a blue blood and is a contender and has the big name and legacy and all that stuff. So that would be the other way it would work out.

Either way, I think the quarter final is the expectation. But I'm in a reality right now where, I don't know, sometimes things click. And everything happens at the same time. And Josh Hatch is a 70% three-point shooter and Landry Shannon's best playing. You never know. Timothy Wea could be that guy. Sebastian Burrhalter could be that guy. I am in this place now where I believe that things could just randomly change and all work together.

at the same time. So, okay, we're going to talk a lot more as we get into the World Cup. I think one of the fascinating conversation is going to be like, how do we consider getting out of the group compared to history? And is the round of 32 count as a knockout win? Does it change your reality and fifth game and all that stuff? But that's all stuff that we have a month to talk about, which I am ecstatic for. So we have our NWSL show coming up on Tuesday.

Myself and Jordan Angelie will be back. The U.S. is playing Brazil. We got that roster. We talked about it last week. last game of the NWSL season happening right now. So we will recap all of that. We'll get ready for those Brazil games. We'll have live shows for you the two weeks coming

as the U.S. goes down to Brazil and plays. My understanding is that the game at least up north is sold out because Marta will be coming back to Brazil to play for the first time in like five years. So there's going to be some real juice behind that and obviously triple espresso returns. We'll have our Germany preview. We're going to do a live show out in Germany,

or in Germany out in Chicago. That we're going to put out on our feeds as well to help us preview some of the World Cup. And then, as I said, June 10th, we have our first World Cup show. We're going to be doing them every single day. We're going to do a lot of fun stuff around that. And I cannot wait, and I'm very excited. And I appreciate Ricardo Pepe for helping me get there.

I feel like we've been through a lot together, and he helped give me that juice. And so Ricardo Pepe, you're a real one, and El Tren rolls back along. So thank you to you, Matt Joel. Thank you to you, Mikele. Thank you, of course, to soccer.com. Thank you to all of you for listening. Shout out to everyone in the chat. Tom's just going to come through a microphone and just break something all of a sudden.

And we'll talk to you all again very, very soon.