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Speaker 1: What's going on? Everybody? Welcome back to Inside American Soccer

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Speaker 1: for episode two. I'm your host, Tom Boger, and as always,

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Speaker 1: I'm joined by my friend and one of the greatest

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Speaker 1: players in US soccer history, a veteran of three World

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Speaker 1: Cups and a former very successful USU twenty World Cup

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Speaker 1: and MLS head coach, tab Ramos. Tab. It is Thanksgiving week.

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Speaker 1: We are getting into it with the national team. That

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Speaker 1: is our appetizer. I don't need the cranberry stash right now.

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Speaker 1: I just need talking about Christian Polisic scoring against Inter

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Speaker 1: Milan and these crazy MS Cup playoffs with a handful

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Speaker 1: of US M and T guys still alive. But Tab,

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Speaker 1: what's going on? Thanks for joining As always, great to

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Speaker 1: see you. What do we got going on for Thanksgiving?

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Speaker 2: Hey? Tom, you know it's great to be here with

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Speaker 2: you again.

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Speaker 3: Obviously, Thanksgiving week, great family week on the East Coast.

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Speaker 3: This is the time of the year where it's great

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Speaker 3: to be in the East Coast. And yeah, I'm very

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Speaker 3: excited about how not just Christian Polistic, but the rest

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Speaker 3: of our players went back to their teams in Europe

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Speaker 3: and have found some success very quickly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some good things happening there. But over stateside,

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Speaker 1: you're right, it is. It is a wonderful week. And

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Speaker 1: when people think about Thanksgiving, a lot of sports come

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Speaker 1: up because it's it's a fun holiday for American football

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Speaker 1: and NFL. I enjoyed that, But tap down on the

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Speaker 1: Jersey Shore, I have my own Thanksgiving tradition and Christmas

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Speaker 1: Eve where I rent out a local soccer field and

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Speaker 1: all of some of my former college teammates, club teammates,

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Speaker 1: all these guys I invited your son. I'll let you

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Speaker 1: know about it as well, But soccer gets gets in

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Speaker 1: the way for Thanksgiving for me as well.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm usually anywhere my son goes from, usually the

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Speaker 3: Plus one, so but yeah, no, I think he's actually

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Speaker 3: not going to be in town unfortunately the next couple

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Speaker 3: of days. But I may show up and just watch

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Speaker 3: from the outside a little bit, see what's going on.

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Speaker 1: I think you'll bring your shoes and just like you know,

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Speaker 1: you'll find yourself in the middle of the field. I

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Speaker 1: was talking to somebody who played a pickup game with

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Speaker 1: you a few years ago, and they were like, listen,

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Speaker 1: I knew that he was obviously still going to be great,

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Speaker 1: but my God, he was head and shoulder above everybody

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Speaker 1: else on that field, so unsurprisingly you still got it.

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Speaker 1: On today's show, though a little bit more important than

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Speaker 1: my Thanksgiving kick around. On today's show, we're focused on

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Speaker 1: the US men's national team World Cup roster. Watch everything

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Speaker 1: that happens with this team right now and has been

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Speaker 1: for the last year. It's all focused towards twenty twenty six,

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Speaker 1: towards that tournament. I think it's important for us early

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Speaker 1: in our show to set the table on where the

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Speaker 1: roster stands and what we think about the whole hierarchy

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Speaker 1: of the club, particularly when we're gonna be between November

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Speaker 1: to March and the international windows. There's a lot of big,

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Speaker 1: big games for players with their clubs, and the final

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Speaker 1: roster is taking shape. There's still plenty of spots up

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Speaker 1: for grabs, but right now I think it is important

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Speaker 1: to give our overview macro look at the position battles

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Speaker 1: and everything to see who is going to be that

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Speaker 1: twenty six man roster for so much po Chattino, because

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Speaker 1: a lot can change and a lot will change between

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Speaker 1: now in the summer, we'll talk about our locks, we'll

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Speaker 1: talk about who he thinks on the bubble who we

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Speaker 1: thinks still maybe has a chance. After that, Tab and

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Speaker 1: I will go with our starting elevens again. I'm very

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Speaker 1: much looking forward to the World Cup starting and imagining

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Speaker 1: who's gonna be on the field for the national team.

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Speaker 1: So we'll go to that. Tab is gonna give us

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Speaker 1: a story inside the locker room of when he was

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Speaker 1: first working with Tyler Adams with the United States you

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Speaker 1: twenty national team. I'm really looking forward to that one.

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Speaker 1: We'll go inside the notebook for a couple of the

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Speaker 1: latest news around the national team and things that kind

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Speaker 1: of impact it in terms of stories that I've broken

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Speaker 1: and things that are going on outside of the field.

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Speaker 1: And finally we're gonna close with our big question and

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Speaker 1: we're gonna look ahead at the World Cup again. Who

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Speaker 1: could be the breakout star of the World Cup. I

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Speaker 1: think Tab and I might have a couple very different answers,

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Speaker 1: But Tab, we gotta get into the roster right now.

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Speaker 1: And when you're building a roster, I know that the

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Speaker 1: size is now twenty six. I forget what your last

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Speaker 1: U twenty World Cup squad was in terms of the

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Speaker 1: players on the roster. Was it twenty three then? Or

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Speaker 1: was the YOU twenty World Cup still twenty.

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Speaker 3: It was twenty for the U twenty World Cup, It

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Speaker 3: was twenty three for.

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Speaker 2: The Senior World Cup.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's difficult, but you know, there are a couple

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Speaker 3: of components that you always start with when you start

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Speaker 3: with these lists, and that's the fact that it's likely,

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Speaker 3: you know, you go to the World Cup, you have

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Speaker 3: three games in the first round and they go by quickly,

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Speaker 3: and really the core of your team is who you're

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Speaker 3: playing your World Cup with, right, So it's gonna be

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Speaker 3: at most eighteen to twenty players that are really going

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Speaker 3: to play a part, regardless of how big your roster is.

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Speaker 3: So I want, like sort of the listeners to take

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Speaker 3: into account the fact that sometimes we're all battling over

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Speaker 3: those last five or six positions.

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Speaker 2: Could it be this guy, could it be that guy?

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Speaker 3: And I think those positions aren't always necessarily about soccer, right, because.

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Speaker 2: You're you're building a group.

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Speaker 3: You're gonna be together for a month and a half,

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Speaker 3: likely between preparation and the World Cup at the very least,

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Speaker 3: and you need, at the end of the day, guys

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Speaker 3: that are gonna push each other, right, And sometimes those

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Speaker 3: guys at the end of the roster become really integral

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Speaker 3: parts of these teams, and not necessarily always because of

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Speaker 3: what they do on the field.

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Speaker 1: That's a good point, and it is it's funny, like

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Speaker 1: how difficult it is to come up with a twenty

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Speaker 1: six man roster. It's not exclusive to the United States.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure it's even more difficult when you're looking at England,

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Speaker 1: when you're looking at Germany, France, Argentina, some of the

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Speaker 1: you know, heavy favorites going into this World Cup. But

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Speaker 1: eight years ago when it was twenty three, I feel

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Speaker 1: like we'd have it be having the same debates even

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Speaker 1: if they made it a thirty man roster, which FIFA,

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Speaker 1: please don't get any bad ideas, do not do that.

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Speaker 1: Twenty six is plenty, twenty three was probably plenty, but

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Speaker 1: all allow the twenty six. And yeah, that's a good

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Speaker 1: point to focus on, like we will get stuck into

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Speaker 1: the handful of spots on the roster and where we

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Speaker 1: think they might go, but it really is more about

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Speaker 1: the core, you know, sixteen to eighteen guys that we're

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Speaker 1: expecting or are going to be carrying the heavy minutes

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Speaker 1: load and will be the difference between getting to a

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Speaker 1: knockout round or advancing on a knockout round, rather than

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Speaker 1: say the last handful of spots who might not see

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Speaker 1: the field.

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Speaker 3: First of all, what the twenty six man roster is,

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Speaker 3: what it does is allows you the opportunity to not

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Speaker 3: doubt at all whether you want to have a third

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Speaker 3: goalkeeper that's number one, Because, believe it or not, it

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Speaker 3: seems simple from the outside when you when you start doing,

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Speaker 3: when you start doing the lineup and the lineup and

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Speaker 3: then the roster, and in particular, if you have twenty

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Speaker 3: you're thinking, man, do I really need that third goalkeeper?

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Speaker 3: But then if you don't, do you get in trouble? Right,

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Speaker 3: So twenty six makes it a little bit easier. I

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Speaker 3: think there's nothing wrong with that. I think, if anything,

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Speaker 3: gives a lot more players to live that opportunity. Yet,

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Speaker 3: you know, you have to remember one thing in particular.

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Speaker 3: You know, obviously everyone sort of that's tuning in and

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Speaker 3: it wants to be on the inside of these things.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'll move away from the.

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Speaker 3: Coaching side and take the player's side a little bit.

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Speaker 3: What I'll say is, you know, it's difficult to go

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Speaker 3: to a World Cup. You know you have you know,

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Speaker 3: it's every four years. You have to be in good

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Speaker 3: form at the time, you have to not be injured

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Speaker 3: at the time, So it's very difficult to be on

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Speaker 3: one of these rosters. And this is why it's such

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Speaker 3: a it's such such a great accomplishment for any player

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Speaker 3: to make it there.

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Speaker 1: Of course, before we get into the weeds of this

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Speaker 1: group of this pool and kind of sift it down

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Speaker 1: to twenty six really quickly. Tab something that I really

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Speaker 1: liked from recent po Chatino he had a thoughtful and

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Speaker 1: a human answer when he was asked about the final

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Speaker 1: camp before the World Cup, like those friendlies in May,

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Speaker 1: the sendoff friendlies. He was asked like, how many extra

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Speaker 1: are you gonna bring? And he goes, I don't guy,

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Speaker 1: I just really want to bring the twenty six and

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Speaker 1: are making the World Cup squad, not because I don't

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Speaker 1: believe in other people. But he goes, it's cruel if

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Speaker 1: you bring guys and they're doing all the preparations for

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Speaker 1: the World Cup and then the day before we take

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Speaker 1: our flight to Los Angeles, I have to tell three

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Speaker 1: people you're not coming with us, You're not part of

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Speaker 1: the team. He goes, I think that's cruel. He used

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Speaker 1: that word a few times in your experience tab when

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Speaker 1: you were playing. What were those like sendoff camps? Like

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Speaker 1: did you guys have the World Cup roster or did

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Speaker 1: you have an extra five guys that ended up getting cut.

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Speaker 2: I'll take it from the coaching side first.

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Speaker 3: I think that's most important because I've done that as

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Speaker 3: a coach. I've taken the extra players, and I think

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Speaker 3: you can do that as long as you have the

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Speaker 3: discussions with the players. I think one of the years

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Speaker 3: my extra player might have been Connor Donovan. Another one

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Speaker 3: of the years it might have been Awesome Trustee. And

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Speaker 3: I think in both cases someone got injured and they

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Speaker 3: replaced them, so and now we had the advantage that

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Speaker 3: we already had them there and training with us. So

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Speaker 3: it's a really you know, it was an easy process

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Speaker 3: to incorporate them into the team. I know in one

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Speaker 3: of them, I think it might have been a World

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Speaker 3: Cup in New Zealand. So you're the other side of

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Speaker 3: the world, right and so you have to take that

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Speaker 3: into consideration because if you have an injury right before

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Speaker 3: the deadline and you can replace, do you want to

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Speaker 3: bring a player from across the world. So I think

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Speaker 3: it's important to have the conversations. They're not easy ones.

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Speaker 2: But you know, sometimes.

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Speaker 3: Players, when they feel like they're not on the team

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Speaker 3: at all, they'd rather have that opportunity to be with

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Speaker 3: the team and say, hey, you know, I know I'm

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Speaker 3: not on In case someone gets.

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Speaker 2: Injured, I'm here, and then you know that you can replace.

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Speaker 3: So there's a couple different ways to look at I

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Speaker 3: understand Posatino's answer, so that you don't have someone who's

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Speaker 3: hopeful who's.

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Speaker 2: Not gonna make it.

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Speaker 3: But I think if you have that conversation beforehand and say, look,

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Speaker 3: you're not on the team, but I can give you

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Speaker 3: this opportunity to be with the team for a period

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Speaker 3: of time, I think that can also work.

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Speaker 1: That does make sense. And then it is the other side,

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Speaker 1: and at the end of the day, they are professionals,

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Speaker 1: they are adults, but man like that just seems really difficult.

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Speaker 1: But hey, at least for you a couple like not

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Speaker 1: happy that anybody got injured, but that eliminated some of

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Speaker 1: those really difficult conversations. But now further Ado, let's get

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Speaker 1: in to the US national team pool as it stands

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Speaker 1: right now late November, the World Cup is coming up

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Speaker 1: in seven months or whatever. I can't. I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: do the quick math. Let's start with the Goalkeepers're gonna

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Speaker 1: go a position by position. For me, Matt Freeze is

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Speaker 1: a lock, and this position more than any others. If

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Speaker 1: you told me any two of Patrick Chalty, Matt Turner,

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Speaker 1: Chris Brady, Roman Celentano, Zack Stefan Diego coachin Jonathan Clinzman,

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Speaker 1: pick two, your guests would be better than mine. I

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Speaker 1: have no idea who else Pochettino is going to call,

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Speaker 1: but I think it's inconsequential to an extent because Matt

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Speaker 1: Freeze is the starter and I don't see that changing.

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Speaker 2: Totally agree.

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Speaker 3: I would have to say that obviously Matt Freeze player

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Speaker 3: has played every game he has done.

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Speaker 2: He hasn't done anything to hurt himself.

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Speaker 3: I think, if anything, every game that goes by, he

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Speaker 3: gains a little bit more experienced and a little bit

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Speaker 3: more confidence. So I think we're going to be looking

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Speaker 3: at a better goalkeeper even six months from now. So

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Speaker 3: the fact that Mauricio Pozettino has sort of made it

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Speaker 3: clear now that this is his guy, I think it's

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Speaker 3: a good sign for Matt Freeze, and I think he's

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Speaker 3: done well. From there, I'd have to say, what are

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Speaker 3: you know? It's likely that Matt freeze. If we look

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Speaker 3: into the future, it's likely that he'll play all the

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Speaker 3: games at the World Cup. That being the case, you know,

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Speaker 3: I think Matt Turner, unless there are some locker room

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Speaker 3: issues that we don't know about, I think Matt Turner's

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Speaker 3: experience at the last World Cup would be important.

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Speaker 2: To have on the roster.

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Speaker 3: You know, he did, he did well, He had a

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Speaker 3: good last cycle. He became the starter, and I think

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Speaker 3: he would be for me at this point. I would

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Speaker 3: add him as a lock, and I would you know,

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Speaker 3: you're saying, okay, the next two those are tough ones.

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Speaker 3: I would say to meet Matt has to be one

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Speaker 3: of those two, and then the other.

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Speaker 2: I wouldn't know.

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Speaker 1: So I agree with Turner. It's just that I can't

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Speaker 1: call him a lock in good faith because like Pachatino,

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Speaker 1: just left him off the group. I think that he

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Speaker 1: is for sure one of the best three American men's

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Speaker 1: soccer goalkeepers that we have. His shot stopping it's a really,

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Speaker 1: really top trait. I know that he struggled a bit.

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Speaker 1: He dipped in form when he went to England, but

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Speaker 1: he's back in MLS and I think that he's just

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Speaker 1: going to be the guy that we saw in New

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Speaker 1: England rather than the guy we saw struggling at Nottingham Forest.

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Speaker 1: But it's been a tough road for him. And I

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Speaker 1: was again, if you told me right after the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two World Cup, and I'm going to say this

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Speaker 1: line for I think about four or five players as

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Speaker 1: we go down this list, but if you told me

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Speaker 1: after the World Cup in twenty two, hey, there's no

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Speaker 1: guarantee that Matt Turner will even be on the squad,

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Speaker 1: let alone the starter, I would have been shocked and

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Speaker 1: I would have said, wow, Igsonino must be really, really good.

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Speaker 1: And that's the name we didn't mention because he's so

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Speaker 1: kind of far away from the pool the young goalkeeper

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Speaker 1: to watch. Here's Diego coaching at Barcelona. He's the starter

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Speaker 1: for he's the regular for the second team. He's been

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Speaker 1: with the first team. Depending on injuries, he'll be called

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Speaker 1: up to the bench. That's why he missed the U

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Speaker 1: twenty World Cup because there was an injury to Barcelona's

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Speaker 1: Forget Afu Chesney or Diego Diego Lopez that he had

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Speaker 1: to be caught up to be the second or third goalkeeper.

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Speaker 1: He was on the bench for Barcelona, which is really cool.

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Speaker 1: He does not have many first team, if any games,

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Speaker 1: just friendlies and stuff, but he is playing with the

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Speaker 1: second team and he's somebody with a big, bright future.

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Speaker 1: So in the general sense, whether it's coaching, would you

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Speaker 1: rather that third goalkeeper slot again, somebody who's overwhelmingly expected

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Speaker 1: to not see the field? Would you rather be a

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Speaker 1: young rising guy like Diego coaching or would you rather

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Speaker 1: it be like in twenty twenty two Sean Johnson, It

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Speaker 1: could be Celentano, SHOALTI Stepan and then probably Chris Brady

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Speaker 1: might be ahead of coaching. But generally speaking, would you

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Speaker 1: rather see a young guy or more of like a

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Speaker 1: veteran locker room presence as that third keeper?

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Speaker 3: I would, And this is a very good question, and

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Speaker 3: I think there is There are no wrong answers, really,

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Speaker 3: because that depends on the coach, purely on the coach

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Speaker 3: and what he wants to see in the locker room.

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Speaker 3: For me, I you know, and obviously different scenario because

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Speaker 3: you're talking about you twenty World Cups, You're not talking

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Speaker 3: about senior World Cups.

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Speaker 2: Haven't said that.

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Speaker 3: I always lean to bring as players that potentially were

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Speaker 3: not going to play, you know, as you predict the

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Speaker 3: World Cup going through. I always wanted to have younger

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Speaker 3: guys because that's experience. It's experienced they can watch, they're around,

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Speaker 3: you know, And if Diego coach goes into the next

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Speaker 3: two three years as a potential competitor for the position,

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Speaker 3: he will already have that experience under his belt of

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Speaker 3: having been there. So I personally would lean towards a

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Speaker 3: younger player.

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Speaker 1: Ah yeah, I would too, particularly with the makeup of Again,

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Speaker 1: if it is Freeze and Turner, those are two in

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Speaker 1: prime guys. It's not as if the starter is a

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Speaker 1: young player. You said, Turner has already been there, so

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Speaker 1: maybe that their goalkeeper spot can be used on somebody

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Speaker 1: like Coaching, who I think we all believe is likely

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Speaker 1: to be the goalkeeper of the future for this program

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Speaker 1: if his development continues. Honest center backs, Chris Richards is

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Speaker 1: the dominant anchor, that is the guy to watch it

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Speaker 1: as the most important person at this position for me

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Speaker 1: and one of the most important people on the team.

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Speaker 1: So I want to be focused on Chris Richards, and

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Speaker 1: every decision is based on who partners best with him.

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Speaker 1: We're assuming that this is all built around the three

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Speaker 1: four to two one system that Pochatino has preferred, particularly

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Speaker 1: in possession, So I'm assuming that five center backs have

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Speaker 1: to go, and it depends on if we're gonna list

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Speaker 1: Alex Freeman as a center back or as a wingback,

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Speaker 1: because he can do both, and in the last camp

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Speaker 1: he played that outside center back role against Uruguay and

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Speaker 1: he was stellar and he was able to get forward

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Speaker 1: a little bit depending on the team shape. So for me,

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Speaker 1: it's Chris Richards. I think Tim Reem is probably a

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Speaker 1: lock as well. Miles Robinson isn't far off. Mark McKenzie

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Speaker 1: is another likely. Austin Trustee. I think that's a group

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Speaker 1: that I'm assuming if they do bring five pure center backs,

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Speaker 1: but there is a possibility that maybe it's for plus

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Speaker 1: alics Freeman and he uses versatility to cover both spots.

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Speaker 1: A couple others to consider. There's Joe Scalley, No, Kai Banks,

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Speaker 1: Tristan Blackman, and I think those are the three that

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Speaker 1: are like actually in the mix to crash the party.

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Speaker 1: But Awesome Trusty I think is ahead of those guys.

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Speaker 3: I would agree with you on that I would start

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Speaker 3: the rest, you know, and I didn't say this, you

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Speaker 3: know when we talked about the goalkeepers, because I think

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Speaker 3: with the goalkeepers it just doesn't matter. But I want

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Speaker 3: to say that we're we're obviously picking a roster and

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Speaker 3: projecting the future without considering the draw that's happening next week,

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Speaker 3: good boy, because that does make a difference.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 3: Now we've seen our team against Uruguay and Paraguay and

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Speaker 3: we've seen what type of combinations, for example, in midfield

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Speaker 3: work out better. We also have seen what we look

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Speaker 3: like like against Switzerland and Turkey, you know, European teams,

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Speaker 3: and that's a little bit different. So I think when

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Speaker 3: the draw happens next week, I think that could that

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Speaker 3: could make a coach lean in those close calls, That

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Speaker 3: could make a coach lean one way.

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Speaker 2: Or the other. Haven't said that.

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Speaker 3: I agree with you that I'm looking at the same

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Speaker 3: at three four two one because that's what he's playing.

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Speaker 3: Having said that, I think Freeman, Richards McKenzie and Reim

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Speaker 3: I think.

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Speaker 2: For me their locks if we went by one by one.

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Speaker 3: Obviously Freeman can do both the wing back position. He

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Speaker 3: can also be a right back or he can be

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Speaker 3: also that straight up, you know, center back, because he's

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Speaker 3: done that and he's done that well.

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Speaker 2: Richards is obviously, you know, one.

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Speaker 3: Of the locks to be on the eleven and to

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Speaker 3: play that central position, which is what Pochettino seems to

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Speaker 3: put him. And then I think Mackenzie and Reim on

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Speaker 3: the other side could be either one. I think Reim

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Speaker 3: and we talked about this on the last show about

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Speaker 3: Reem being a little bit of the bridge player because

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Speaker 3: he's the experienced guy that kind of has been Pochettino's

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Speaker 3: guy and has helped on the field and off the

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Speaker 3: field to bring this team together. And I think that

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Speaker 3: role will continue, but probably to a lesser extent as

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Speaker 3: we get closer to the World Cup, and he may

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Speaker 3: just not be a starter by the time we get

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Speaker 3: to the World Cup. But obviously that's all speculations. So

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Speaker 3: I would think those are the locks. I think Miles

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Speaker 3: Robinson has a good possibility to be that other just

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Speaker 3: straight out center back if we wanted to add one more.

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Speaker 3: And then I'll just mention Scali here because I think

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Speaker 3: both Scali and Freeman have that dual role type of

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Speaker 3: that they can do both. So let's say you had

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Speaker 3: you know, Dest or someone else hurt. Either one of

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Speaker 3: those could replaced you know Dest on the right side,

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Speaker 3: and then you could also have either one of them

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Speaker 3: play the center back, so they could both be there.

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Speaker 2: So I'll just say that.

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Speaker 1: My only slight pushback is I don't see a world

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Speaker 1: in which Potchatina would push scali At to that right

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Speaker 1: wing back role because you have to play like a winger,

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Speaker 1: and he's much more safe as that right center back.

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Speaker 1: I think he's firmly in the mix. But if that happened,

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Speaker 1: I think it would be Freeman or Weeya or whoever,

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Speaker 1: and scali would would be further back. But I'm assuming

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Speaker 1: that they're gonna bring five center backs and that's not

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Speaker 1: gonna include Freeman, just because when we get to the

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Speaker 1: wing backs and in a minute, like I just don't

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Speaker 1: think that there's really any other options that you'd rather

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Speaker 1: have an extra wing back than an extra center back.

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Speaker 1: And with Miles Robinson, his biggest benefit to making the

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Speaker 1: roster is you look at Reem, McKenzie and Trustee. All

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Speaker 1: three of them I think are excellent players. It is difficult,

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Speaker 1: generally to find a ball playing left footed center back. Well,

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Speaker 1: this group has three between those guys, So Miles Robinson

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Speaker 1: is a different profile because of his athleticism and his

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Speaker 1: ability to kind of hunt and win the ball. But

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Speaker 1: he's not the best passer, but that's okay when you

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Speaker 1: have Richard's and then any one of Reem mckenzier trustee

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Speaker 1: are all very good at passing the ball out of

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Speaker 1: the back. So I think Robinson does have a leg

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Speaker 1: up just because he's different than those guys. But again, Scally,

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Speaker 1: I think is still firmly in the mix. And then

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Speaker 1: if Noah Kai Banks continues his development. When he was

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Speaker 1: brought in in September, I believe Pochettino was like, he

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Speaker 1: didn't in so many words, was like, he might not

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Speaker 1: be ready right now, and he probably isn't, but players

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Speaker 1: can develop at his age rapidly, and particularly what the

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Speaker 1: experience he's getting, and we know his talent. We want

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Speaker 1: him in camp not just for what he's doing on

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Speaker 1: the field and to give him that experience and development,

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Speaker 1: but we want to know more about what he's like,

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Speaker 1: how he fits in the group, what he does off

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Speaker 1: the field, and all that because we want to be

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Speaker 1: ready that if he's playing at a level that warrants

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Speaker 1: his inclusion. We know everything about him or we know

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Speaker 1: more about him because we've had him in camp. So

435
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,720
Speaker 1: I think that is somebody to watch as like a Riser,

436
00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,560
Speaker 1: but maybe Tristan Blackman as well. But but again I

437
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:34,320
Speaker 1: think that there are a lot of good options here.

438
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,920
Speaker 1: And that's another reason why I think Pochatina will bring

439
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,880
Speaker 1: five of these guys that don't include Freeman, because going

440
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,320
Speaker 1: to the wingbacks the wing backs is the easiest one

441
00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 1: for me. It's so genior Desks, Anthony Robinson, Max Orften,

442
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:48,919
Speaker 1: and then Alex Freeman, depending if you want to put

443
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,119
Speaker 1: him in this group. I think those four are pretty

444
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:52,879
Speaker 1: ironclad locks for this group.

445
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:54,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt.

446
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:59,119
Speaker 3: And I think we're all hoping that Anthony Robinson, you know,

447
00:19:59,240 --> 00:19:59,920
Speaker 3: is back and his.

448
00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,320
Speaker 2: B at the level where he was before. You know.

449
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,800
Speaker 3: Having said that, Max Arsten, you know, and I mentioned

450
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,200
Speaker 3: this the other day to somebody, but he somehow made

451
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 3: us for a little while forget about Anthony Robinson, and

452
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,680
Speaker 3: I think I think that's big words, big, big compliment

453
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 3: to him, because you know, Anthony Robinson to me, has

454
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,200
Speaker 3: been our best player over the last four or five years.

455
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,840
Speaker 3: He was consistent He made us better every game. He

456
00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,640
Speaker 3: made big plays every game on both sides of the ball.

457
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,360
Speaker 3: So I really felt like we couldn't do without him.

458
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:36,199
Speaker 3: And yet Max Arsten has has made us, you know,

459
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,520
Speaker 3: think about other positions, and I think I think by

460
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,320
Speaker 3: not even mentioning that position, I think that's a huge

461
00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:43,240
Speaker 3: compliment to him.

462
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:44,560
Speaker 2: So I agree with you.

463
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,680
Speaker 3: Those are those are all locks, and I think we're

464
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:49,880
Speaker 3: we're looking good at that wing back position.

465
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,159
Speaker 1: John Tolkien is the only other name I have in

466
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:54,320
Speaker 1: the mix here, and I was kind of pouring through

467
00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,080
Speaker 1: potential options, like I don't see anybody from the U

468
00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,840
Speaker 1: twenty World Cup that just passed that is close enough

469
00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,880
Speaker 1: to really challenging for the World Cups. Like again, Peyton Miller,

470
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,520
Speaker 1: I think he has a brilliant future. I don't think

471
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 1: he's ready to really be called in the mix for

472
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,719
Speaker 1: this situation. And that's just me trying to figure out, all, right,

473
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,560
Speaker 1: Devil's advocate, who could be if there's an injury that

474
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,440
Speaker 1: changes things, You're gonna have to find somebody Because going

475
00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,880
Speaker 1: was just three wingbacks, and while there was versatility, it's

476
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 1: a way I can drop back. There are a number

477
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,280
Speaker 1: of players who can do different roles. You still would

478
00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,119
Speaker 1: need another kind of natural at that spot, but I

479
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,160
Speaker 1: just don't. I don't really see anybody else. And again,

480
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,640
Speaker 1: this is all assuming health. Right, we can't plan for injuries.

481
00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,399
Speaker 1: We can worry about it and you know, try to

482
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,200
Speaker 1: have contingencies, but I don't think it's particularly fun or

483
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:39,960
Speaker 1: exciting to be sitting here. You know, well, if this

484
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,160
Speaker 1: person gets hurt, then that happens. Like think you cross

485
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 1: that bridge when you get there. But we're all assuming

486
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,480
Speaker 1: health and you know, decent form at least here for

487
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,440
Speaker 1: all of these conversations. So wingbacks I think is pretty straightforward.

488
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:56,760
Speaker 1: Central midfield is I think the most competitive race for

489
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 1: roster spots because there are more deserving players than there

490
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,479
Speaker 1: will be RUSS spots available. And this is where we're

491
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:07,439
Speaker 1: gonna get into the alchemy of building a roster, because

492
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,760
Speaker 1: do you bring an extra central midfielder or an extra

493
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 1: winger or an extra forward, Like every position is gonna

494
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,360
Speaker 1: need a bare minimum of you know, X amount of guy,

495
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,159
Speaker 1: Like you're not gonna bring less than three goalkeepers and

496
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 1: you're not gonna bring less than four center backs. But

497
00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:22,520
Speaker 1: there are different ways where you could bring an extra

498
00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,560
Speaker 1: midfielder or an extra winger at the sacrifice of another spot.

499
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,920
Speaker 1: So I'm very curious to see where Pochatino goes there.

500
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 1: But for me, this starts with Tyler Adams talking about

501
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 1: this with center back with Chris Richards. Tyler Adams, Richards

502
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:35,040
Speaker 1: and then Christian Polisk I think are the three most

503
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: important teams players to this team at the World Cup.

504
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:42,360
Speaker 1: And Tyler Adams is in and of himself a one

505
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:48,080
Speaker 1: man defensive extinguisher in transition, and it's more about all

506
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 1: these rest of these guys. Okay, who fits best next

507
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:50,399
Speaker 1: to Tyler?

508
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,119
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I couldn't agree with you more. You know,

509
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,280
Speaker 3: Tyler Adams is really I want to say, a little

510
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:58,440
Speaker 3: bit of the lungs of the team. You know, that's

511
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,520
Speaker 3: sort of how he plays, and and and you're also

512
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,040
Speaker 3: right about the fact that this is the most competitive

513
00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,920
Speaker 3: position because you could legitimately pick six or seven players

514
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,679
Speaker 3: here and they would all be deserving. It's just a

515
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 3: matter of who likes what player for what situation. And

516
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,000
Speaker 3: this is where you know, I go back to the

517
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 3: I think it depends a little bit on the draw

518
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,000
Speaker 3: and what we get to start, because those are those

519
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 3: are the little differences that that could that could in

520
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 3: the end tip the scale for one player or or another.

521
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 3: I think, you know, center midfield, there's no question for

522
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 3: me that obviously Adams, McKinney and Tessament for me are locks.

523
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,480
Speaker 3: Testament is likely for me, the best compliment to Adams.

524
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:41,000
Speaker 1: Uh.

525
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 3: He's got great feet and and he can also go

526
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,280
Speaker 3: box to box. You know, we told the story last

527
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,480
Speaker 3: week about how Testament can pretty much do everything, and

528
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,159
Speaker 3: he really can, and I think people are just starting

529
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,280
Speaker 3: to see the beginning.

530
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 2: Of where he what he can be.

531
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 3: Having said that, we we always have to have the

532
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 3: respect for Weston McKinney because Western McKinney, you know, let's

533
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 3: not forget you know, he's at Juventus. He has started

534
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,160
Speaker 3: and I think played every minute of every Champions League

535
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,400
Speaker 3: game so far this year. He's playing big games weekend

536
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,359
Speaker 3: and week out. And obviously the World Cup is big games,

537
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 3: and in big games you want big players. Western McKinney

538
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,840
Speaker 3: is a big player and you need them in there.

539
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 3: So I think having said that those are those are locks,

540
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 3: and then you look at the rest of the equation, right,

541
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,800
Speaker 3: and that gets difficult because for me, and I know

542
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,680
Speaker 3: people are going to disagree with this, but I think

543
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,959
Speaker 3: all coaches are different. For me, I want to have

544
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 3: a guy like Moosa in there, and only because he

545
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:40,120
Speaker 3: has been a big player.

546
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,359
Speaker 2: He's still a younger guy. He's an Atalanta.

547
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 3: I think he still has a chance to get into

548
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 3: that team and to do something big and more importantly,

549
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,719
Speaker 3: compete through the winter when some of the MLS players

550
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:55,120
Speaker 3: don't have an opportunity to have those competitive games week

551
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,359
Speaker 3: in and week out. And you know, I'm thinking of myself.

552
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 3: I'm in the second round of the World Cup. Somebody

553
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,480
Speaker 3: gets injured, I have to throw somebody in. I have

554
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 3: no concerns about throwing someone like Musa in and I

555
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,879
Speaker 3: wouldn't be afraid that the moment is going to be

556
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 3: too big. And that has a huge value for me.

557
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,560
Speaker 3: So I would have to say that for me, he's

558
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 3: still one of the guys in there. And then after

559
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,360
Speaker 3: that you kind of have to pick right. You have Rodin,

560
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,440
Speaker 3: who's a great team guy, and he also has done

561
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 3: excellent when he's coming.

562
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:24,880
Speaker 2: So he's deserving.

563
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,680
Speaker 3: Burholter has done excellent when he's come in, and he's

564
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 3: a great, you know, set piece guy and all that stuff.

565
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 3: Although I look back at the roster and he was

566
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 3: also in there in the Switzerland game. He was also

567
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 3: in there in the in the South Korea game, So

568
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,800
Speaker 3: you have to look at the draw in order to

569
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 3: decide that. And then you still have Johnny Cardozo. I mean,

570
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 3: Johnny Cardoso plays for Athletico Madrid. We can't not notice that.

571
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 3: So if he gets into that roster and somehow he

572
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 3: becomes a starter there, how can you not consider him?

573
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 1: Right?

574
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 3: He has to be part of the pictures so very

575
00:25:58,480 --> 00:25:59,280
Speaker 3: crowded in there.

576
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,320
Speaker 1: I want to go a couple point by point here.

577
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,119
Speaker 1: So you think Testaman is the better fit next to

578
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,160
Speaker 1: Adams than McKinney, like his profile and his attributes fit better,

579
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:09,840
Speaker 1: particularly in a double pivot. I do.

580
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 2: I do?

581
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,680
Speaker 3: I do because I think I think he gives a

582
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,600
Speaker 3: little bit more offensively and he can still do the

583
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:16,560
Speaker 3: defensive work.

584
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,720
Speaker 1: That's where I'm leaning to as well, because I think

585
00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,239
Speaker 1: Wes McKinney, as like a number eight in a four

586
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 1: to three three makes so much more. It's better for

587
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,680
Speaker 1: his best qualities than being a double pivot, particularly where

588
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 1: Adams one of his specialty is defensive transition first and foremost.

589
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,359
Speaker 1: But when you want to press if he can just

590
00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 1: if somebody can hold the space, and he can, and

591
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: he's like freed to like lead a press and go

592
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: a little bit more aggressive. McKenny is somebody who also

593
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 1: is best when he's moving and he's all action. So

594
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 1: if you have Tanner Testsman next to Tyler Adams, that

595
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,320
Speaker 1: frees up Adams, Okay, go hunt for the ball. I'll

596
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,520
Speaker 1: be covering you. I'll be holding the space. And then

597
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,119
Speaker 1: also with Tyler Adams, he's got limitations in possession. Tanner

598
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 1: Testsaman is a better like keep lying playmaker than McKenny.

599
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:03,919
Speaker 1: McKenny is better at crashing the box and getting forward,

600
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 1: his intelligence in his runs and timing and motor. I

601
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:08,920
Speaker 1: just think that those qualities are better in a four

602
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: to three three than a three four to two one

603
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:12,399
Speaker 1: where you're a double pivot and you have to be

604
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 1: sitting next to a midfield er. So again, I could

605
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,399
Speaker 1: go both ways because McKenny is so very good, but

606
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: I think stylistically Testman would be the better fit. And

607
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:22,960
Speaker 1: that comes down to the philosophical argument. Do you want

608
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: your best eleven players and try to figure it out,

609
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,240
Speaker 1: or do you want what makes the most sense for

610
00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,399
Speaker 1: the collective, for the group, for the system. And I

611
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,199
Speaker 1: think that's Testament in that situation. On Johnny Cardoso, he's

612
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: the closest in terms of defensive acumen and quality to

613
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 1: Tyler Adams. There is no replacement for Tyler Adams. Let

614
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,600
Speaker 1: me be abundantly clear. Nobody covers the ground that he does.

615
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,960
Speaker 1: Nobody does what he does on the field. Johnny Cardoso

616
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,600
Speaker 1: can be that defensive shield in a better way than Testman. Again,

617
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 1: Testament is a better passer. But that's kind of where

618
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,920
Speaker 1: I keep coming back to that. Cardoso a Athletico Madrid.

619
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 1: If he's ever able to replicate his club form four country,

620
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: he should be a lock, but he hasn't been because

621
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 1: he just hasn't shown that for the United States, and

622
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 1: he's been injured as well. So I would put Johnny

623
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 1: Cardoso ahead of Unus Musa because I'd think that there

624
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:16,679
Speaker 1: are less players like Cardozo then like Musa. But Musa

625
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,960
Speaker 1: was not just a starter at the last World Cup

626
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,080
Speaker 1: at a young age, so one of the best players,

627
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:23,639
Speaker 1: and he was one of the guys. To your points,

628
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,960
Speaker 1: have you just felt safe? If you're in trouble, you

629
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 1: play it into Musa. It doesn't matter if he's got

630
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:30,879
Speaker 1: a defender on him. It doesn't matter if you skip

631
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,119
Speaker 1: it at his shit. I trust him to bring it

632
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 1: down and dribble out of pressure or make the right decision.

633
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 1: And he's just become completely lost after that move to

634
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 1: ac Milan, and then now he's at Atlanta and not

635
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 1: really playing as much as hoped. He's been shuttled out

636
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: to like a wide midfield role like he was a

637
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: little bit at Valencia four years ago. So it's really

638
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,000
Speaker 1: confound and given how good we know this player is,

639
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,000
Speaker 1: he just hasn't shown it at his club.

640
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 3: There's one more player that we didn't mention, and that's

641
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 3: Aiden Morris, right, because let's.

642
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 2: Not forget that.

643
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 3: And this is why we could actually have a show

644
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,280
Speaker 3: just on the central midfield role here, because because I'd

645
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 3: tell Aiden Morris, you know, the season he's having at

646
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 3: Burrow and what what and how difficult that is where

647
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 3: he is, and that he weak in and week out

648
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 3: just sweats it out, you know, and in a very

649
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:26,719
Speaker 3: difficult championship. I wouldn't count him out either, you know.

650
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,640
Speaker 3: So like he's he still plays every week, he still

651
00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 3: plays hard every week and and he can help defensively

652
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,040
Speaker 3: in and again, you know, it's a good point you

653
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 3: made about the difference between Testament and and McKinney, where

654
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 3: you know, obviously Testament can help you in a lot

655
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,400
Speaker 3: more ways, in particular when you have the ball. But

656
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 3: I also think that that's that's up to the coach, right,

657
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,680
Speaker 3: because there's no wrong there, And it depends on whether

658
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:51,720
Speaker 3: and we're going to be in a group where we're

659
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,239
Speaker 3: gonna be expected to have the ball more or we're

660
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 3: gonna be able to defend more.

661
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 2: So that's why I.

662
00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,239
Speaker 3: Think the draw will be, uh, well, we'll make up

663
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 3: those little differences.

664
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, again, that is an interesting point that I hadn't

665
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 1: really considered of Hey, what what will the group stage

666
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,960
Speaker 1: look like? And and beyond that, it's just gonna be

667
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 1: so hard to pick between Burholt to Rodin Cordozo, Morris Musa.

668
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 1: Like Shaan Zawatski I don't really think should be in

669
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 1: the mix on I'm only saying his name because Pochettino

670
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 1: keeps calling him up. He keeps on getting injured before

671
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:23,760
Speaker 1: the camp, but he continues to be called up. James

672
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,120
Speaker 1: Sands has gotten a call up again. I think that

673
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 1: Zawatskin Sands are so far away, but I don't know.

674
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 1: Weird things happen in terms of form, and I think

675
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 1: Pochettino has shown he's not afraid to bench convention conventionally

676
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,160
Speaker 1: who we think or started like again, it's still crazy

677
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,479
Speaker 1: that like Musa is in with the team or a

678
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 1: crazy concept. I think on merit it has been the

679
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 1: right decision. Western McKinney was left out in November, so

680
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 1: it Postino can be a little bit of a wild card.

681
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 1: That's why like I'm so careful with like locks because

682
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,120
Speaker 1: I think he's shown that he doesn't really care and

683
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,480
Speaker 1: it's gonna keep changing, but moving forward attacking midfield or

684
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: says wingers talking about the two line in the in

685
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,160
Speaker 1: the three four to two one, or if they tweak

686
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,080
Speaker 1: anything and there's moments where they need to go with

687
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 1: two proper wingers, there's plenty of options here. Christian poolisic

688
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,800
Speaker 1: obviously a locke, obviously the most important attacking piece to

689
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,160
Speaker 1: this group. What he does in big moments and the

690
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,640
Speaker 1: quality in the final third will be a deciding factor

691
00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: to how far this team goes. He is up for it,

692
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 1: He's in his prime. He is insane for him with

693
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: ac Milan generally over the last two years, whenever he's available,

694
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,040
Speaker 1: he's been their best attacker. Head of Portugal's Raphael Aaau.

695
00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:31,080
Speaker 1: It's a crazy sentence to say, and we take for

696
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 1: granted as in this is an American player who is

697
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: clearly the most important attacker for acm LAN. For me,

698
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,880
Speaker 1: so Christian Poulisic, then Malik Tillman and Tim Weya are

699
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: also locks. I think that they're gonna bring six here,

700
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,080
Speaker 1: Tap and I believe you agree with me. So I

701
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,040
Speaker 1: think those three are locks, and you could if Gioranas fit,

702
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,240
Speaker 1: I think he's probably a lock too good because everything

703
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 1: we said last week that special quality he has. Then

704
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,520
Speaker 1: pick two of Diego Luna, Alejandros and Dejas, Brendan Aronson

705
00:31:58,640 --> 00:31:59,720
Speaker 1: and maybe Jack McGlynn.

706
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:00,840
Speaker 2: That's exactly right.

707
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,240
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it depends on the formation. Right

708
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 3: now we're going into this three four two one, which

709
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 3: is what Pochetino is playing. But you also have to

710
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,760
Speaker 3: think about, when you're a coach, about changing the formation

711
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 3: because that's likely what may happen according to certain results.

712
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 3: Right so you may have to go into a more

713
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 3: offensive type of setup. And if you go to you know,

714
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,800
Speaker 3: three up top all of a sudden, then you have

715
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 3: to have the players for that, and you have to

716
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 3: be prepared for that.

717
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:27,280
Speaker 2: I haven't said that.

718
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,040
Speaker 3: There's no question Polistic, Tillman and Wea are locks. You

719
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 3: need those guys. They can They all three of them

720
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 3: can make a difference. I would add Giorina to that

721
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 3: for all of the things that we mentioned last week,

722
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:42,600
Speaker 3: including that he and Polisic are the I think the

723
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 3: best final third playmakers.

724
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 2: They can make plays. You know.

725
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 3: I think it's it'll just be a matter of whether

726
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 3: I think on Geo's case, it'll be a matter of

727
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 3: whether he is number one fit, like let's just say

728
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,320
Speaker 3: by fit, let's just say an uninjured during that side.

729
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 3: So obviously he makes the team, and the other is

730
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,800
Speaker 3: hopefully he gets to play a bunch of games. Because

731
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 3: he's still at twenty three, he's still a young player.

732
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,760
Speaker 3: He needs to play ninety minute games. And unless he

733
00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,120
Speaker 3: can get those ten twelve ninety minute games between now

734
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:14,680
Speaker 3: and the World Cup, I don't see him as a

735
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,760
Speaker 3: starter here, but I do see him coming in the

736
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,480
Speaker 3: lass fifteen twenty minutes and making a difference in games.

737
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,120
Speaker 3: Are we likely going to need a goal? So I think,

738
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 3: no question a lot. The rest of it is difficult.

739
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,719
Speaker 3: You know what you get out of Aaronson, it's going

740
00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:31,320
Speaker 3: to be that hard work pressing, you know style. That's

741
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 3: not necessarily a position you want off the bench, you know,

742
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:38,640
Speaker 3: like that's normally a starter that does that and just

743
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 3: works for you know, seventy eighty minutes and then you

744
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 3: put somebody else in. So I'm not sure how he

745
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 3: fits into that. Sindajaz has a lot of quality. The

746
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:49,720
Speaker 3: other thing about sinde has I think that's a little

747
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 3: bit more specials. He's really good around the box, he's

748
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 3: a good finisher, he has a good understanding of the game,

749
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,040
Speaker 3: he's smart, plays for a big club obviously under a

750
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 3: lot of pressure every week. That makes a difference too.

751
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:05,800
Speaker 3: So I think he's certainly in the picture. And then

752
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,919
Speaker 3: you know, it would almost be how can I say,

753
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 3: you know, with Posatino's trust in Luna and and sort

754
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 3: of Luna, you know, it's just like we have Tim

755
00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,279
Speaker 3: Reeen being the bridge for the whole team. Luna has been,

756
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 3: to me the bridge between the soft team that we

757
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,280
Speaker 3: used to have and the.

758
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,960
Speaker 2: Harder US team that we've become.

759
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,200
Speaker 3: So we've gone back to being that hard American team

760
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 3: that we used to be in the past, and I

761
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,360
Speaker 3: think Luna has been the bridge for that.

762
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:39,040
Speaker 1: I like that point, and he's believe him and Orston

763
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:41,080
Speaker 1: and Freeze. I think I've been the three most used

764
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:45,120
Speaker 1: players in this calendar year, and it's just be hard

765
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:46,839
Speaker 1: to see him not being on the roster. And that's

766
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,759
Speaker 1: another good point of just his mentality, and he has

767
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: been part of that mentality switch. So again, I do

768
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 1: think that there's gonna be six. We'll get to the

769
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 1: full roster very soon. But the last position is center forwards,

770
00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 1: and I think this is one of the places we

771
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,920
Speaker 1: have a small disagreement in that I think Balgin is

772
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,560
Speaker 1: the only lock because in a World Cup you're at

773
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 1: this position more than any other position. If somebody gets

774
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,279
Speaker 1: in form, I think Hodgi Wright and Riccardo Peppy have

775
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:16,080
Speaker 1: the inside track. But if between March and May, Patrick

776
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 1: Jermonk scores ten goals and ten championship games, if Josh

777
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,000
Speaker 1: Sargent scores ten goals in ten championship games, and Brian

778
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:24,760
Speaker 1: White starts the twenty twenty six MS season on fire,

779
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,040
Speaker 1: if Peppi and Wright go cold, I think it's gonna

780
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:31,400
Speaker 1: be Balligan plus some combination of whoever is in the

781
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:34,320
Speaker 1: best form or if Right and Peppy are just adequate,

782
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,800
Speaker 1: but if Ajimong White Sergeant, or if there's a mystery

783
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 1: player to come through here gets extremely hot, they're gonna

784
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:41,880
Speaker 1: be on the plane.

785
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:42,520
Speaker 2: Yeah.

786
00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,319
Speaker 3: I don't disagree with that, but I just like to

787
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,560
Speaker 3: have my opinions on the line a little bit more.

788
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:49,600
Speaker 2: I'm taking the risk. I'm taking the risk on this.

789
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,600
Speaker 3: I don't disagree that. I'm not could have a great

790
00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,720
Speaker 3: second half of the season there. However, I don't really

791
00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,239
Speaker 3: see that happening. I just don't, and I'm trying to

792
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,239
Speaker 3: make the best prediction i can looking into the future now,

793
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:05,680
Speaker 3: and I think this is what it's going to look like.

794
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:10,120
Speaker 3: I've always been a Josh Sargent fan, and not just

795
00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:12,200
Speaker 3: that I had an opportunity to coach him in two

796
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,320
Speaker 3: separate cycles. I brought him up as a younger player,

797
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 3: which is unusual for the U twenties. I brought him

798
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,200
Speaker 3: up to play. He actually, you know, this is an

799
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,440
Speaker 3: interesting thing about Josh Sargent. Joss Sargent played the U

800
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,000
Speaker 3: twenty World Cup before he played the U seventeen World Cup. Yes,

801
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 3: so I watched him play in the U seventeen qualifier,

802
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,120
Speaker 3: and I remember talking to John Hackworth and saying to John, John,

803
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,719
Speaker 3: listen to do you mind if I'm gonna take this

804
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:38,880
Speaker 3: kid to the U twenty World Cup that's in a

805
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,160
Speaker 3: couple of months. So he's like, no that, you know,

806
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,040
Speaker 3: let me talk to his parents a little bit.

807
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:44,520
Speaker 2: So so he talked to.

808
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,799
Speaker 3: Josh's parents and then I call the parents myself and

809
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:49,479
Speaker 3: I was like, I got to take them.

810
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 2: I got he's ready for the U twenties. I know

811
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:53,759
Speaker 2: he's sixteen, but he's ready to go.

812
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,080
Speaker 3: So I do have a soft spot for Josh because he's.

813
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 2: A very very smart number nine.

814
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:01,960
Speaker 3: So I'm hoping that he can compete for this spot

815
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 3: and he still has a chance, but at this point

816
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:08,680
Speaker 3: the other guys are are are way ahead and likely

817
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 3: have a distance that's hard to make up.

818
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, it seems that Pochattino does not have the same

819
00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,120
Speaker 1: fondness for Sergeant. He has gotten called back in when

820
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 1: he's been in great form, but that's not always happened,

821
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 1: and he didn't have a good showing in September and

822
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,479
Speaker 1: he hasn't been back since. We'll see what happens. And and

823
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,680
Speaker 1: again Pochatino, I don't think that he's that stubborn where

824
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:27,400
Speaker 1: he's gonna be like, well, I didn't think you were

825
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:29,920
Speaker 1: good before, so we'll see. I think that is the

826
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:33,440
Speaker 1: openness and competitiveness of this group. So that's all positions.

827
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to Tabramas's twenty twenty six World Cup

828
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,520
Speaker 1: roster prediction right after a quick break. We will be

829
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:41,440
Speaker 1: right back with that, then some inside the locker room

830
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 1: stories and much more. Please rate review, Subscribe to Inside

831
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,520
Speaker 1: American Soccer with Tom Bogan tab Ramos wherever you get

832
00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 1: you podcasts. Welcome back into the show. After going through

833
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,480
Speaker 1: position by position, the questions, all the talking points, all

834
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: of the decisions that Mariso Pochatino and his staff will

835
00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:07,319
Speaker 1: have to make in the summer, toad Ramos, here, as

836
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 1: we sit at the end of November, what is your

837
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,920
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six World Cup squad for the United States?

838
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,719
Speaker 3: All right, this is certainly a tough one, but well

839
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 3: we'll give it a shot.

840
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:17,279
Speaker 1: So and goal.

841
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Freeze, Turner and Schelti in the back.

842
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 3: We're gonna have a back three as we're I'm selecting

843
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 3: here in the three four two one that's most likely scenario.

844
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:32,319
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Miles Robinson and Alex Freeman on

845
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:35,480
Speaker 3: the right side, Richard's in the middle, McKenzie and Reem

846
00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:39,680
Speaker 3: on the left side as the wingbacks, destined Scali on

847
00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,880
Speaker 3: one side, although Scalli and Freeman I think are interchangeable

848
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,279
Speaker 3: for me, That's why I put him there. On the

849
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,839
Speaker 3: opposite side, I have Jedi Robinson and Max Arfsen as

850
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:55,600
Speaker 3: central midfielders. I'm gonna have Adams McKinney, Tessaman Moosa, and

851
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,520
Speaker 3: I'm leaning towards roll Down as the other one as

852
00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:07,120
Speaker 3: the two withdrawn strikers let's say wingers types Polisic, Tillman,

853
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 3: Rain Nowwea, and I'm gonna go with Zendejas and Luna

854
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 3: as the other two and up front Balligan, Peppi and Right.

855
00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:20,880
Speaker 1: I think that's a really strong looking squad. And for me,

856
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:25,000
Speaker 1: the ones that tap tell me if I'm wrong, just

857
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:27,800
Speaker 1: just by eyeballing it. That would leave the first cuts

858
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:34,080
Speaker 1: air quote would be Aida Morris, Austin, Trusty and Patrick Adjamon.

859
00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:38,560
Speaker 3: Likely and Berholz right Burholters also fighting position.

860
00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: The first one.

861
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,239
Speaker 3: Yeah, and he's right there, so so yeah, it's it's

862
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:44,400
Speaker 3: tough no matter how you look at it. But but

863
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:47,160
Speaker 3: remember what we talked about at the beginning. Right likely

864
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:50,960
Speaker 3: the last three or four players on the roster, Postino

865
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 3: may may go with something completely different. I don't know

866
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,480
Speaker 3: if he goes to Securius from the U twenties. I

867
00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:59,400
Speaker 3: don't know if he goes to Brooklyn Rains or Kramaski

868
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,399
Speaker 3: or you well, because these are the things you think

869
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:02,799
Speaker 3: about sometimes at the end of the roster.

870
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:03,920
Speaker 2: You're building for the future.

871
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:06,879
Speaker 3: So we don't know on these, but yeah, it's it's

872
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,600
Speaker 3: gonna be tough those final three or four spots.

873
00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:12,399
Speaker 1: Of course, and I'm gonna give my starting eleven here

874
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 1: that will change probably fifteen times between now and the summer.

875
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:21,560
Speaker 1: But Matt Freeze and gold in goal, Miles Robinson, Chris Richards,

876
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:23,839
Speaker 1: and I'm still gonna give it to Tim Reim as

877
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:27,040
Speaker 1: a left sided center back until further notice. Wingbacks would

878
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:29,799
Speaker 1: be dest and Arfston, though I keep trying to talk

879
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:31,600
Speaker 1: to myself into Tim Waya as the right wing back.

880
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 1: Dest I think is it provides too much quality to

881
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,960
Speaker 1: be left out of that spot holding midfielders. I will

882
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,040
Speaker 1: go Adams and Testament, as we spoke about earlier. I

883
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,400
Speaker 1: think that Testament is the better fit next to Adams,

884
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:46,080
Speaker 1: attacking midfielders Pulisic and Wea, which means Millie Tillman is

885
00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,680
Speaker 1: a tough luck drop to the bench. Him and Raina

886
00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:50,960
Speaker 1: I think will be appearing in all games, whether they

887
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:52,759
Speaker 1: are starting or not. And then up top it'd be

888
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: Balgain ahead of Pepier, right.

889
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:56,399
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you can't can't argue with that. That's

890
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,759
Speaker 3: a strong lineup. That's pretty much the best that we

891
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:05,800
Speaker 3: can do. And yeah, I would look forward to seeing that.

892
00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,160
Speaker 2: That lineup in our first game next June.

893
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,520
Speaker 1: Praying for no injuries. We've been sitting here always trying

894
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:13,160
Speaker 1: to look at the future r what it would remember

895
00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,279
Speaker 1: leading towards twenty twenty two, and then even after it

896
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:20,920
Speaker 1: it was man, it's gonna be Pulisic and Raina and

897
00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:25,239
Speaker 1: Adams and McKinney and Sergeant and Anthony Robinson, and I

898
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:28,240
Speaker 1: don't know if those six guys started a single game together.

899
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping for some better injury luck and some

900
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,600
Speaker 1: better form to make this all happen, because it was

901
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,000
Speaker 1: always the elusive when when we get our best eleven,

902
00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:38,640
Speaker 1: when we got our best eleven, and then it never happened.

903
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,640
Speaker 1: And that's how Again, a guy like Brendon Aronson didn't

904
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:43,920
Speaker 1: really fit into the best eleven discussions in the past,

905
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 1: but he's always been a valuable squad player. He still

906
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 1: has a chance to make this roster. He's got like

907
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:50,400
Speaker 1: fifty three caps because he is always fit, he is

908
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:52,040
Speaker 1: always consistent, and you know what he's getting with the

909
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:54,719
Speaker 1: work great. So while we talk about these best elevens,

910
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:56,440
Speaker 1: I hope that we get to see that group that

911
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:59,560
Speaker 1: we're just naming here, But unfortunately of recent history is

912
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:00,680
Speaker 1: a guy we might not.

913
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:02,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's unlikely.

914
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,680
Speaker 3: Actually it's unlikely that we'll see that starting eleven, but

915
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:09,640
Speaker 3: we'd love to see it. Yeah, there are always injuries,

916
00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,120
Speaker 3: you know, that's the difficult part. I think if there's

917
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 3: one thing that at this point we have to give

918
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,279
Speaker 3: Pushatino a lot of credit for is the fact that

919
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:19,839
Speaker 3: he has built death in this roster. Yet I think

920
00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:23,440
Speaker 3: the team doesn't drop that much no matter who's not

921
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 3: in there, right, I would take exception to potentially Adams

922
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:32,680
Speaker 3: and Richards. Those two spots really hard to replace. Other

923
00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 3: than that, and obviously, of course you know Polisic being

924
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:40,279
Speaker 3: our best player, but I think can be replaced by

925
00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:43,880
Speaker 3: what we've seen so far. So yeah, I think a

926
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,200
Speaker 3: lot of credit to Pushatino on his staff for haven't

927
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,680
Speaker 3: built you know, a roster that I think is ready

928
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:48,880
Speaker 3: to go.

929
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,239
Speaker 1: Let's talk more about Tyler Adams and we're gonna go

930
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: inside the locker room where Tap tells a story from

931
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:55,200
Speaker 1: us playing your coaching days. Today, we're gonna stick with

932
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:58,760
Speaker 1: the coaching days. And Tyler Adams was a shining start

933
00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:01,120
Speaker 1: with the New York Red Bulls academy. When you talk

934
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:03,839
Speaker 1: to people around that team when they were bringing him

935
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:06,960
Speaker 1: into the first team, people, if not looking at his

936
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,120
Speaker 1: baby face at the time as a sixteen year old boy,

937
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:10,840
Speaker 1: you'd never know it by the way he played. I

938
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: remember when he was sixteen and he played in a

939
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:17,040
Speaker 1: friendly against Chelsea for the Red Bulls and he you know,

940
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 1: it was very clear, Oh this is this is a guy.

941
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:20,280
Speaker 1: This is a guy with a really, really big future.

942
00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:23,160
Speaker 1: So the U twenty one Cup is the proving ground

943
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:27,320
Speaker 1: for these best talents within the pool when they're available

944
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 1: for selection. So Tap, tell us about when Tyler was

945
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,040
Speaker 1: first working with you with the U twenty national team.

946
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:36,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, Tyler was a really interesting one because you know,

947
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,360
Speaker 3: as I mentioned before about Josh Sargent, you know, jumping

948
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:42,640
Speaker 3: an age group and going directly to the U twenties.

949
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:45,960
Speaker 3: It's not something that happens often because we want players,

950
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:48,560
Speaker 3: at least at the time when I was a technical director,

951
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:51,160
Speaker 3: we wanted all the youth national players to succeed where

952
00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:51,440
Speaker 3: they are.

953
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 2: It's not just a matter of.

954
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,680
Speaker 3: Getting moved up just to get a few minutes here

955
00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:57,280
Speaker 3: or there. We're only moving up players if the players

956
00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:00,879
Speaker 3: are actually going to play and be a significant part

957
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:02,920
Speaker 3: of that team. I think that's where the value is.

958
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,240
Speaker 3: And I remember calling Jesse Marsh because I had played,

959
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:09,959
Speaker 3: you know, I had watched our U seventeens play, which

960
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,279
Speaker 3: at the time we're still coached by I think John

961
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:15,480
Speaker 3: Hackworth still and I remember watching Tyler Adams play and

962
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 3: I was like, wow, this this kid, he can It's

963
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,880
Speaker 3: so easy for him to get around, right. So I

964
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:24,359
Speaker 3: called Jesse Marsh, he was the coach of the Red

965
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,600
Speaker 3: Bulls at the time, and spoke to him about him

966
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:28,640
Speaker 3: and I said, hey, you know, I'm thinking of bringing

967
00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:30,680
Speaker 3: him up to you twenties. What do you think about this,

968
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:34,439
Speaker 3: you know type thing? And Jesse saying, hey, I don't

969
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:36,920
Speaker 3: have any problems throwing them into the pro games here,

970
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:38,319
Speaker 3: so I think he's gonna be.

971
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:39,120
Speaker 2: Just fine with you.

972
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,120
Speaker 3: And I was like, okay, well, you know, that's that's

973
00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:44,799
Speaker 3: great to hear, because I you know, sometimes as a coach,

974
00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:47,000
Speaker 3: you obviously talked to all the coaches, but you want

975
00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 3: a little bit of a reassurance from their own clubs,

976
00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:52,080
Speaker 3: because that's at the end of the day, the club

977
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,839
Speaker 3: coaches who sees the player every day, right, and how

978
00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:57,400
Speaker 3: hard they work. And so I brought Tyler Adams in

979
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:00,560
Speaker 3: a little bit skeptical still, although I I wanted to

980
00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:02,839
Speaker 3: give him a chance, because once you move them up,

981
00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:04,719
Speaker 3: it's hard for a player to get moved back down

982
00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 3: to their own age group.

983
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:07,080
Speaker 2: And so I brought him in.

984
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,560
Speaker 3: And I remember we had a game in Carson, you know,

985
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:12,920
Speaker 3: right outside of the Galaxy Stadium. At the time, it

986
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,239
Speaker 3: was called the Home Depot Center, right, and we have

987
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:18,279
Speaker 3: a game there. I forgot who we were playing. It

988
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:20,400
Speaker 3: was a scrimmage. It might have been against another country,

989
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:22,840
Speaker 3: but it was a scrimmage. And I put Tyler Adams

990
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:24,960
Speaker 3: in the first half, and I was like, you know,

991
00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:26,480
Speaker 3: he's a young kid, but let me just let me

992
00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:29,239
Speaker 3: just start them anyway and see what happens. If I

993
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,120
Speaker 3: were to tell you when we came out at halftime,

994
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:33,760
Speaker 3: I gave him the captain's band for the second half.

995
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:38,400
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, he just ate up the field.

996
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:39,520
Speaker 2: He ate it up.

997
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,520
Speaker 3: He was telling everybody else what to do. I mean,

998
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:44,880
Speaker 3: I thought he would be a little bit shy. He

999
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:49,000
Speaker 3: was the furthest from So you know, I'm fortunate enough

1000
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,439
Speaker 3: that I've had an opportunity to be around a lot

1001
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:53,520
Speaker 3: of these players and coach a lot of these players.

1002
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:55,800
Speaker 2: Tyler is certainly unique.

1003
00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:59,000
Speaker 3: He takes things to the next level, doesn't take no

1004
00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:02,120
Speaker 3: for an answer, and he goes after every ball like.

1005
00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:03,319
Speaker 2: He's gonna win every one of them.

1006
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:08,440
Speaker 3: So amazing that the Tyler Adams Uh sort of I

1007
00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:10,399
Speaker 3: don't want to say finding because I didn't find him,

1008
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:13,200
Speaker 3: but the decision to bring him up ended up being

1009
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 3: a really easy one.

1010
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 1: And tap, he's like the same exact way in training

1011
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:19,399
Speaker 1: from what I've heard. Is that accurate with Uh? When

1012
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 1: you were coaching.

1013
00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:23,080
Speaker 2: Him, He's exactly the same way in training. He's just

1014
00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:23,640
Speaker 2: as hard.

1015
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:27,040
Speaker 3: I would even debate that eating breakfast, he's the same.

1016
00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:29,320
Speaker 3: He gets there as fast as you can and.

1017
00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:33,000
Speaker 2: Everything, everything is full speed. Everything's full speed.

1018
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:36,000
Speaker 1: Love to have those one speed, You'll love.

1019
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:37,360
Speaker 2: To have these players on your team.

1020
00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:41,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, and with his like again, it's it's super interesting

1021
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:44,240
Speaker 1: to me, like at that level as players are developing physically,

1022
00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:46,920
Speaker 1: but they're developing mentally too, And it sounds like at

1023
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:48,920
Speaker 1: the U twenty level, it's difficult to say something like

1024
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,520
Speaker 1: coach on the field, but it seems like Tyler's brain

1025
00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:54,600
Speaker 1: could match how fast his likes with the ground he covers,

1026
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:57,560
Speaker 1: which again at that level is is pretty rare.

1027
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question, and and and don't forget that sometimes

1028
00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:02,759
Speaker 3: we think, okay, twenty three year old going to the

1029
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:06,520
Speaker 3: senior national team has a sort of a big step

1030
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 3: to take us to some veterans.

1031
00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:09,200
Speaker 2: Around or whatever else.

1032
00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:12,680
Speaker 3: But the difference between let's say a fifteen year old

1033
00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:16,680
Speaker 3: and a nineteen year old, it's really big, you know, mentally,

1034
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,279
Speaker 3: you know. And when he could come into like an

1035
00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:23,839
Speaker 3: under twenty camp and start running within five minutes, start

1036
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:27,520
Speaker 3: running the show and coining whoties to go where, I mean,

1037
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 3: you know you have someone.

1038
00:47:28,680 --> 00:47:29,799
Speaker 2: Special there for sure.

1039
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:35,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, what a leader, future captain. Incredible early career at

1040
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 1: the Red Bulls and then off to Europe and now

1041
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:39,200
Speaker 1: he's at Bournemouth. What a what a special player he is,

1042
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:41,080
Speaker 1: and he was alsome at the last World Cup and

1043
00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:44,279
Speaker 1: hoping for you know, further health for him, while that

1044
00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:46,920
Speaker 1: was an issue previously and kind of when he went

1045
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:48,920
Speaker 1: to Leipzig, when he left the Red Bulls, he was

1046
00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:51,279
Speaker 1: fit in for him for the World Cup. He's really

1047
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:53,719
Speaker 1: good and it's been it's been good on that front

1048
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:57,160
Speaker 1: since and hopefully that may continue and he continues to

1049
00:47:57,160 --> 00:47:59,280
Speaker 1: play all the minutes he's doing for Bournemouth. What a player.

1050
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:02,920
Speaker 1: Let's go inside the notebook here with a couple three stories,

1051
00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:05,319
Speaker 1: whether I've broken them or things that you need to

1052
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,720
Speaker 1: know around the national team. The first one isn't directly

1053
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:09,160
Speaker 1: related to the national team, but I think it is

1054
00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:12,440
Speaker 1: big news and something that will have an impact moving forward.

1055
00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:14,840
Speaker 1: Columbus Crew head coach wilf for Nanci is going to

1056
00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:17,600
Speaker 1: be named Celtic's new manager. It is interesting to me

1057
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:20,480
Speaker 1: in a number of ways. One, he firmly, firmly deserves it.

1058
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:24,160
Speaker 1: He's French born, but he came to Canada when he

1059
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:26,880
Speaker 1: was a young Coloy. He was coaching like amateur soccer

1060
00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:28,960
Speaker 1: before he worked his way into Montreal and then to

1061
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:32,480
Speaker 1: the Columbus Crew. He is a defining manager of this

1062
00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:36,080
Speaker 1: era of Major League Soccer. Aiden Morris credits him with

1063
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,840
Speaker 1: his development. Darlington Nagbee played probably the best soccer of

1064
00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:43,279
Speaker 1: his very very great career under him, so Watsky has

1065
00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:45,800
Speaker 1: gotten much better. So Watsky and Orson would be nowhere

1066
00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:48,480
Speaker 1: near the picture if not for the development elite that

1067
00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:51,760
Speaker 1: they took under Wilfrid Nanci and everything that they did. Personally,

1068
00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:55,160
Speaker 1: he's gonna go to Celtic. Will he bring anybody with

1069
00:48:55,239 --> 00:48:57,560
Speaker 1: him again? I know Aiden Morris wants to work with

1070
00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:00,600
Speaker 1: him again, he is desperate for that, but I would

1071
00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:02,600
Speaker 1: doubt that he'd leave Burrow for Celtic and the money

1072
00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:05,760
Speaker 1: thing there. I think it's gonna be interesting. He's somebody

1073
00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,600
Speaker 1: that respects the hell out of Major League Soccer because

1074
00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,640
Speaker 1: he's worked here. He knows to the level. I could

1075
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:12,760
Speaker 1: see him trying to sign what even whether it's somebody

1076
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:16,040
Speaker 1: from Columbus or like, he knows the league. So maybe

1077
00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:18,760
Speaker 1: this is gonna have a knock on effect for American

1078
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:20,880
Speaker 1: or MLS based players. Going to Celtic and going to

1079
00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:23,400
Speaker 1: Europe a little bit more is also going to have

1080
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:26,640
Speaker 1: an impact on the American players, the domestic players coming

1081
00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:28,880
Speaker 1: out of the Columbus Crew, what do they do with

1082
00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:30,960
Speaker 1: this coaching search do they hot like? There is no

1083
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:33,359
Speaker 1: replacing wil for Nazi just straight up, he has been

1084
00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:36,200
Speaker 1: review looked at as the best head coach in this

1085
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:38,440
Speaker 1: league over the last few years and the way that

1086
00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:40,920
Speaker 1: he empowers and develops players of all ages. He's a

1087
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:44,680
Speaker 1: one to one, but somebody like Taja brun Is a

1088
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:48,800
Speaker 1: talented U twenty player, way too soon for him to

1089
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:50,960
Speaker 1: be talking about this cycle, but for cycles in the future,

1090
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:53,520
Speaker 1: for the players that they are bringing through their academy

1091
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:55,759
Speaker 1: into their first team. Wolf for Nazi has been a

1092
00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:58,400
Speaker 1: cheap coade for helping develop all these players who the

1093
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,440
Speaker 1: next person will be is to be important for that

1094
00:50:01,480 --> 00:50:03,160
Speaker 1: pipeline continuing in Columbus.

1095
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:05,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, and this is this is a big move right

1096
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:10,920
Speaker 3: to have basically an MLS bread coach, to to take

1097
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:13,120
Speaker 3: a big European club because at the end of the day,

1098
00:50:13,120 --> 00:50:15,680
Speaker 3: Celtic is a big European club with a lot of pressure.

1099
00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:18,440
Speaker 3: You know, they have to win things and I know that.

1100
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:21,360
Speaker 3: You know, the Scottish League is not the most competitive league,

1101
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:23,520
Speaker 3: but it is a tough league and they do play

1102
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:25,640
Speaker 3: big games at Celtic that are important.

1103
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:27,000
Speaker 2: But this is a great coach.

1104
00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:30,640
Speaker 3: I have the unfortunate story that my last game in

1105
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:32,120
Speaker 3: MLS was played against him.

1106
00:50:32,239 --> 00:50:37,560
Speaker 2: I was coaching. I was coaching Houston. I was coaching Houston.

1107
00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:40,360
Speaker 3: And our last game was in Montreal to close the season.

1108
00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:43,200
Speaker 3: So after that, you know, Houston didn't renew my contract.

1109
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:46,360
Speaker 3: But but but so my last game was against Wilfrid

1110
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:49,239
Speaker 3: Nancy and MLS. But having said that, you know, the

1111
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:52,160
Speaker 3: great thing about this is that he's an excellent coach.

1112
00:50:52,480 --> 00:50:52,640
Speaker 1: You know.

1113
00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:55,360
Speaker 3: I think for all the things that you said, he

1114
00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:58,279
Speaker 3: has the respect you know obviously, you know, you know,

1115
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:01,640
Speaker 3: it's important when when play is back a coach, you know,

1116
00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:05,640
Speaker 3: and sometimes it could be just because the coach you know,

1117
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:06,399
Speaker 3: puts him on the.

1118
00:51:06,320 --> 00:51:08,279
Speaker 2: Field, you know, day in and day out.

1119
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:10,680
Speaker 3: But but in this case, I think there's a lot

1120
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:13,759
Speaker 3: of substance there. He's been a great coach. It wasn't

1121
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:15,959
Speaker 3: just this year, was it just last year. It wasn't

1122
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:18,480
Speaker 3: just the year before. I know, when I was in

1123
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:21,160
Speaker 3: the league, that's likely the coach where I looked at

1124
00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:23,239
Speaker 3: what he did and I was like, wow, he he

1125
00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:26,040
Speaker 3: just really makes his teams play however he does it.

1126
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:29,000
Speaker 3: He's a special coach and and I'm glad to see

1127
00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:32,240
Speaker 3: him get this opportunity. It's not gonna be easy because

1128
00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:35,560
Speaker 3: certainly the Scottish Premier League is not MLS.

1129
00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:38,279
Speaker 2: There's there's always you always.

1130
00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:41,239
Speaker 3: Need time to adapt an unfortunate coach, there's not a

1131
00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:43,240
Speaker 3: whole lot of time that they give you to adapt.

1132
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:45,719
Speaker 3: But I think he's a great coach, well deserved, and

1133
00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:46,759
Speaker 3: I'm happy to see him go.

1134
00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:49,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's joining midseason, which is difficult. And let's

1135
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:51,880
Speaker 1: just say the Celtic fans don't think MLS is the

1136
00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:54,480
Speaker 1: greatest league in the world. They they were linked with

1137
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:57,160
Speaker 1: their former manager and postal Clauglue and some other big names,

1138
00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:58,960
Speaker 1: and just from some of the things that I've seen

1139
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:01,080
Speaker 1: on social media, you'll have to win some people over.

1140
00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:02,560
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that he will, because that's the

1141
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:04,040
Speaker 1: kind of guy he is and the kind of coach

1142
00:52:04,080 --> 00:52:06,480
Speaker 1: he is. But I think that's a super interesting one

1143
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,920
Speaker 1: to keep following moving forward. Second one, well, I'll be

1144
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:11,920
Speaker 1: quick here. Sebastian Borhalter and Matt Freeze are the key

1145
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,480
Speaker 1: kind of US national team pool players that are into

1146
00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,920
Speaker 1: the Major League Soccer semifinals. Berhalter and the Vancouver white

1147
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:22,399
Speaker 1: Caps outlasted LFC Instant Classic game to two goes into

1148
00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:25,680
Speaker 1: extra time and then penalties. Vancouver were down to ten

1149
00:52:25,719 --> 00:52:27,879
Speaker 1: men at the start of extra time. A few minutes

1150
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:30,080
Speaker 1: into extra time, they brought on a center back to

1151
00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:32,200
Speaker 1: replace Tristan Blackman, who got a red card. Well, that

1152
00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:34,360
Speaker 1: center back got injured. Then they were out of subs

1153
00:52:34,719 --> 00:52:38,040
Speaker 1: and they played twenty five minutes against Sun Hunkman and

1154
00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:42,440
Speaker 1: and LAFC nine Verse eleven and somehow hung on to

1155
00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:46,279
Speaker 1: get the penalties and won the penalty shootout. Vancouver I

1156
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:47,840
Speaker 1: think are my favorite to get to the final, and

1157
00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:50,239
Speaker 1: Sebastian Baralter playing in the Western Conference Final could be

1158
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,640
Speaker 1: less Cup. Matt Freeze red y CFC Man of the

1159
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:56,040
Speaker 1: Match in their upset win over the Philadelphia Union. Freeze

1160
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:58,640
Speaker 1: going back to his former club, the Philadelphi Union. He

1161
00:52:58,719 --> 00:53:00,799
Speaker 1: was traded to NSCFC because he wanted a chance to

1162
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:02,719
Speaker 1: be a starter somewhere and that turned out to be

1163
00:53:02,719 --> 00:53:04,560
Speaker 1: the best decision, the best move of his career, because

1164
00:53:04,560 --> 00:53:06,680
Speaker 1: he went from the backup at Philly by Andre Blake,

1165
00:53:06,719 --> 00:53:08,920
Speaker 1: who is obviously one of the best goalkeepers in MS history.

1166
00:53:09,080 --> 00:53:12,200
Speaker 1: Freezets his chance at NYCFC, becomes one of the best

1167
00:53:12,239 --> 00:53:13,680
Speaker 1: goalkeepers in the league and now the starter for the

1168
00:53:13,800 --> 00:53:16,480
Speaker 1: US national team. Those are two players, two national team

1169
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:19,080
Speaker 1: players to watch in the final four for Major League

1170
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:21,719
Speaker 1: Soccer and number three. We talked about brettan Aronson a

1171
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:26,399
Speaker 1: little bit before. Leeds manager Daniel Farke defended Aaronson from

1172
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:29,879
Speaker 1: criticism from fans. Aaronson has been criticized a lot by

1173
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:33,920
Speaker 1: the Leeds fans and that doesn't necessarily have anything to

1174
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:37,080
Speaker 1: do with anything other than the Leeds fans criticize all

1175
00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:39,200
Speaker 1: their players. It is a difficult place to play. I've

1176
00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:41,399
Speaker 1: spoke to enough people there. They are very passionate fan base.

1177
00:53:41,680 --> 00:53:45,080
Speaker 1: Farke said, quote, Brendon represents so many skills that we

1178
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:47,080
Speaker 1: want to stand for at Leeds United. He works as

1179
00:53:47,120 --> 00:53:49,520
Speaker 1: socks off, he gives everything, He's relentless, he leaves his

1180
00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:52,759
Speaker 1: shirt on the pitch. It's more than unfair criticism at

1181
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:55,279
Speaker 1: the moment. I like seeing the head coach coming out

1182
00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:57,800
Speaker 1: and saying that, but that means it's pretty bad around

1183
00:53:58,200 --> 00:53:59,839
Speaker 1: the group. If he feels the need to come out

1184
00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:02,839
Speaker 1: talk about that. Brennan has two goal contributions in eight

1185
00:54:02,960 --> 00:54:07,040
Speaker 1: hundred Premier League minutes. His underlying like creativity numbers are

1186
00:54:07,520 --> 00:54:10,800
Speaker 1: in line with a good to decent attacking midfield in

1187
00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:12,799
Speaker 1: the Premier League, which is a really high bar. So

1188
00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:16,680
Speaker 1: what have you made of of Brendan Ronson's time at Elites?

1189
00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:19,080
Speaker 2: For me, it's been really positive, you know.

1190
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:23,279
Speaker 3: I mean, I think we we likely know Aaronson a

1191
00:54:23,280 --> 00:54:27,319
Speaker 3: lot better than then you know the Leaeds fans, and

1192
00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:30,000
Speaker 3: that's what you get. I'm not sure what the expectations

1193
00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:33,239
Speaker 3: are going to be for him, but obviously you know

1194
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:37,080
Speaker 3: what the coach is saying of him leaving everything on

1195
00:54:37,120 --> 00:54:38,640
Speaker 3: the field day in and day out.

1196
00:54:38,680 --> 00:54:39,200
Speaker 2: I'm sure he.

1197
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:42,360
Speaker 3: Does the same in practice, and I think, you know,

1198
00:54:42,440 --> 00:54:45,040
Speaker 3: sometimes the fans don't see that value, right. All they

1199
00:54:45,080 --> 00:54:48,600
Speaker 3: see is that their team is in the relegation zone

1200
00:54:48,680 --> 00:54:51,400
Speaker 3: right now and they have to blame somebody, and obviously

1201
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:53,960
Speaker 3: the form players are the first to be blamed. And

1202
00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:56,840
Speaker 3: it all goes in line, right, it all goes in line. So, okay,

1203
00:54:56,880 --> 00:54:59,160
Speaker 3: so we're not doing well, who do we blame? And

1204
00:54:59,200 --> 00:55:02,480
Speaker 3: that's where the blame goes. But you know, anytime I've

1205
00:55:02,480 --> 00:55:05,640
Speaker 3: seen Aaronson play for Leeds, he always leaves a good

1206
00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:09,439
Speaker 3: impression with me. Obviously, you know, he works as hard

1207
00:55:09,440 --> 00:55:11,120
Speaker 3: as he can and he makes the team better, so

1208
00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:13,360
Speaker 3: I think it's a little bit unfair. But at the

1209
00:55:13,440 --> 00:55:15,719
Speaker 3: end of the day, obviously at the EPL, it's the

1210
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:18,920
Speaker 3: toughest league in the world, and you're supposed to win games,

1211
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:20,800
Speaker 3: and when you don't, you're gonna take blame.

1212
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:24,440
Speaker 1: I think that Brendan Arison had a couple unfair circumstances.

1213
00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:26,640
Speaker 1: The price tag. It's not his fault that they paid

1214
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:28,560
Speaker 1: a lot of money for him, and probably a little

1215
00:55:28,560 --> 00:55:30,920
Speaker 1: bit too much, given if he went to a Buniziga

1216
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:33,200
Speaker 1: team it would not have been that same fee. But

1217
00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:35,960
Speaker 1: also they build him as a number ten, and I

1218
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:39,280
Speaker 1: think that created unfair expectations of the style that he plays.

1219
00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:42,400
Speaker 1: If they call him a number eight or or you

1220
00:55:42,440 --> 00:55:45,320
Speaker 1: know something more that he wasn't expected to be leading

1221
00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:48,879
Speaker 1: the team in creation and popping up with more goals,

1222
00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:50,719
Speaker 1: which again that's not his game. He's great at a

1223
00:55:50,719 --> 00:55:53,040
Speaker 1: lot of things, He's not a traditional number ten. He's

1224
00:55:53,080 --> 00:55:55,719
Speaker 1: more of a modern all action number eight. I think

1225
00:55:55,760 --> 00:55:57,239
Speaker 1: that would have helped him a little bit in terms

1226
00:55:57,440 --> 00:55:59,359
Speaker 1: of the fan reaction, but it's not for a quick

1227
00:55:59,360 --> 00:56:01,759
Speaker 1: break We'll be right back with our big question of

1228
00:56:01,760 --> 00:56:05,200
Speaker 1: the week, Who will be this breakout star at the

1229
00:56:05,200 --> 00:56:16,000
Speaker 1: World Cup? Welcome back in to Inside American Soccer. Before

1230
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:18,359
Speaker 1: we close out the show, we want to tackle one

1231
00:56:18,360 --> 00:56:21,040
Speaker 1: big question this week, and that is looking at the

1232
00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:22,719
Speaker 1: World Cup. We just gave you our roster, we just

1233
00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:25,400
Speaker 1: gave you our starting eleven's that's time to give you

1234
00:56:25,480 --> 00:56:27,359
Speaker 1: who we think is going to be the breakout star

1235
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:30,040
Speaker 1: for the United States at the twenty twenty six World Cup.

1236
00:56:30,080 --> 00:56:31,880
Speaker 1: Tab Let me start with you.

1237
00:56:31,400 --> 00:56:33,360
Speaker 3: You know, there was a couple of different ways to

1238
00:56:33,400 --> 00:56:36,359
Speaker 3: look at this to answer this question. And when we

1239
00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:40,320
Speaker 3: look at breakout stars, you know or you know my question,

1240
00:56:40,360 --> 00:56:43,440
Speaker 3: what's going to be. Are we looking at someone that

1241
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:46,080
Speaker 3: we as a breakout start, someone that we just don't

1242
00:56:46,160 --> 00:56:48,600
Speaker 3: really know yet that's going to break into, you know,

1243
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:51,040
Speaker 3: the team and play an.

1244
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:52,040
Speaker 2: Important part for us.

1245
00:56:52,360 --> 00:56:54,600
Speaker 3: Or are we looking at one of our players who's

1246
00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:57,719
Speaker 3: already there, who could potentially become like a world star

1247
00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:01,600
Speaker 3: after this and I went to I went the ladder

1248
00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:05,400
Speaker 3: because i think I'm looking at a flow Balaguan right now,

1249
00:57:05,719 --> 00:57:08,720
Speaker 3: and I'm thinking I'm going to bank on the US

1250
00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:11,160
Speaker 3: team having a very good run at the World Cup.

1251
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:14,840
Speaker 3: And I'm not jumping on the band wagon because we

1252
00:57:14,920 --> 00:57:17,800
Speaker 3: beat Uruguay, a team that had beatn won three out

1253
00:57:17,800 --> 00:57:20,439
Speaker 3: of the last eighteen games. It was a huge win.

1254
00:57:20,760 --> 00:57:22,840
Speaker 3: It was a huge win. But I'm jumping on the

1255
00:57:22,840 --> 00:57:26,320
Speaker 3: bandwagon that the players are just working hard right now

1256
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:27,720
Speaker 3: and we're gonna get better and better.

1257
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:29,000
Speaker 2: And because of that.

1258
00:57:29,120 --> 00:57:30,960
Speaker 3: I'm thinking that we're gonna have a good World Cup.

1259
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:33,320
Speaker 3: And if we are, we're gonna need our number one

1260
00:57:33,400 --> 00:57:36,320
Speaker 3: to be great. And I think if our number nine

1261
00:57:36,360 --> 00:57:39,080
Speaker 3: is great, and if flow Balaguin has the type of

1262
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:41,560
Speaker 3: World Cup that I think he can have, he will

1263
00:57:41,600 --> 00:57:42,760
Speaker 3: become a world superstar.

1264
00:57:43,080 --> 00:57:45,560
Speaker 1: I really like that answer. I think that that is

1265
00:57:45,680 --> 00:57:47,600
Speaker 1: all possible for him. And where he's at with Monica

1266
00:57:47,680 --> 00:57:51,280
Speaker 1: right now, he steadied his form and showing like again.

1267
00:57:51,320 --> 00:57:52,960
Speaker 1: He had an injury last year, a little bit of

1268
00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:56,919
Speaker 1: difficulties at first. This is a player that the move

1269
00:57:57,000 --> 00:57:59,840
Speaker 1: to Monaco the next it was more about I'm going

1270
00:57:59,880 --> 00:58:01,400
Speaker 1: to go there for a few years and this is

1271
00:58:01,440 --> 00:58:03,800
Speaker 1: a great platform, good team to be in first and foremost,

1272
00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:06,720
Speaker 1: but also a good platform to go to the Premier

1273
00:58:06,800 --> 00:58:09,240
Speaker 1: League or go to another Champions League club. Another move

1274
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:11,320
Speaker 1: up because I think that he's got another level to

1275
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:14,600
Speaker 1: hit so Baligan. Doing that at a World Cup that's

1276
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:17,720
Speaker 1: the best shop window in world football. And if he

1277
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:21,040
Speaker 1: scores goals, as we both expect him to, then that

1278
00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:23,760
Speaker 1: will fast track that next potential move. And I do

1279
00:58:23,800 --> 00:58:26,520
Speaker 1: think that he could play at you know, just about

1280
00:58:26,520 --> 00:58:28,720
Speaker 1: the highest level in Europe if he does reach his potential.

1281
00:58:29,320 --> 00:58:33,120
Speaker 1: So Baligan is a very interesting answer. I agree with you, Tap,

1282
00:58:33,160 --> 00:58:35,800
Speaker 1: there are different ways to take this. I am also

1283
00:58:35,920 --> 00:58:39,800
Speaker 1: choosing to focus on the ladder of at a home

1284
00:58:39,840 --> 00:58:44,000
Speaker 1: World Cup. I care more about the next stratosphere that

1285
00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:46,240
Speaker 1: our best players are going to reach or could reach.

1286
00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:50,200
Speaker 1: This is such a boring answer, and I apologize in advance.

1287
00:58:50,760 --> 00:58:54,400
Speaker 1: It's Christian Polizic for me, because yes, he's already broken

1288
00:58:54,440 --> 00:58:56,960
Speaker 1: out at a long time ago. Then that's a twenty

1289
00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:00,479
Speaker 1: two World Cup. I thought he was good. He's killing

1290
00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:04,880
Speaker 1: it for Asie Milan. That's huge. There is nothing bigger

1291
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:09,960
Speaker 1: for a soccer fan in this country than being a

1292
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:15,280
Speaker 1: World Cup star. Doing so on home soil, Christian Poolisic

1293
00:59:15,520 --> 00:59:20,480
Speaker 1: will vault into another stratosphere. I think in the way

1294
00:59:20,520 --> 00:59:23,280
Speaker 1: that he's viewed, not just among American soccer fans, but

1295
00:59:23,880 --> 00:59:26,720
Speaker 1: global soccer fans if he starts at the World Cup

1296
00:59:26,760 --> 00:59:29,400
Speaker 1: like I think that he will, I will steal this.

1297
00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:33,720
Speaker 1: I believe this was from Tony Miola. He said he

1298
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:36,640
Speaker 1: was talking to Polisic and said, how do you think

1299
00:59:36,680 --> 00:59:38,320
Speaker 1: your life is gonna change? And he goes, I don't

1300
00:59:38,320 --> 00:59:40,919
Speaker 1: think it's gonna change at all with the home World Cup.

1301
00:59:41,720 --> 00:59:44,440
Speaker 1: And to his credit, he's established himself. He's he's not

1302
00:59:44,480 --> 00:59:46,880
Speaker 1: gonna be a different player today than he will be

1303
00:59:46,920 --> 00:59:51,320
Speaker 1: in July. But Tony laughed and said, literally, everything's gonna change.

1304
00:59:51,360 --> 00:59:54,840
Speaker 1: You don't understand everything is gonna change. So I think

1305
00:59:54,880 --> 00:59:58,360
Speaker 1: that that high end possibility is more than anything else.

1306
00:59:58,760 --> 00:59:59,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed.

1307
00:59:59,280 --> 01:00:02,000
Speaker 3: I mean that's that's good shout actually to pick Christian

1308
01:00:02,040 --> 01:00:04,040
Speaker 3: because he he, at the end of the day, is

1309
01:00:04,040 --> 01:00:06,720
Speaker 3: our number ten. You know, the number ten's are always

1310
01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:09,640
Speaker 3: they always have the best shot at being the best player, right,

1311
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:13,280
Speaker 3: and certainly he has that opportunity. And I'd love to

1312
01:00:13,280 --> 01:00:15,880
Speaker 3: see it because you know, we've been watching Christian since

1313
01:00:15,920 --> 01:00:19,120
Speaker 3: he's twelve years old, do wonders around the fields here

1314
01:00:19,160 --> 01:00:22,520
Speaker 3: on the East Coast, and there would be nothing better

1315
01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:26,080
Speaker 3: than to have him become Not that he's not a

1316
01:00:26,080 --> 01:00:29,320
Speaker 3: world superstar, but right at the elite level of where

1317
01:00:29,320 --> 01:00:30,600
Speaker 3: the best players of the world are.

1318
01:00:30,840 --> 01:00:34,040
Speaker 1: And you think of in terms of American soccer fans

1319
01:00:34,120 --> 01:00:37,880
Speaker 1: or American sports fans, everybody knows who Todd Romas is.

1320
01:00:37,880 --> 01:00:40,120
Speaker 1: Everybody knows who Landon Donovan is. Everybody kind of knows

1321
01:00:40,120 --> 01:00:44,280
Speaker 1: who Clint EMPs is. That mainstream appeal, that mainstream crossover

1322
01:00:44,360 --> 01:00:48,080
Speaker 1: to the American soccer fans who come with loud voice

1323
01:00:48,120 --> 01:00:51,800
Speaker 1: and passion and support. At the World Cup. They don't

1324
01:00:51,840 --> 01:00:54,520
Speaker 1: know that he just scored against Inter Milan in the

1325
01:00:54,520 --> 01:00:58,400
Speaker 1: biggest match in Italy, right, But if he scores against

1326
01:00:58,600 --> 01:01:02,760
Speaker 1: Wales at toenty Siveld Cup or Denmark or anybody, they're

1327
01:01:02,760 --> 01:01:04,360
Speaker 1: gonna know that. They're gonna remember that in those of

1328
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:08,600
Speaker 1: the moments that transcend not just soccer fans, but to

1329
01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:12,520
Speaker 1: stardom in this country for just the general sports fan.

1330
01:01:12,560 --> 01:01:16,320
Speaker 1: And I think Christian Buzik, we'll reach that this summer.

1331
01:01:16,800 --> 01:01:19,880
Speaker 1: Speaking of reaching conclusions, that's the end of our show.

1332
01:01:19,880 --> 01:01:23,120
Speaker 1: Here the second episode of Inside American Soccer. Thank you

1333
01:01:23,120 --> 01:01:26,040
Speaker 1: all so much for listening. Please rate, review, and subscribe.

1334
01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:29,080
Speaker 1: The World Cup draw is coming up next week. It's happening.

1335
01:01:29,080 --> 01:01:31,880
Speaker 1: It's coming. We're gonna have something around that show. We're

1336
01:01:31,880 --> 01:01:33,640
Speaker 1: gonna figure out the timing, but we're gonna be here

1337
01:01:33,720 --> 01:01:35,600
Speaker 1: when we learn who the group is for the United

1338
01:01:35,640 --> 01:01:37,960
Speaker 1: States at the twenty twenty six World Cup. I hope

1339
01:01:37,960 --> 01:01:40,840
Speaker 1: everybody listening has a wonderful Thanksgiving, some good holidays, get

1340
01:01:40,880 --> 01:01:42,640
Speaker 1: some good food in you, and get to see some

1341
01:01:42,720 --> 01:01:45,040
Speaker 1: family and friends and all. And we'll be back with

1342
01:01:45,080 --> 01:01:46,920
Speaker 1: you next week. And we can't wait to be there.