Speaker 1: And he's out on the Lamnai.
Speaker 2: Look at you. Good morning, John, How are you brother?
Speaker 3: You tell me you're the one who's got study Hall
Speaker 3: going on, and you got Flora and Fauna behind you
Speaker 3: getting ready for getting ready for a match tonight on
Speaker 3: Westwood One.
Speaker 1: How's study hall been.
Speaker 2: Everything's been great, man, everything's been really good. Looking forward
Speaker 2: to it. I am out here because I'm a father
Speaker 2: of three, and there is no telling at any moment
Speaker 2: when one of those three could decide to pop in
Speaker 2: and crash the show.
Speaker 1: But that's a bad thing.
Speaker 2: Hey, look, no, it's the best thing in the world
Speaker 2: being a dad. But on game day, when you need
Speaker 2: to talk to your friends, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: You got to you gotta go outside and be able
Speaker 2: to to make sure that they don't pop in and
Speaker 2: join in on the show.
Speaker 1: You know, that's fantastic. He's gone outside to avoid a
Speaker 1: studio audience at hall completely.
Speaker 3: Uh. We had Lucas on before Lucas went in to
Speaker 3: go and function at one O four five, and there
Speaker 3: were a couple of position groups that that I asked
Speaker 3: him about. And let me go back and find out
Speaker 3: your I know that you and you were kind of
Speaker 3: busy with you and Josh and looking at the one
Speaker 3: third schedule in Major League Soccer. But when you went
Speaker 3: back and analyzed what happened with the US sort of kiya,
Speaker 3: what stuck out in your mind?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you made a good point. I was. I
Speaker 2: was unable to be with Lucas by the way I
Speaker 2: was watching. He's so great you guys. That was such
Speaker 2: an entertaining start to the morning watching you guys break
Speaker 2: things down and from his perspective and everything. And I'm
Speaker 2: so excited for Lucas tonight. He's going to do a
Speaker 2: wonderful job on Westwood one Sports.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I was with Josh Easton. We were getting ready
Speaker 2: for an MLS game. We had an exciting DC United
Speaker 2: Chicago game that went seven to one.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that in a bit.
Speaker 2: Bro we all anticipated. But yeah, as I'm doing the
Speaker 2: build up to it in the in the sort of
Speaker 2: the the last bit of getting ready for that MLS match,
Speaker 2: I'm also watching the US. So I'm doing prep for
Speaker 2: one game while getting ready for another. And my big
Speaker 2: takeaway from the US game was it was twofold. I
Speaker 2: I'm happy with the fact that this team fought and
Speaker 2: competed without it being our best eleven available. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, man, it just didn't really seem like
Speaker 2: we were at any true point, just dominating, putting fear
Speaker 2: in Turkey A making them feel as though we're really
Speaker 2: on the back foot and we're up against and we
Speaker 2: got to survive these next couple of five to ten
Speaker 2: moments at five to ten minutes. And I don't know,
Speaker 2: I just want a little bit more killer instinct in
Speaker 2: the final third. I want more runs in behind, I
Speaker 2: want more excitement, and I think listening to the press
Speaker 2: conference yesterday at the training facility for Nashville, see Richio
Speaker 2: Pochettino kind of said the same thing. He wanted a
Speaker 2: little bit more dynamic movement in behind and great ball
Speaker 2: winning players in the midfield, great playmaking players in the midfield,
Speaker 2: but we still need to be more dangerous behind only John.
Speaker 3: And obviously you look at that in the first ninety
Speaker 3: seconds and you're going, oh, Jack McGlenn, you know from
Speaker 3: twenty four a goal and he hit that sinker with
Speaker 3: the left and it goes into the net, and you're
Speaker 3: sitting there thinking, okay, yeah, things are rolling right now.
Speaker 3: But then you get the and I want to talk
Speaker 3: to you about quicksand, uh, you get the moment from
Speaker 3: Johnny with the pass and it turns from one nil
Speaker 3: to one one. Then you end up with you know,
Speaker 3: another moment and ends up two to one. You're having
Speaker 3: to fight uphill for the rest of the the rest
Speaker 3: of the match when you are in a situation and
Speaker 3: I feel like I'm resurrecting one of my favorite quarterbacks
Speaker 3: and one of my favorite coaches Jimmy McGuinty and Shane Falco.
Speaker 2: From The Replacement The Replacements, great great reference.
Speaker 3: No, well, but that there was the one speech early
Speaker 3: on in the in the movement where they're the replacement
Speaker 3: players and they have the team meeting after the loss
Speaker 3: and they're talking about quicksand and Shane has the fear
Speaker 3: of quicksand where you make a mistake, then it's another
Speaker 3: and another and another, and you're trying to get out
Speaker 3: of that idea of quicksand. And it seems like there
Speaker 3: are times with the men's national team that they get
Speaker 3: stuck in the quicksand and they can't find their.
Speaker 1: Way out of it. Am I wrong?
Speaker 2: You know? I think that's that's something that will maybe
Speaker 2: be something we're looking for because it's happened to the
Speaker 2: US men's national team several times over, and I think
Speaker 2: you start to see you see what you want to
Speaker 2: look for sometimes in soccer, right, I'll use an example,
Speaker 2: if a coach wants to like a player and the
Speaker 2: player passes out of it.
Speaker 3: Oops, I'm guessing that someone tried to call Jamie, and
Speaker 3: Jamie you see, this is what happens when people try
Speaker 3: to call Jamie because he's such a busy man.
Speaker 2: Hey, I am, oh, sorry, man, I don't you know,
Speaker 2: maybe maybe my kids that I weren't allowing out here,
Speaker 2: maybe they just turned the internet off on a.
Speaker 1: Side I was, I was.
Speaker 3: I thinkured somebody was trying to call you and they
Speaker 3: butted in and they didn't want you to talk about
Speaker 3: quick saying.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm so sorry man. So here's here's here's where
Speaker 2: we pick up on that. Apologies, uh for for your
Speaker 2: listeners and your viewers here that had to to put
Speaker 2: up with my bad internet here. I think that's the
Speaker 2: winder to pay the bill today. I think when you
Speaker 2: want to look for some things and some trench, you're
Speaker 2: you're gonna find things that sort of back it up. Right,
Speaker 2: I uses it as a player. If the coach wants
Speaker 2: to like the player and the players at practice and
Speaker 2: he passes the ball out of bounce, good idea, Right,
Speaker 2: you'll get the next one. If the player doesn't want
Speaker 2: to like a coach, or if a coach doesn't want
Speaker 2: to like a player and he passed out of bounce,
Speaker 2: come on, you gotta you gotta connect that pass. You
Speaker 2: no excuse to miss that pass. The reason I say
Speaker 2: that so I think with the US men's national team,
Speaker 2: we've had too many moments in games where mistakes happen
Speaker 2: and they're compounded by another mistake, and we've been burned
Speaker 2: by that as sort of fans and supports the US
Speaker 2: men's national team, and it seems to be a negative
Speaker 2: trend that happened with this team. So I don't think
Speaker 2: it happened a lot during that tricky a game, But
Speaker 2: the bad thing is is it happened quickly, and those
Speaker 2: two mistakes ultimately end up being the difference at the
Speaker 2: international level. I feel like we're looking for those moments
Speaker 2: and wanting that to be the narrative at times because
Speaker 2: it's been something that has burned US. I thought this
Speaker 2: team responded well after those two mistakes but it goes
Speaker 2: to show you how fine the margins are. Those two
Speaker 2: mistakes ended up being the difference. And if you're in
Speaker 2: a tournament like in a year's time the FIFA Men's
Speaker 2: broke up and you make those two mistakes, all this
Speaker 2: build up, all this hype, everything about it is gone
Speaker 2: like that in minutes. So one hand, I'm not happy
Speaker 2: that it happened because it costs the game on Saturday.
Speaker 2: But on the other hand, I'm happy that it's happening
Speaker 2: now for these players to learn from this and hopefully
Speaker 2: put in the back pocket to go. You can't have
Speaker 2: that mistake happen or that's the difference of this being
Speaker 2: all done before you even realize what the hell is
Speaker 2: going on.
Speaker 3: Seven first timers were chasing after a first cap in
Speaker 3: these two matches, getting ready for these two before you
Speaker 3: get into Gold Cup. Two position groups I want to
Speaker 3: talk about specifically keeper and forward keeper. You had Matt
Speaker 3: freeze out of the blocks and we don't know what
Speaker 3: it's going to look like between the sticks tonight. As
Speaker 3: I told Lucas, I said, my first question for Matt
Speaker 3: is to make sure that the check clears from lyon
Speaker 3: if he's going to Nottingham Forest. When you look at
Speaker 3: the keeper situation right now for the men's national team,
Speaker 3: there are talented MLS keepers getting playing time and then
Speaker 3: you have Matt Turner who comes in and he's not
Speaker 3: getting playing time but has to be a part of
Speaker 3: the discussion. Where is your thought process on the keeper
Speaker 3: situation right now?
Speaker 2: First of all, this is the move that Matt Turner
Speaker 2: has to make, whether it's to Leon anywhere. He has
Speaker 2: to go to a place where he's going to play,
Speaker 2: because the same thing that happened to him before the
Speaker 2: last World Cup that got him to be the starter
Speaker 2: was he was the inform keeper within the last year
Speaker 2: that the last moments snuck in. Is Matt Freez that
Speaker 2: goalkeeper this year this go around? Who knows? Is it
Speaker 2: another goalkeeper yet that is going to break through that
Speaker 2: we haven't gotten to seeing camp yet? Who knows. I
Speaker 2: think it's the most uncertain time that the US men's
Speaker 2: nation team has had as a goalkeeper in decades. I
Speaker 2: don't think that we know today who are number one
Speaker 2: solidified starter is now. That can change a year out
Speaker 2: and it will change within the next year, but it's
Speaker 2: not as certain as what it's been in years past
Speaker 2: and decades past. That's concerning, all right. So I think
Speaker 2: that there is an opportunity for the door to be open,
Speaker 2: and you have to be playing over this next year,
Speaker 2: whatever level it is, turn has to be there. And John,
Speaker 2: I apologies, you asked me the second position group. I
Speaker 2: know we're talking about the goalkeepers here. I got so
Speaker 2: focused in on that I forgot about the other part
Speaker 2: because I feel so passionate about It's a concern and
Speaker 2: it's something that we've never had. I said never. It's
Speaker 2: been that long, right, It's felt like a lifetime since
Speaker 2: we've had to really worry about the U S men's
Speaker 2: national goalkeeper. But here we are, we are worried about it.
Speaker 2: And I don't know the answer of who's gonna be
Speaker 2: playing twelve months from now in the World Cup.
Speaker 3: So then let's go all the way up front and
Speaker 3: look at big Pat and what we saw from the
Speaker 3: forward group, and obviously with with Patrick god Jumong, there's
Speaker 3: someone there that looks like a rush end that somebody
Speaker 3: could use. That you know that Josh Hypel could use,
Speaker 3: you know, on a Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
Speaker 1: Uh, Well, I.
Speaker 3: Mean you're you're in you're in central You're in Central Tennessee.
Speaker 3: I couldn't quite quite you know. It's like Clark Lee.
Speaker 3: You need to have rush End and Vandy you know.
Speaker 1: Uh. But you look at someone who is as unique.
Speaker 3: A skill set and unique a physical presence as Big
Speaker 3: Pat is. And I'm not saying that tomorrow that Patrick
Speaker 3: god Jumong is going to be your number one starter
Speaker 3: at the point of the spear. Blah blah blah, take
Speaker 3: your take your cliche and moving forward. I'm just I'm
Speaker 3: looking at those other folks that can fill in those
Speaker 3: spaces because Josh Sergeant ain't it, and you're trying to
Speaker 3: figure out who would be it when you need him to.
Speaker 3: Patrick Ajumang against Turquia looked like the second they figured out, okay,
Speaker 3: let's bracket him, you got him to shut down, and
Speaker 3: he wasn't effective. When you're looking at the other dudes
Speaker 3: that could be there to help out at striker, when
Speaker 3: you look at the front line, what are you staring
Speaker 3: at there?
Speaker 2: By the way, I love your versatility here. You are
Speaker 2: a good Tennessee reference in you know, one of the
Speaker 2: voices of soccer in Atlanta. You're having to talk to
Speaker 2: a guy in Nashville about a guy that plays in Charlotte.
Speaker 2: I hope we don't lose your Atlanta United supporters that
Speaker 2: are faithless to you right now for all the cross
Speaker 2: state reference you're having to do here, but it is
Speaker 2: soccer down.
Speaker 1: Years, Oh Damie, come on now, including.
Speaker 2: Everybody here right. The doors open at the number nine position,
Speaker 2: and it's it for me. The number nine position is
Speaker 2: the one position that I think you can capitalize the
Speaker 2: most on form. Because a four that's in strike and
Speaker 2: strike form now where he's scoring goals where the goal
Speaker 2: seems like it's fifty yards wide twelve months before World
Speaker 2: Cup is all well and good. But give me a
Speaker 2: ford that's in form where the goal feels like it's
Speaker 2: fifty yards wide twelve weeks before the World Cup. And
Speaker 2: Ajamin has all the tools. I've seen him play several times,
Speaker 2: been in the same stadium with him several times, but
Speaker 2: yesterday was the first day that I was close to him.
Speaker 2: That guy is a specimen. I mean, he is a
Speaker 2: huge human being. So for him to be as agile,
Speaker 2: have the feet that he does the soccer I qu
Speaker 2: to goal with that size, all the intangibles are there
Speaker 2: for ajaimin to be the prototypical number nine that can
Speaker 2: stretch the field, hold the ball up, do everything you
Speaker 2: want as a coach. But he's got to find that
Speaker 2: form in front of goal that he hasn't consistently found yet.
Speaker 2: He's more Fulton to Reid mighty ducks right one out
Speaker 2: of five. You got to give him five opportunities and
Speaker 2: he's gonna score. And when he does score, it's gonna
Speaker 2: be a banger, and it's going to be a big one.
Speaker 2: And is it Florin Balagan who's not here another one
Speaker 2: of those players at Lucas reference a few moments ago
Speaker 2: when you're talking as one of the potential seven upwards
Speaker 2: of eight starters that's not in this camp. All I
Speaker 2: know is that position will solidify itself, maybe last of
Speaker 2: all the positions, just because you need a fod that's
Speaker 2: in form. And you know, look at Brian White. Was
Speaker 2: he in the conversation? He was quietly doing it for
Speaker 2: a long time and maybe that guy had the longest
Speaker 2: road of consistently having to do it. I look for him.
Speaker 2: I don't know if he's going to start tonight, but
Speaker 2: I look for him to be a player that can
Speaker 2: really take these next twelve months and if you can
Speaker 2: continue to put those deposits in his bank account, his
Speaker 2: proverbial Pochetino bank account, over the course of the next
Speaker 2: year with consistently scoring goals twelve weeks from the start
Speaker 2: of the twenty twenty six World Cup, if he's still
Speaker 2: doing it, he may be a guy that sneaks into
Speaker 2: the roster, you know. And I hope when we have
Speaker 2: this conversation twelve weeks to twelve months before the FIFA
Speaker 2: Men's World Cup, we have a lot more clarity on
Speaker 2: the goalkeeping position we just spoke about, and most certainly
Speaker 2: the goal scoring, because you need both of those if
Speaker 2: you're going to do anything in a World Cup.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jamie Watson hanging out with us making the call
Speaker 3: tonight on Westwood One. He's with Apple TV. It's like
Speaker 3: what day of the week is it? Which calendars are referencing,
Speaker 3: But tonight we're talking about Pochettino savings and loan and
Speaker 3: who can be who can get the deposits and the
Speaker 3: CDs all locked down tonight as they're take on the
Speaker 3: Swiss at giotis who else are you looking forward to
Speaker 3: seeing make those next strides tonight?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 3: I know it's a friendly all those kinds of things
Speaker 3: as you get closer to Gold Cup, but who else
Speaker 3: is in your spot shadow tonight.
Speaker 2: It'd be interesting. I mean, I think Alex Freeman got
Speaker 2: an opportunity to write back, and I thought he did well.
Speaker 2: Listening to Puccino afterwards, Puchino was very muted about it.
Speaker 2: I think he should because we're talking about a twenty
Speaker 2: year old, but you know, everything leading up to it
Speaker 2: was there was a lot of questions from the media
Speaker 2: about Hodgs Freeman. I think if he gets another opportunity
Speaker 2: right back, don't know if he will. I could see
Speaker 2: there being a rotation in there, but we'll see if
Speaker 2: he does. That could be another player that if he
Speaker 2: gets a second opportunity to continue to impress, it'll be
Speaker 2: interesting because right now what I look at this camp,
Speaker 2: I think the door's open. And specifically I'll give you
Speaker 2: a name or two in just a moment, but I
Speaker 2: think specifically with this group, you've heard the word opportunity
Speaker 2: a lot leading into this camp. You said this really astutely.
Speaker 2: I thought a little bit ago, when you're talking to Lucas,
Speaker 2: you said, you know, we feel confident that we have
Speaker 2: an idea of the one to eleven art today, but
Speaker 2: this camp is more about twelve to twenty three, right,
Speaker 2: That's what you were kind of picking up what you're
Speaker 2: putting down when you were talking about that earlier. That's
Speaker 2: sort of the gist of the argument, and I agree
Speaker 2: with that. I think the players that aren't there, they
Speaker 2: are the players that we feel confident should be there
Speaker 2: in twelve months time, but they've made a mistake. I
Speaker 2: think the ones that have chosen to not be there
Speaker 2: because you've left the door open for other players. This
Speaker 2: is the national team we're talking about. This isn't participation awards,
Speaker 2: This isn't about Hey, I want to make sure my
Speaker 2: friend gets an opportunity. We can be friends the other
Speaker 2: twenty two and a half hours of a day for
Speaker 2: these ninety minutes. This is This is my team, This
Speaker 2: is my position. I want to be the one that's starting.
Speaker 2: And when I look at this opportunity for other players
Speaker 2: that are getting I think it's a mistake to let
Speaker 2: the door open for somebody else to slide their foot
Speaker 2: in the door and to try to get in there
Speaker 2: and to try to change the perception. For Pochettino. When
Speaker 2: you get some FaceTime with them at some camps and
Speaker 2: everything like that. So we are some players I think
Speaker 2: that can really stand out. I look at guys like,
Speaker 2: could Quinn Sullivan tonight? Could he be a player that
Speaker 2: I'm not sure he would have been in the camp
Speaker 2: if everybody would have said yes to the call up
Speaker 2: And some players that didn't take the call up had
Speaker 2: some reasons for it. And we don't know the full story.
Speaker 2: For everybody alluding to polistic here, we don't know the
Speaker 2: full story. So I think it'd be presumptuous to assume
Speaker 2: we know why he's not there because we don't. Anybody
Speaker 2: that says they do, they better know, because that's a
Speaker 2: bold shout. But does Quinn Sullivan come in and show,
Speaker 2: really what? Does Sebastian Burholter get a start and he
Speaker 2: capitalize on this fine form that he's had in Cocky
Speaker 2: CAF Champions Cup and in Major League Soccer player with
Speaker 2: Vancouver White Caps. Those two players right now, I look
Speaker 2: at they probably fit into the roster because of the opportunities. Now,
Speaker 2: if in twelve months time, one of the players in
Speaker 2: the midfield that you thought you know would be in
Speaker 2: if the World Cup started today is out and one
Speaker 2: of those two players is in. Is it because of
Speaker 2: this opportunity in which the Gold Cup and these two
Speaker 2: friendlies eluded itself and afforded itself. Maybe time will tell
Speaker 2: with that one. But I think those guys are too
Speaker 2: that could really show that maybe there's something there and
Speaker 2: this opportunity now is there because other people said no,
Speaker 2: they got the chance and it is this gonna be
Speaker 2: something that history tells us? Oh man, what if everybody
Speaker 2: would have said yes to the twenty twenty five Gold
Speaker 2: Cup and we would have been able to put together
Speaker 2: a full roster, But because we didn't, the opportunity to
Speaker 2: present itself and now other players are in for the
Speaker 2: World Cup. That changes everything for your life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll keep an eye on that.
Speaker 3: Tonight, you and Lucas will have the colin Westwood one
Speaker 3: before you go and tend to the rest of the
Speaker 3: studio audience in your morning caffeine. I know that you're
Speaker 3: going to catch up with Patch also later this afternoon.
Speaker 3: What the hell is going on in DC?
Speaker 2: Ma'am so referenced the seven to one result that at
Speaker 2: full strength, I'm.
Speaker 1: Like, what what the hell?
Speaker 2: I said? Full strength? I'm in eleven on eleven DC night.
Speaker 2: It was not full strength. Yeah, yeah, they weren't even
Speaker 2: they weren't even a full game day roster. I had
Speaker 2: this conversation with somebody yesterday while at training and we
Speaker 2: were waiting for this massive storm that blew through the
Speaker 2: canceled practice for the US men's national team, and with
Speaker 2: somebody that would that would know that people connected there,
Speaker 2: and you know, we're having this conversation. It's like DC's
Speaker 2: roster just isn't good enough right now. If you were
Speaker 2: to take Troy Lastaying out of the equation, what is
Speaker 2: any other coach going to do with the group that
Speaker 2: they have. I hate to say it, it's not for
Speaker 2: a lack of effort, because the team did put an
Speaker 2: effort out in the second half when they were down
Speaker 2: four nail and it was looking bleak. And and by
Speaker 2: the way, the players are dumb. They're looking over at
Speaker 2: the bench going, there's not even enough bodies here. They
Speaker 2: could They couldn't even practice eleven be eleven leading up
Speaker 2: to the session and go through shadow play without I'm
Speaker 2: assuming an equipment manager or an assistant coach filling in
Speaker 2: for players. Right It's it was brutal. I don't love
Speaker 2: when games are played during the international window. I know
Speaker 2: there's reasons for it, and I'll just assume that they're good,
Speaker 2: but man, DC have to figure it out. And the
Speaker 2: one thing that when things are not going well, you
Speaker 2: gotta look to our The players still committed. I did
Speaker 2: still see that John in the matchup. But it's it's
Speaker 2: tough times for DC and they've got it. They've got
Speaker 2: to really use these windows. This window in particular, I
Speaker 2: think DC has to do something to give you hope
Speaker 2: if you're a fan and a supporter, because if not,
Speaker 2: then you're then you're going. We're going to the second
Speaker 2: half of the season and they had already a wash
Speaker 2: for twenty five before we even get to the Forts
Speaker 2: officially summer. I don't know, man, It's it's tough for
Speaker 2: DC right now.
Speaker 3: I mean I looked at Luis Barraza and I'm sitting
Speaker 3: there going, dude on the supermoul practice.
Speaker 2: Yeah that was.
Speaker 1: That was.
Speaker 2: But let's also let's give Chicago credit a new look
Speaker 2: under former US men's NASH team coach Greg Burhalter, who
Speaker 2: I think is a far, far, far better club manager
Speaker 2: than national team manager. That's not to say he's not
Speaker 2: a good national team manager. It's the fact that Burholter
Speaker 2: at times was getting players and trying to put square
Speaker 2: pegs into round holes because you don't get a chance
Speaker 2: to work with these players week in and week out,
Speaker 2: and day in and day out. He's now getting Chicago
Speaker 2: players day in and day out, getting circle pegs for
Speaker 2: circle holes to be able to put into place, and
Speaker 2: now they're starting to do what he wants to do
Speaker 2: with his group. And they looked so damn dangerous every
Speaker 2: time that they went forward. It was he felt like
Speaker 2: they were going to score every time, and they almost did,
Speaker 2: and we had we had a moment.
Speaker 1: John.
Speaker 2: It was it was way late in the postgame show,
Speaker 2: so I'm sure you know viewers had switched over to
Speaker 2: the next game on season pass here, but we put
Speaker 2: up one of those shot sheets that you know, it
Speaker 2: shows where all the shots are from, and there was
Speaker 2: twenty one shots and then you put a G where
Speaker 2: the goal was and there were seven of them. And
Speaker 2: I think at one time I looked at Josh Eastern
Speaker 2: and I said, there's more g's on that screen right
Speaker 2: now than there is in Greg Burholter's first name, and
Speaker 2: God Belly laugh out of Josh Easter on there, and
Speaker 2: I'm sure Greg will take that every single day. He'll
Speaker 2: be fine with that one if it means there's at
Speaker 2: least a four spot being put up every week. But man,
Speaker 2: Chicago looked good. And the new six hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: million dollars privately funded stadium on the horizon, the one
Speaker 2: hundred million dollar training facility that they just put in
Speaker 2: into a community, and this nestled into like three different
Speaker 2: neighborhoods where Joe Montswaedo. I don't know if if this
Speaker 2: was talked about enough, but he actually went into that
Speaker 2: community and complete side noted the conversation, but talking about
Speaker 2: Chicago here, he went into that Chicago neighborhood where they
Speaker 2: put the hundred million dollar training facility and actually helped
Speaker 2: refurbish some of the neighborhoods around it, some of the
Speaker 2: affordable housing put roughly I think it was like over
Speaker 2: eight million dollars into like new roofs, new kitchens into
Speaker 2: those homes to help that area. And they brought jobs
Speaker 2: to the area and stuff like that. So with what
Speaker 2: Chicago's doing MLS, I think this is one of the
Speaker 2: best stories off the field that hasn't probably gotten the
Speaker 2: full story in our soccer world because I think Joe
Speaker 2: Manswado just goes about being philanthropic and sort of this
Speaker 2: and deva of making his community better. Quietly, I respect
Speaker 2: the hell out of it. So I'm gonna talk about
Speaker 2: it as much as I can because I'll do it
Speaker 2: for him. I think it's incredible what Chicago's doing. And man,
Speaker 2: there's a lot of good owners that are doing a
Speaker 2: lot of good apart from just what people who want
Speaker 2: to find the bat it and say, oh, they're just
Speaker 2: rich people. No, he's getting back to his community and
Speaker 2: I respect that out of Joe Mansweedo.
Speaker 1: Okay, since you've opened this.
Speaker 2: Door, yeah, let to do it. Let's walk through it.
Speaker 3: Twenty two thousand is too small, though. You gotta be thirty.
Speaker 3: You can't just be twenty two thousand, otherwise you're like
Speaker 3: Austin or you're like the you know, PayPal Park.
Speaker 1: It's too small.
Speaker 3: I think you're selling yourself short and you're selling your
Speaker 3: soccer community short by having something that's only twenty two Well.
Speaker 2: I'll put it this way though, If is twenty two
Speaker 2: thousand with the waiting list better than a thirty thousand
Speaker 2: seat stadium that has twenty six thousand every week, twenty
Speaker 2: seven thousand, Like he got ten percent of the stadium's empty.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? That creating that supply and demand,
Speaker 2: I think it might be what Chicago needs because I
Speaker 2: I think they're still winning backup fan base. I don't
Speaker 2: know if they can put thirty thousand in weekend and
Speaker 2: week out. I think it's just something that they've got to.
Speaker 2: It's tough, right because what if you do it? What
Speaker 2: if you build a twenty two and a half thousand,
Speaker 2: you know, stadium for six hundred and fifty million dollars,
Speaker 2: it goes really well for three years, and you're going, man,
Speaker 2: should we leave money on the table? Should we have
Speaker 2: built it bigger? I don't know that's you know I have.
Speaker 2: I would rather personally think that you could create this
Speaker 2: demand and this buzz and at twenty two and a
Speaker 2: half thousand every week, feel like I have to be
Speaker 2: there and I have to buy my tickets and I'm
Speaker 2: going to wait in a waiting list potentially for years
Speaker 2: to get there, and I'm going to value that because
Speaker 2: I've had to wait to get it, as opposed to
Speaker 2: I know I can get a ticket the day of
Speaker 2: I don't need to buy a season ticket. Somebody will
Speaker 2: sell me their ticket an hour before kickoff for pennies
Speaker 2: on the dollar. I think maybe that's more the thought process.
Speaker 3: Okay, well then then what I would do is I
Speaker 3: would have conversation with him and sit there and go, Okay,
Speaker 3: if you're gonna be at twenty two, then I want
Speaker 3: to make sure that you can expand the building and
Speaker 3: make sure that the barn can be like what Merrett
Speaker 3: Paulson did in Portland, where you get to add another
Speaker 3: couple of thousand if you if you build straight up
Speaker 3: or whatever.
Speaker 2: That's the move. That's the move, and I think that's
Speaker 2: the happy medium to say this is what we're gonna
Speaker 2: set it at. But you also have in the back
Speaker 2: of your mind, in your back pocket, you can play
Speaker 2: that card to capitalize on that demand you can hopefully create,
Speaker 2: because I think it would be I think Minnesota United
Speaker 2: have found that out with Aliance Field nineteen thousand plus
Speaker 2: in that one just a shade under twenty thousand, and
Speaker 2: that stadium is amazing, it's incredible, but you can't expand
Speaker 2: on it, and so it's always going to be that.
Speaker 2: And so even if you had nineteen thousand on the
Speaker 2: waiting list. You can't get their money because there's only
Speaker 2: so many seats, right, So man, it's a good problem
Speaker 2: to have though. Look at look at what we're talking
Speaker 2: about Major League Soccer, right, that is twenty two and
Speaker 2: a half thousand enough seats for an MLS stadium. Man,
Speaker 2: that's a great problem to have. I love that for us.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2: Uh way his Mercedes Benz. You know, we were asking
Speaker 2: is that big enough for Atlanta and United for several years? Man,
Speaker 2: that's a I mean, it's specially you guys are spoiled
Speaker 2: down there. You guys have a skewed scale in Atlanta.
Speaker 3: Well, it's a double step because you can go forty
Speaker 3: three and that's where you are most of the time.
Speaker 3: But then when you bring in Messi and friends, you
Speaker 3: can expand it to seventy two or whatever. You know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying, right, And it's really crazy to see
Speaker 3: what's going on. Okay, So if you had one question
Speaker 3: and you put Marisia Pochettino in the chair of truth,
Speaker 3: where literally it's like you get you get wonder Woman's
Speaker 3: golden lasso and you put it around him and he
Speaker 3: has to answer the question. You get him there at
Speaker 3: practice today, you put the golden lasso around him, and
Speaker 3: he has to answer one question. What is the question
Speaker 3: that you have to have the answer to from him today?
Speaker 1: Wow? Okay?
Speaker 2: Then I mean, if if this is the one question
Speaker 2: he has to answer to answer, I'm going to write
Speaker 2: a piece of paper down with one through twenty three,
Speaker 2: and I'm going to say, write down your twenty three
Speaker 2: names that if the World Cup started tomorrow you would
Speaker 2: go for right now if you had to answer that,
Speaker 2: You know what I mean, because I would want to
Speaker 2: know who's in right now, Yeah, and then I would
Speaker 2: want to be able to work off of that for
Speaker 2: the next year to go. Here's your list you're in
Speaker 2: if you're one of the twenty three players, don't screw
Speaker 2: up a life changing opportunity. And then if you're one
Speaker 2: of the players that realize you're not on that twenty
Speaker 2: three list, you got twelve months to make him rewrite
Speaker 2: this list. I'm going to spin it back on you now, John,
Speaker 2: That's what I'm asking him. Right you get the golden
Speaker 2: lasso around Patchettino. You know what's the one question you're
Speaker 2: asking him today he has to answer?
Speaker 3: Are you tired of putting a positive spin on things
Speaker 3: each and every single time out when there are mistakes
Speaker 3: that are made to drive you crazy.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know if he's been in
Speaker 2: the job long enough to lose that optimism. Yet I
Speaker 2: think he probably is having to do that more than
Speaker 2: he ever has anywhere else. Because you can be a
Speaker 2: bit more honest with your club teams because you do
Speaker 2: get to affect it a bit more. You do get
Speaker 2: to pick the players. You can be a bit more
Speaker 2: ruthless with your public comments because if you are upset
Speaker 2: about something, you have the ability to control it. The
Speaker 2: national team, you kind of get the cards you're dealt,
Speaker 2: and your ceiling can only be as high as what
Speaker 2: your country has to offer while you're coaching. Right, I'm
Speaker 2: not saying what we have to offer in our ceiling
Speaker 2: is as high as it will be at the next
Speaker 2: World Cup, because we have four more years or five
Speaker 2: more years before that starts before we can raise that
Speaker 2: ceiling with development and new players coming through and all
Speaker 2: the things. But I mean, you have to be positive
Speaker 2: because you can only play the cards that you're dealt,
Speaker 2: and so you've got to be able to figure out
Speaker 2: if this is what is available to me, and if
Speaker 2: you're pessimistic, then you're gone.
Speaker 3: No, I'm not saying he's pessimistic, but I would think
Speaker 3: that fundamental mistakes would drive him crazy.
Speaker 2: I do agree with you, by the way, your principle
Speaker 2: of what you're saying. I agree with you because I
Speaker 2: am tired of the fact that we are taking moral
Speaker 2: victories and silver linings after these matches.
Speaker 1: Like your ranks sixteen in the world for a reason.
Speaker 2: Yes, so act like the team that's sixteenth in the
Speaker 2: world and be upset when you lose at home, right,
Speaker 2: instead of saying, you know, yeah, we're you know, we
Speaker 2: did see positives. Okay, yeah, I would rather a glass
Speaker 2: half full than a glass half empty. And the sky
Speaker 2: is always falling after everything, Like, let's do try to
Speaker 2: build on the good and all that stuff that is
Speaker 2: important to a group that needs to build because we're
Speaker 2: not at the end of the finish line now. We
Speaker 2: don't need to have that kick for the last proverbial
Speaker 2: one hundred meters right now because we still have a
Speaker 2: lap to go in the race. But you're right, man, Like,
Speaker 2: let's get to a point where teams are scared of
Speaker 2: us and we don't have to take more victories. They
Speaker 2: take moral victories. Yeah we lost, but man, we put
Speaker 2: a good performance against the United States. Maybe that's what
Speaker 2: Pachino was talking about when in the press conference he
Speaker 2: said yesterday that he wants eleven lines and it's eleven lobos,
Speaker 2: eleven dangerous animals, right, whatever you want to use, because
Speaker 2: I don't think that those animals when they're done with
Speaker 2: the hunt, they go back and go fight. I almost
Speaker 2: got almost got the hunt, I almost got the prey. No,
Speaker 2: they get it, and they say, yeah, like I got it,
Speaker 2: because that's what I do. Like the sixteenth team in
Speaker 2: the world. That means that you should be in the
Speaker 2: top half of this you know, World Cup, and that
Speaker 2: means you should be out of your group, and it
Speaker 2: means that you should be one of the teams that
Speaker 2: has a chance to win it realistically. You know, I
Speaker 2: don't want to get it crazy here and say that,
Speaker 2: but you know what I mean, Like you should feel
Speaker 2: that way. If you're in that camp and you are
Speaker 2: who you say you are as a top sixteen team
Speaker 2: in the world, then you should be a team that
Speaker 2: is at a minimum out of the group stage, which
Speaker 2: gets you a seat of the table to try to
Speaker 2: win it knockout tournament to a World Cup, right, so
Speaker 2: that starts with tonight. But you could say on Westwood One.
Speaker 2: You can listen to on Westwood One, and then you
Speaker 2: know you can watch set on on T and T
Speaker 2: as well. But I encourage listening to Lucas Penzi Key
Speaker 2: Westwood One, big debut for us. We're so excited to
Speaker 2: to bring you that match tonight, and I want to
Speaker 2: see this team win tonight, and then I want to
Speaker 2: see this team winning the Gold Cup and I want
Speaker 2: the mentality to change that. Silver linings are for other teams.
Speaker 2: Silver linings are for the opponent. That's what I want to.
Speaker 3: See at a boy as always, my friend, it's always
Speaker 3: great to catch up with you and see you because
Speaker 3: we always see and hear you a lot, and it's
Speaker 3: going to be a special night for you and Lucas tonight.
Speaker 3: Go back to your studio audience and the Nashville Zoo
Speaker 3: that is behind you as well and the trains and everything.
Speaker 3: Have a great call, my friend. It's great to see you.
Speaker 3: Don't be a stranger.
Speaker 2: Thanks, brother, I appreciate you. Ally John always great coming
Speaker 2: on the show. Big Fanny work then