Speaker 1: The US men's national team got their heads kicked in
Speaker 1: last night four nil final score. On Next Guest was
Speaker 1: on the broadcast team for TNT. Good friend of the program.
Speaker 1: Always great to catch up with. Brian Dunseeth Wednesday afternoon. Donny,
Speaker 1: how we doing man?
Speaker 2: You caught me at the perfect times, Spence. I got
Speaker 2: home from Nashville this afternoon. I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow
Speaker 2: for the start of the FIFA Club World Cup. Busy
Speaker 2: summer of soccer and super looking forward to that. But yeah,
Speaker 2: last night was what did the kids saying? Not great? Bob? Yeah,
Speaker 2: it wasn't too great.
Speaker 1: It definitely was not great, Bob on a scale from
Speaker 1: zero to Alexi Lawless crying about patriotism on TV after
Speaker 1: last night.
Speaker 3: How high is the panic meter today?
Speaker 2: You know, we did a pregame segment about the panic
Speaker 2: meter and I put you know, he was, are you panicked?
Speaker 2: Do you not panicked?
Speaker 3: That?
Speaker 2: Sarah Walsh was teeing us up and we're using the
Speaker 2: USA logo as like our heavy paperweight in front of
Speaker 2: our deskt He pressed that button and I was kind
Speaker 2: of I put my hand over it, and I was
Speaker 2: joking with Kyle Martino. I had the Martino shakes because
Speaker 2: I wasn't ready to panic, but I wasn't ready to
Speaker 2: say I wasn't panicking. And that really does come down
Speaker 2: to a calendar year ago. Our coverage was out in
Speaker 2: DC and we're getting ready for Columbia. A couple days
Speaker 2: later down in Orlando against Brazil, and that was the
Speaker 2: lead into Coba Medica, and oh how things have changed.
Speaker 2: Things going completely sideways against Panama, it leads to being
Speaker 2: dumped out of the group stage of Coba Medica. Greg
Speaker 2: Berhalter loses his job to transition moment over to Marisa Bochettino.
Speaker 2: A couple of months ago, we go into the Nations
Speaker 2: League Finals out in Los Angeles, the fourth consecutive Nations
Speaker 2: League final. We're looking to lift our fourth consecutive Nations
Speaker 2: League trophy. We lose to Panama again, then we lose
Speaker 2: to Canada in the third fourth place match, and then
Speaker 2: we head into a Gold Cup where we always understood
Speaker 2: that at the end of the domestic European campaign there
Speaker 2: were going to be players that needed to take a break,
Speaker 2: whether that be for injury or mental fatigue. We knew
Speaker 2: there was plenty of wear and tear on the tires
Speaker 2: for a lot of these guys. We also knew it
Speaker 2: was going to be an opportunity for Marisa Puchtino to
Speaker 2: continue the evolution of players like Jack mcgleh, like Diego
Speaker 2: Luda from Real Salt Lake, like Patrick Agimond from Charlotte.
Speaker 2: But I think the conversation and the narrative took on
Speaker 2: its own set of circumstances. When a player like Christian
Speaker 2: Polisic his exclusion from the US men's national team, it
Speaker 2: takes on a life of its own because the story
Speaker 2: was dictated through US Soccer, not by Christian politic and
Speaker 2: his representatives. And then it gets turned into he doesn't
Speaker 2: want to be here. I'm not sure that's the case,
Speaker 2: but in the public domain of argument, if we wouldn't
Speaker 2: have had the year that we've had, nobody would care
Speaker 2: if Christian was a part of this Gold Cup roster
Speaker 2: or not a part of this Gold Cup. But the
Speaker 2: reality is he is Captain America. He is by far
Speaker 2: our best player. He is as of I would assume,
Speaker 2: still the captain of the team. And when you have
Speaker 2: back to back losses against Turkey in Switzerland, which I
Speaker 2: thought they were actually much better than the result showed
Speaker 2: against Turkey, but yet we judged teams on wins and
Speaker 2: losses and heavy rotation. And I said, when I was
Speaker 2: doing the lineup for the game against Switzerland the other night,
Speaker 2: Racio Pochettino told us he wanted to give players opportunities
Speaker 2: to prove that they deserve to play significant minutes in
Speaker 2: the Gold Cup. He made nine changes to his starting
Speaker 2: eleven and unfortunately, in the first forty five minutes a
Speaker 2: majority of those nine changes I think probably proved to
Speaker 2: Mauricio Biligitino and to the world that maybe they weren't
Speaker 2: ready for an opportunity to play at the full US
Speaker 2: men's national team level in a way that maybe we
Speaker 2: were all predictive and hopeful for. So second half was
Speaker 2: much better, but still four no losses, four no loss
Speaker 2: against US Switzerland's side that was coming off what was
Speaker 2: it eight games without a win ahead of a Luxembourg
Speaker 2: win and a win in Salt Lake City against Mexico,
Speaker 2: And now the gloves are off and this group is
Speaker 2: taking a beating ahead of what is it next? Sunday's
Speaker 2: game out in San Jose Agan's Trainia today kick off
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty five Gold Cup.
Speaker 1: All right, your referenced Polisic who was not present, Sir
Speaker 1: Genio Dust wasn't either, Weston McKinney, Tyler Adams. Off the
Speaker 1: top of my head, you know, those are kind of
Speaker 1: the main guys that weren't available. So help me understand
Speaker 1: how many players that we will see play for this
Speaker 1: team in the World Cup were not present for the
Speaker 1: game last night and we will not have for the
Speaker 1: Gold Cup.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, off the top of my head. Christian
Speaker 2: obviously is not there. Anthony Robinson Jedi Robinson from Fulham
Speaker 2: had knee surgery, so he was getting cleaned up for
Speaker 2: a problem that he had had. Serginio Dusk there's still
Speaker 2: risk management with him coming back from his ACL tear
Speaker 2: over at t SD Iron Hooven. Obviously, Gio Reina is
Speaker 2: with Brussia Dortmund, tim Waya and Wes McKinney or with
Speaker 2: ub those two teams are participating in the FIFA Club
Speaker 2: World Cups, so they have priority. Uh, there's a there's
Speaker 2: a there's a narrative out there and it's it's completely wrong.
Speaker 2: Maricio Putstino on his staff wanted to give the group
Speaker 2: of players the opportunity to play in all of these games,
Speaker 2: and they did not want to bring in Geo or
Speaker 2: Weston and Tim to this game because they knew that
Speaker 2: they weren't going to be there for the Gold Cup,
Speaker 2: so they thought it was probably better that they stayed
Speaker 2: and focused on their opportunity. But then you kind of
Speaker 2: get into the weaves when you're thinking about Joe Scale,
Speaker 2: you're thinking about Ricardo Peppy, you're thinking about Joss Sargent,
Speaker 2: you think about Santa Tessaman, you think about Joe mcalboos here,
Speaker 2: you think about Aiden Morris. Who else am I missing
Speaker 2: in this group that's kind of the core group of guys,
Speaker 2: and then you kind of have guys that are fringe
Speaker 2: guys around the world that you know, Twitter takes a
Speaker 2: liking to and thinks that they should be called in.
Speaker 2: So I would say, arguably you're missing seven to eight
Speaker 2: true starters and then probably collectively somewhere around twelve realistic
Speaker 2: players that would be on a World Cup roster. But again, Spence,
Speaker 2: I think, you know, a year ago, I think every
Speaker 2: average US soccer fan could probably name a majority of
Speaker 2: the players that they would think would be starting eleven
Speaker 2: players for the US going into the World Cup. And
Speaker 2: I think that number is probably open for debate based
Speaker 2: on what we've seen me in these last twelve months.
Speaker 1: Okay, So operating off that premise with the group of
Speaker 1: players you just listed, is it fair to say that
Speaker 1: the people that believe this guy is falling just need
Speaker 1: to pump the brakes based off the fact that maybe
Speaker 1: the US men's national team and Pochettino was without the
Speaker 1: majority of their best players. Is it fair to say
Speaker 1: that maybe there's some overreaction because based off of what
Speaker 1: you just outlined, the World Cup team that we'll see
Speaker 1: next summer was not properly represented last night.
Speaker 2: Is that fair to say, oh, one hundred percent. I mean,
Speaker 2: everybody knew. Well, let me tell you this. The Turkey team,
Speaker 2: the Turkey ice team that they played out in Connecticut.
Speaker 2: The only player they were missing two players, one of
Speaker 2: the starting center backs, which is debatable, a guy named Bardaki,
Speaker 2: and then Hawkan Shinnanaglu, who was their captain and played
Speaker 2: for Inter Milan in the Champions League final. He had
Speaker 2: picked up a Knox so he did not travel to
Speaker 2: play for Turkey. A and Vincenzo Montella. So they were
Speaker 2: arguably arguably missing one absolute difference maker and the rest
Speaker 2: of this was, you know, teams that had lost to
Speaker 2: one at the Euros semi or quarterfinal against the Netherlands
Speaker 2: and were coming off a six to one aggregate win
Speaker 2: against Hungary a month and a half ago. There was
Speaker 2: some rotation in Switzerland side that up at rice Ecles
Speaker 2: eat Mexico for two and absolutely took them apart, smashed Mexico.
Speaker 2: No one saw that result coming, But then again no
Speaker 2: one saw them beating the United States four nil as well,
Speaker 2: and that team was probably the strongest possible team that
Speaker 2: Murac could put together for Switzerland. So in terms of
Speaker 2: experience and full squad, both of these teams these past
Speaker 2: two losses were definitely Turkey and Switzerland were the much
Speaker 2: better team, much more experienced team, and much more closer
Speaker 2: to full strength than this US group could have ever been.
Speaker 2: But again, even though there's nuanced in the conversation stence,
Speaker 2: the reality is that we judge success and failure by
Speaker 2: wins and losses. And unfortunately, again when you go back
Speaker 2: to calendar year, the dry run for hosting the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty six World Cup was the Copa Medica and to
Speaker 2: see US and again, this is football, this is sports
Speaker 2: in a moment in which an individual player can make
Speaker 2: a mistake, a referee's involvement, var intervention with technology, all
Speaker 2: of these things can go sideways and horrifically upend any
Speaker 2: opportunity that you had to try to make a run
Speaker 2: to lift a trophy. If we were to say, if
Speaker 2: you were to ask me, Donny, has everything gone horrifically sideways?
Speaker 2: My answer would probably be yes. In its last twelve months,
Speaker 2: to the point where now Mauricio Pochettino in ten games
Speaker 2: in charge, he has five wins and five losses. That
Speaker 2: wasn't projected, that wasn't expected. And I think right now
Speaker 2: Mauricio Pochettino is probably looking at this the full concept
Speaker 2: of what the US men's national team roster looks like
Speaker 2: and has way more questions than answers. And this is again,
Speaker 2: you're a Spurs guy. This is his first foray into
Speaker 2: coaching international football and this will be the first time.
Speaker 2: The benefit of having a roster to get for the
Speaker 2: better part of thirty days is hugely beneficial for he
Speaker 2: and his staff, but it will come at a cost
Speaker 2: because it won't be with his first choice froster.
Speaker 1: So over the past twenty four hours or so we've
Speaker 1: heard Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, the aforementioned Patriot Lexi Lawless
Speaker 1: be very critical of the group that we've spoken about
Speaker 1: who've elected not to be part of the Gold Cup. Now,
Speaker 1: it's interesting because the Gold Cup, historically speaking, has been
Speaker 1: a place for players that maybe aren't part of the
Speaker 1: first choice World Cup group to get some exposure. It's
Speaker 1: how It's how Kyle and Nicky broke into the group,
Speaker 1: and they of course went on to play in the
Speaker 1: World Cup. Tony Beltran was on a Gold Cup team
Speaker 1: as well. But is there an extra layer of criticism
Speaker 1: that these players deserve based off the fact that the
Speaker 1: World Cup in our region is only a year away?
Speaker 1: Do you think they should have looked to play based
Speaker 1: off the fact that the World Cup's right around the corner.
Speaker 2: Well, so again there's nuance to this. So let me
Speaker 2: take you back ahead of twenty twenty two World Cup
Speaker 2: and guitar. The United States had two international friendlies. They
Speaker 2: were empty stadiums over in Europe, and I believe they
Speaker 2: played Japan in Saudi Arabia and they were horrific in
Speaker 2: both of those games, to the point where you know,
Speaker 2: something I said went viral and I made the mistake
Speaker 2: of questioning that group and their preparation, habits and ultimately
Speaker 2: what they could do at the World Cup. And I
Speaker 2: was dead wrong specific to performances and leadership by Christian Polissic,
Speaker 2: because when that tournament started, Greg Burholter got the squad right,
Speaker 2: he got the starting eleven right, and that team was
Speaker 2: incredibly impressive. And that's where the Golden generation Moniker really
Speaker 2: took hold. They were fantastic in the group stage. And
Speaker 2: if they would have and nobody would have ever predicted
Speaker 2: that Holland would sit back, defend and just hit in
Speaker 2: the transition, score goals at the back posts. Louis van Hall.
Speaker 2: We thought it was going to be style and substance,
Speaker 2: identity possession and they were just going to bury the
Speaker 2: United States. Instead, they played cat and mouse instead of
Speaker 2: playing them straight up. After that World Cup, then you
Speaker 2: had the obvious conversation of Giorana, Greg Burholter, Giorana's parents,
Speaker 2: and that horrific off the field issue that led to
Speaker 2: a determined amount of time that Greg Burhlter wasn't the
Speaker 2: usmnters national team coach. Besides that, Ernie Stewart and Brian McBride.
Speaker 2: Both we leave leadership roles behind the scenes and US
Speaker 2: Soccer goes out and hires Matt Crocker who had come
Speaker 2: over from Southampton and experience with the England national team.
Speaker 2: There's so many layers to this conversation. And then okay,
Speaker 2: so we're really talking about Christian. Here's the reality. In
Speaker 2: the last two years, I've pulled the stats on Christian Polistic.
Speaker 2: He's played one hundred games for Acmelon. It's something like
Speaker 2: thirty six goals, twenty assists. He's played somewhere around seven
Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty minutes in two seasons. When you
Speaker 2: compare and contrast that to the five years he played
Speaker 2: for Chelsea it was one hundred and forty six games
Speaker 2: and somewhere roughly around eight thousand minutes. So in the
Speaker 2: last two years he's almost already matched the five years
Speaker 2: he was at Chelsea Football Club. It's so you know,
Speaker 2: you go back to those years he was injured, dealing
Speaker 2: with hamstrings, groins, the stop start nature, substitute coming off
Speaker 2: the bench. He's a full time starter. He's an absolute
Speaker 2: number ten and in a dark season for a simulon
Speaker 2: points wise, table wise, he was the absolutely one of
Speaker 2: the shining stars, and it felt like monthly he was
Speaker 2: up for Player of the Month in City Off Football.
Speaker 2: So I can understand the idea of resting this tournament
Speaker 2: to make sure he's one hundred percent focused for the
Speaker 2: summer and next season. I think that's what gets lost
Speaker 2: in this conversation, because if the United States doesn't fail
Speaker 2: a Copamatica, and it doesn't fail in Nations League, nobody
Speaker 2: gives a flying squirrel. If Christian Polistic takes off this
Speaker 2: summer after two hectic, busy years and gets himself right,
Speaker 2: gets himself physically right, and make sure that by the
Speaker 2: time the World Cup comes, he's flying Landon, there's nuance
Speaker 2: to that conversation. I don't think he's wrong in some
Speaker 2: of the aspects, but people are also pointing out that
Speaker 2: Landon took that what it was a six to seven
Speaker 2: month mental health break where he walked away from the
Speaker 2: LA Galaxy in the national team. It was something that
Speaker 2: Clint Dempsey referenced and ultimately at the desk the other
Speaker 2: night working with DeMarcus Beasley, four time World Cup veteran,
Speaker 2: I said in postgame, after knowing him for almost thirty years,
Speaker 2: I've never seen him so dumbfounded and at a loss
Speaker 2: for words based on what happened. So there's so many
Speaker 2: different bullet points that are happening currently around this team.
Speaker 2: But unfortunately, because it's Chris simplistic, he's been the face
Speaker 2: of US soccer for the better part of the last
Speaker 2: two World Cup cycles, and we understand how important he
Speaker 2: is on the field. The fact that he's not here
Speaker 2: and the fact that he and his camp haven't taken
Speaker 2: control of the narrative. I think that's why there's such
Speaker 2: a significant uproar and frustrate about the situation.
Speaker 3: All right, concerning Pochettino.
Speaker 1: Two part question here is it time to maybe look
Speaker 1: at the Greg Burholter stuff a little differently as well?
Speaker 1: Because I've always believed and look, it doesn't matter the sport.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Knicks just fired Tom Thibodeau after the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference finals. Coaches are the ones that typically fall
Speaker 1: on the sword because players aren't a contract, and players
Speaker 1: are the ones that essentially run the thing, because there's
Speaker 1: no such thing as a great coach without great players.
Speaker 1: And so it does feel like the US Mets national
Speaker 1: team has punted on Bob Bradley, Jurgen klinsman Greg Burholter.
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering what's fair to say about Potchettino based
Speaker 1: off the results for straight l's five and five and ten,
Speaker 1: and whether or not we need to look at what
Speaker 1: Greg did a little differently.
Speaker 2: Now you know, I played, I played with Greg Burholter
Speaker 2: at the us N national team level. I had worked
Speaker 2: with Greg Burholter, and I'd seen and covered him for
Speaker 2: a long long time. And I've said this multiple times publicly.
Speaker 2: There was a moment, and it's not the place blame
Speaker 2: on Tim Way in any way, shape or form, but
Speaker 2: because there's a lot of moments in that game against
Speaker 2: Panama Coba Medica, they beat Olivia, to know, they go
Speaker 2: into the Panama game, they score at Weston McKinney goal, aheader,
Speaker 2: he's judged to be offside. A few minutes later, a
Speaker 2: Panamanian player absolutely demolishes Matt Turner. Not a yellow card,
Speaker 2: no foul called. Matt Turner is forced to leave the
Speaker 2: game at halftime. That's how heavy the collision was. And
Speaker 2: in that moment, Tim weya, you know, off the ball,
Speaker 2: you know, pops a chicken wing and next thing you
Speaker 2: know he's been shown straight red. So there was a
Speaker 2: lot of When everyone talks about what Greg Burholter did,
Speaker 2: writer Greg Burholter did wrong, The reality is that that moment,
Speaker 2: that red card shown to Tim Weya is the perfect
Speaker 2: example of a split second decision where the tide turns
Speaker 2: and everything goes sideways. Just a quick reminder, Greg was
Speaker 2: neither a better coach or a worse coach based on
Speaker 2: that singular moment. But US Soccer decided to go in
Speaker 2: a different direction because it was deemed a failure, and
Speaker 2: going out in the group stage of Copa Medica with
Speaker 2: all of the momentum and the hype and the opportunity,
Speaker 2: was probably the right decision the way that Matt Crocker
Speaker 2: and company looked at it. But now with Marisa Pochettino,
Speaker 2: I don't think you put the panic button on Marisa
Speaker 2: Putchettino in the staff, because I can promise you they
Speaker 2: care more than people. I mean, from an egotistical standpoint,
Speaker 2: do you think they want to come to the United
Speaker 2: States and fail after getting fired at Chelsea Football Club
Speaker 2: a couple of months ago. No, that's certainly not the case.
Speaker 2: So big picture, I think that right now they've got
Speaker 2: to figure out what's the right steps going forward to
Speaker 2: make sure they can get this back on track, because
Speaker 2: the reality is you got a calendar year until the
Speaker 2: star of the World Cup, and I think all of
Speaker 2: us former players, all of US pundits, all of US
Speaker 2: media members, and most importantly all of US fans don't
Speaker 2: have a lot of faith for what this group is
Speaker 2: capable of doing in a World Cup. It's not just
Speaker 2: a generational World Cup, but this is a World Cup
Speaker 2: with an opportunity to create legends. And what a wasted,
Speaker 2: missed opportunity for the general public to not be able
Speaker 2: to get behind, you know, our US men's national team
Speaker 2: in a similar manner that we see every four years
Speaker 2: with the Olympics.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you about Diego, who I actually thought
Speaker 1: came into the second half and showed well, now they
Speaker 1: were getting smoked, so it was too late. But Poachettino
Speaker 1: has said in the past that he likes him. Does
Speaker 1: Diego have a shot to make the World Cup roster
Speaker 1: not just the Gold Cup roster?
Speaker 2: Diego Luna, in my humble opinion, I predicted this. I
Speaker 2: think he's going to be I think he's going to
Speaker 2: be a starter at the World Cup. Oh wow, nice, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't. I know, Marisa Putsatino and his
Speaker 2: staff absolutely adore him, and we all saw the images
Speaker 2: when he got his nose broken and he had to
Speaker 2: fight through and his grit and determination. I said this
Speaker 2: during the pregame show when obviously, you know, when our
Speaker 2: group covers not only the US men's national team because
Speaker 2: of you know, my affinity and respect for what Diego
Speaker 2: has done, but also on the women's side with Ali Sitinoor,
Speaker 2: which they absolutely adore Ali because she's been incredible and
Speaker 2: she's such an incredible human being. But in the pregame show,
Speaker 2: I was explaining once again just to remind people that
Speaker 2: Diego Luna has always bet on it himself. He's a
Speaker 2: guy that came from a world in Northern California in
Speaker 2: which decisions were made and he wasn't. He left, He
Speaker 2: went to Texas, played for pulled the trigger to bring
Speaker 2: him to Salt Lake. He worked on his fitness, he
Speaker 2: worked on his psychology, the mental side of the game,
Speaker 2: the physical side of the game. He changed his body profile,
Speaker 2: and he, without a shadow of a doubt, dealt with
Speaker 2: despair of missing out on the Olympics and turned it
Speaker 2: into I'm an MLS All Star. I'm an MLS Young
Speaker 2: Player of the Year and I'm going to take this
Speaker 2: opportunity with both hands. And I can promise you that
Speaker 2: if Marine Cio Pochettino had twenty six Diego lunas heading
Speaker 2: into a World Cup, I think we would all feel
Speaker 2: much more comfortable about our chances of not only having
Speaker 2: a decent World Cup, but potentially having a great World Cup.
Speaker 2: Because that's the type of body language, that's the type
Speaker 2: of leadership, that's the type of technical ability and skill,
Speaker 2: and that raw emotion that we all wish we see
Speaker 2: from every single player, the moment that they pulled that
Speaker 2: jersey over their chest and they see the cress loud
Speaker 2: and proud over their heart.
Speaker 3: Ahi, Dottie before he you lose.
Speaker 1: So let's get a little RSL in DC in town
Speaker 1: on Saturday. Only two matches in June, and it is
Speaker 1: getting late early for this club. Sitting on fifteen points,
Speaker 1: four ten and three maidestein gold differential and without Diego
Speaker 1: for a minute, it's gonna be rough. I wonder if
Speaker 1: Ali can play for RSL. She's the best striker in
Speaker 1: the state. And it's not close. We got the somber
Speaker 1: transfer wentdo coming up, and then after that, I think
Speaker 1: there are thirteen total matches combined league play in League's
Speaker 1: Cup play. So your thoughts on where we stand with
Speaker 1: RSL and does it feel like this season might be
Speaker 1: too late to salvage already?
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, it does feel like that because this group continues
Speaker 2: to figure out ways to creatively lose to some of
Speaker 2: the worst teams in Major League Soccer. And that's my
Speaker 2: concern against DC, And iied, you know, when you lose
Speaker 2: against Toronto SC at home, when you lose against an
Speaker 2: LA Galaxy team that hasn't lost in sixteen games, it
Speaker 2: doesn't give you much hope. And I understand the complexity
Speaker 2: and the nuance to ownership switch, you know, from Blitzer
Speaker 2: and Smith to the Millers and Blitzer, but this team
Speaker 2: was financially woefully prepped for what this season was going
Speaker 2: to be. You know, you go back, I had this
Speaker 2: to learn on my phone a week ago, and it
Speaker 2: was a year ago. It was like fourteen games without
Speaker 2: a loss, and you think about Anderson Julio, you think
Speaker 2: about Andres Gomez, you think about Cucurito, you think about
Speaker 2: Matt Crooks, all these guys, and they're all gone, and
Speaker 2: then you transition and Diego is the loan standout in
Speaker 2: this group this season, and you're waiting for somebody else
Speaker 2: to alleviate the pain and frustration of what's happening, and
Speaker 2: it just isn't there, and so it's starting to feel
Speaker 2: like lost season. You know, take off my affinity for
Speaker 2: Real Salt Lake and the success because I always kind
Speaker 2: of say they're anywhere between a third place team and
Speaker 2: a tenth place team, dependent upon the nuclear arms race
Speaker 2: of spending in Major League Soccer. But I'm hoping that
Speaker 2: very swiftly this team has the financial wherewithal to be
Speaker 2: able to go out and find some difference makers and
Speaker 2: do it in a timely manner. That's similar to what
Speaker 2: we saw when Chicolroongo showed up and already had six
Speaker 2: weeks underneath his belt of being in market training with
Speaker 2: the team and being incredibly prepared for the opportunity to
Speaker 2: step on the field and be the immediate difference maker.
Speaker 2: This team needs help, but as I say that, Pablo
Speaker 2: and Pablo needs help. But as I say that, there's
Speaker 2: a very capable group of players inside of that locker room,
Speaker 2: and they got to figure this out because if they don't.
Speaker 2: I hope there's someone inside of that locker room that
Speaker 2: has the stones or kahonas to say, hey, by the way,
Speaker 2: if we don't turn this around, there's many guys without jobs.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to say your homes. You're gonna have to,
Speaker 2: you know, bust tail and get out of town because
Speaker 2: this hasn't been good enough. And once again RSL can't.
Speaker 2: There was so much hype and so much momentum spence
Speaker 2: everywhere I went last year, everybody was asking me about RSL. Dude,
Speaker 2: what's going on? How are they so strong? How are
Speaker 2: they so consistent? Pablo has been incredible, and this year
Speaker 2: it's the opposite. It's what in the world is happening
Speaker 2: out there? And I don't think there's there's one hundred
Speaker 2: percent correct avenue to try to explain what's happened this
Speaker 2: year without placing blame on the players first and foremost,
Speaker 2: because these are professional players making a boatload of money,
Speaker 2: and quite frankly, outside of Diegaluna, they're just not showing up.
Speaker 1: Donnie and my friend, I appreciate the time, excellent work
Speaker 1: on the broadcast. I know you got a busy summer,
Speaker 1: so hopefully you can chat with you soon, but until then,
Speaker 1: safe travels my friend.
Speaker 2: Okay, anytime you me and my man have a good.
Speaker 3: One, all right.
Speaker 1: Brian Dunseeth, RSL original MLS VET ten years played for
Speaker 1: the US men's national team. As they got stomped last night.
Speaker 1: It was embarrassing. Gold Cup coming up on Sunday. Hopefully
Speaker 1: they can figure something out between now and then. Donny
Speaker 1: stops by today courtesy of our friends at outlaud Istilling,
Speaker 1: new partner here on the ESPN Sports Network. Outloud Distillery
Speaker 1: is a homegrown grain to glass, nitty gritty whiskey, vodka,
Speaker 1: rum and moonshine distillery right here in Salt Lake County.
Speaker 1: Outlaudistillery Utah Groun. With so much history here of cowboys, outlaws,
Speaker 1: mining and more. They have everything on the spirit spectrum.
Speaker 1: They've got it all. We're happy to have them on board.
Speaker 1: Now you can book a tasting and if you tell
Speaker 1: them you heard me talking about it, they're gonna hook
Speaker 1: you up with your shot glass as a souvenir. So
Speaker 1: get your tour and tasting booked at Outloudistillery dot com today.
Speaker 3: Appreciate them being on board.