Pete Martinez listed is joining us this morning, so we'll hop into the morning show here and find out what's going on.
Hey, what's up?
Health? Martine is joining us? Where are you, by.
The way, I am. I'm at the Weston in Saint Louis.
I'm literally staring at Bush Stadium, which is where they put us up, but the hotel right across the street from from these damn cardinals who just terrorized my mets for for so many years.
Yeah, I can't take you anywhere. By the way, your time with river Plate second time has not worked very well.
Unfortunate. Still, I still got a nasty left peg though, you can't take that away from it.
Oh, that is absolutely true. Uh So what cup of coffee are you on, sir? By the way, Tyler Terren's joining For those just listening on the audio side, is what cup of coffee?
I'm just an Americana. Just keep black Americano, keeping it simple this morning.
Okay, is it your first one of your second?
It's my first. My fiance actually decided to join me.
She drove with the dog, she drove Nala, and we got some family here in Saint Louis. So took us at a walk with the pup. We're going to go to it's her gotcha day actually, so we're gonna take a walk to the to the arch, take a nice little picture with Nala at the at the Yeah.
So how long a drive is it from from Covington, Kentucky to the Arch.
It's about five and a half m. But you know I don't live down in Kentucky. You know that, John, don't don't don't put don't put that on me.
You fly out, You fly out of there, fly out of CBG. You have to cross the river to leave Cincinnati. You're staring at Cincinnati as you're leaving and there's a river in between you and the two Nala's Gotcha day? How many years? Five? Wow?
Yeah?
So all right, so go back five years with Nala and the Gotcha Day? What were you looking for at the time that? What was it? Did? Did Nala pick you five years ago?
So?
I actually, I actually wasn't part of the proceedings. I only met Shannon, my fiance, two and a half years ago. So she had gotten the dog in a previous life and she was worried that Nala was not going to be cute enough. They did not know that they were taking her home on the day of So basically I give Shannon crap for that every other day thinking that Nala was not cute enough to bring home. Obviously she
was and continues to be. But yeah, very very glad Shannon decided to pick up Nala and keep her for that matter years ago.
Yes, your your predecessor here an hour number two in the Hour of Chaos was Executive director of League's Cup, Tom Mayo, and we got to catch up with him about Phase one. Sir Kama, what did you think about Phase one of League's Cup?
Question Mark, Oh boy, A lot of mixed emotions, similar to how I'm feeling about going into the Jet season again. I think that there was some really, really great and fun moments. I had fun on the call for the three games that I did during Phase one. All three games meant something. But I can't help but look at the last two days and how there were only a few games that mattered. And not only that, John, but like the LFCTS game, that is a game why you
do leagues go? But you got wholesale rotation from Steve Tarundelo and company and it ended up being a decent game In the buzz because sun was being introduced, you know, that night or the day, the day after whatever, and thirty two to fifty two is putting on a show.
But like you.
Can't have your Pop one be Pop one matchups in the league, a Mechi's at MLS tournament not have any competitive meeting behind it. Now, I get that there's still this sort of like rivalry and dominance on the line and everything that is sort of going to be spoken to us in terms of marketing and everything like that.
I'm and I'm all for it.
Because I still saw some bite even from the teams that were eliminated. But the whole point of this is to have competitive matches between Major League Soccer and the get met these clubs, and there's given to take with any format that you're going to roll out in this competition, whether it be shutting down the league for a proper month. Okay, we're going to get rid of that. We're going to
condense the tournament and we're only going to have three games. Okay, Well, now you're going to find yourself in a position where if you lose one game, you're basically knocked out from the possibility of qualifying and This is the take, right, is that you're going to potentially have some meaningless games,
so it's not going to be perfect. I think that the concept of constantly rooting against MLS teams if you're a fan of Atlanta and rooting against everybody else in your own league is interesting.
I like it.
It was sort of an interesting supportive twist. But yeah, definitely some kinks to work out. But I think this is more of the right idea than I think the original format.
Is my overall, you had your rounds of chaos, and there there were some very unentertaining kickabouts, especially late in that matches it didn't mean anything. You saw some triple digited numbers from legameicky sides, which for me is kind of the palace intrigue of it all when you have, Hey, you're starting two or three kids that are like one eighty nine, two twelve and one sixty four. You know,
for me, I dig that. But I like the idea of the compress schedule where you're not having to wait, like if you don't make it out of group, you're just kind of sitting there and twiddling your thumbs for three weeks before the MLS schedule comes back and uh. In talking to Tom, I think it sounds like one of the things under advisement is the expansion of the the MLS CFP to six or eight as opposed to just four. Coming out to where and you know that folks are gonna come. What do you have a band now?
Is there are a band around you that's charging?
There's there's just well that's why I had to wait.
I texted you and I said that I needed to wait to jump on because then to wait for my headphones to charge. But I guess they're still picking it up. I don't know what sort of nonsense they're playing, but certainly is not going to be playing at my at my wedding less than three months. But so so he said that there they're toilet with the concept of going six to eight in Yeah.
You're looking at Yeah, they're looking at it. That'll be one of the things that they talk about at the end of this tournament, is the idea of maybe going to six on each side or something like that is one of the other topics on their list of things to talk about after this year's over.
Yeah, that was my That was my first suggestion on a podcast that I went on like two days ago, was like, they're just it just it felt like we were right on the cusp of having a really interesting final day because it seems like the cutoff was six points. If you've got six points, you you weren't getting in. If you've got seven, then it's gonna come out to the tie breakers. I've never been someone who and I
don't know people who do it. If you do, then you're a psychopath who like the concept that if you're being decided to get into the next phase of a tournament by gold differential, like it's a I don't I don't like that. But there's only so many teams and there's only so many games that you know, that's sort of where we where we fall in it. But yeah, like if you if you expanded by one or two or I guess it has to be two more teams
at the bare minimum. I think that that creates enough jeopardy on the final day and keeps everybody in the mix, because if you lose your first game, you can still win your last two and find yourself with a chance at the bare minimum, right, or find a way to make the make each game me count towards something like you know, you know what I was thinking back on the twenty three and twenty four versions and like how everybody was upset that there were just random MLS v
MLS games going on in this competition that was supposed to be MLS versus the MP's. Those MLS all MLS games should account it towards the regular season, similar to how MBA Cup does it, you know what I mean, Like, so just finding a different way that if you're not going to expand it to six or eight, then how
do you make those games count towards something. I don't know exactly what that is, but I don't know that was That was an idea that I was stirring up while I was on a flight for Minneapolis to say.
Then I went over I don't know if you heard me mention the domain tarn quote where he refers to it as a trap tournament gives you very little, takes a lot away. But I mean, yeah, you're defending, you're defending your honor. I mean, I get it. I mean it's it's you know, dome trap tournament.
I've heard of a trap game.
Never the trap tournament gives you very little and takes a lot away takes away training time, takes away quality from what we're trying to build. He says that if you don't advance, they love to throw around the words like failure and make it seem like the world is ending. Managers have been punished, have even been punished for speaking their minds. But my opinion of the League's Cup is very clear. Winning the trophy wouldn't bring much prestige.
I mean, what's more important prestige or qualifying for Cocker Cap Champions Cup? Like you know what I'm saying, Like I and this whole concept that like tournaments take away from training time and get away from what you're actually trying to do. Welcome to the world of tournament football Domit turn like like you don't like like, okay, does the World Cup have the highest quality football known to mankind or their beautiful patterns of play and clear identities
from international teams. No, it's tournament football. Go out there, win your individual battles, and go win the game and try to progress. Like who said that this was supposed to be some grand opportunity for you to be able to work on your philosophies and you and sharpen up your game model. Dome, Like, come on, man, that's that's weak. That's weak sauce from a coach who clearly got well.
And like I said, I know that you're defending your your your team's honor and all that kind of stuff. I get it. You're supposed to say those kinds of things to defend your league and defend your team and all that. I get it. It's coach speak to a certain degree. I don't know how much of it he actually does believe, but and how much of it is press conference domain or anything like that. But if he put that out there, and I'm like, okay, sure, fine.
Yeah.
The other element that I wanted to ask Tom about was who's in charge of the officiating cruise And he said that to say that is a Tonka Calf thing. But League Cup is consulted. They do have conversations back and forth. We had us some issues, man, we really did. Mm hmm.
I didn't catch any of your games on my list of on my list of teams to watch during Least Cup. Unfortunately, Atlanta United were not towards the top. So I do apologize, don't don't don't serve me. Okay, you earned you earned the right to be in that list throughout throughout the course of the season. Tell me about these problems?
Was it?
I don't disagree with I think the comments came, I forget who they came from, but like that a Mexican rep should be refereeing a Mexican versus MLS game, Like I that, I don't agree.
That that was It was literally the matchup again, it was the second matchup in group stage, the Kaylor Novice red card that happened, and you had a you had a Costa Rican, you had a center ref who has been cutting his teeth mainly in the Costa Rican, Promeira, who has Gold Cup and Concacaffean experience, treating Kaylor Novice with far too much rope after he'd been given a red and it was just completely and totally out of control. Look,
here's when you have time do this. There were eleven instances on Monday when we had our reffing down here segment that literally we're discussing this crew this match. And then what happened at the the Musofsky foul with Seattle, in Santos Laguna and in Orlando and atlast which was completely and totally out of control, but the Atlanta Pumas had probably nine or ten instances of soft cards pks that were called, and the final ninety plus where Taylor
Novice gets a red loiters on the field. I mean literally, this was people who were spitting mad. Taylor Novice gets a red and he's basically trying to take somebody with him. He's hanging out on the field. They're trying to put a jersey on Angulo, who's they're out of sub position player goes in and Gulo is having to take his time and figure out how to put on gloves in a soccer a keeper jersey. I mean it is loitering of the I ish housing degree. And then Novice isn't
kicked off the field. He's basically bringing in planes with Angulo telling him how to line up a free kick at nineteen yards out and he's not being kicked off the field or being lushed up by security. It was chaos of the highest order. Just go to the end of match day two and watch that. It was nothing. It was crazy that, kaylor.
But what you what you're saying to me is just another is another conca cap officiated game, Like what are we? What are we really talking about here. None of this is fascinating, no little.
Bit, but it came. But I wanted to ask Tom about the review process of selecting officials. We did get our full view of Ocehane Nation, as we do in these Concacaffeine tournaments as well. But yeah, match day two for at Lanty United, just go to like the eighty ninth minute and when Jamal gets wiped out by Kaylor Novice and just watch the end from that moment there going forward. That's your homework.
You guys played the kids in your win.
Huh.
You guys had an interesting starting.
And for those of us that have seen the kids and seen the twos and cover the twos. And by the way, Lanty United two in Toronto FC two is on the network tonight. It's six thirty pre game seven O three kick at Soccer down here dot net and on our mixer channel Soccer down here do Mixer dot com with Uh, somebody at the end of an index finger calling that man. Yeah, I mean it was Will Riley came in to ga she with the twos. Uh.
You got to see will nix Cssick come in. Who's was brought in by Chris Henderson from MESSI and Friends too, and that connection with them.
I like, I like Nicksick. I called the game of his while he was playing for for Indiana UH Many the same the same year that I called Patrick Agumon against Andrew Privett while you of R while your I was playing Penn State. And then I'm and now I'm seeing Sam Sarver and killing it for uh for Dallas out Indiana. Man, they just they just pump out professional soccer players who are making the you know, the bare minimum, but but somehow contributing.
And finally Jadan Hibbert started in net and they got the full Jade and Hibbert experience. You got Nick Sussex starting, You had Will Riley starting, Luke Brennan, you had Nick Cssick come in, you had Toga she come in, salmas A Faro came in, Laioa Fonso got a cup of coffee. Cooper Sanchez, who's got a homegrown deal in the week, got a cup of How was how was? I mean?
It was early returns. But obviously when Chris Henderson sees something in an unused asset down in Fort Lauderdale and you basically get him at inter Miami had to spend money and an international slot to eventually have to get rid of laioe a Fonso basically for a song and a cup of coffee to Chris Henderson fifteen minutes, had a couple of touches. I think he was just trying to get integrated into what's going on out once one for two on his duels. So I mean I liked it.
I liked him. I think he could be a He could be a nice piece.
So you know, with the help needed on the left hand side, you have a guy like Laoa Fonso being brought in. But yeah, it was a lot of the kids and it was, uh, it was a fun one to see. So you, sir, are in Saint Louis and you have a matchup where All Caps have not had the best season, and uh, it's uh yeah, yeah, because we always feel like we have to reference them as Saint Louis City SC because that's in All Caps, you know,
you have to reference it as such. Nashville coming to town at a plus one oh eight, no real surprise. All Caps are a plus two twenty three and your draws a plus two sixty nine. What's homework been like for you on this one.
Homework is that Saint Louis are a bad soccer team, unfortunately. And you know, I I I really like Nashville, like to the point where I'm starting to believe they're legitimate.
You like like Nashville.
Oh no, I know it's borderline love. I'm I'm about to say something something stupid to Nashville, probably on like the sixth or seventh date. I I adore their style of play, which is a hybrid. I love coaches who are not overly rigid and who are willing to sort of say, we can play direct, but we can also carve you up and we're just gonna simply play to
our strengths. And BJ Callahan, you know, looking back on it now, I think BJ would have been a really good option instead of Greg's second stint to just sort of give him the reins. Now, we didn't know this right because he didn't really have any head coaching experience other than that one opportunity he got to the US men's national team and what was a Gold Cup or
leaguees Cupp or whichever one. And watching them now, I'm like, this dude knows how to get knows how to get a group to buy in and Sam Surge and Hanni Muktar are probably the best one to two punch in MLS at the moment, and that includes Leonel Messi and Suarez just because of the lack of production we've gotten from Suarez outside of the penalty.
Spot and wearing a couple of weeks.
And wearing straw hats, which yeah, that didn't It's just not for him. That's some people just need to sort of take a look in the mirror and be like, there are certain things I can and can't pull off.
Saint Louis, you know.
The the thing for me that continues to just eat me away is like the loots von and steel fingerprints all over the fall from Grace that was twenty twenty three.
Every single decision that he has made has been the wrong one, and it was such a reactive and borderline like I don't want to say immature for lack of like I don't want to insult the guy, but it just felt so just felt like somebody was playing a game of like football manager and was just strewn around to see what would happen if, you know, because the
results weren't going your way. After a really good season and It's really unfortunate because that city as just the way that you guys did embrace that team from the
moment that Don Garber said go. And he has made every single wrong move, whether it was you know, disrespecting Tim Parker and the money that he offered him after coming off an MLS All Star season, whether it was you know, sort of blaming Bradley Carnell for the for the slew of injuries, and for Edward Leuvin going through, you know, dealing with his wife having staged four brain cancer and not being part of the twenty two or four season for the most part, and only having ten
appearances this year. Like and now I look at the roster and I just like I kind of shrugged my shoulders and I'm like, eh, this they haven't gotten any better. They've significantly gotten worse. And Nashville coming off of that one loss against San Diego, which I'm sure is still looming large by the way, Andy Naharr top five MLS player.
All wow, yeah, wow.
Yep, yeah, wasted years of his life in d C.
Now I get it. He's in Alexander. He's a BMV kid, and that's his club. But like when we take a look at what DC has or more importantly, has not accomplished over the past six years. He could have been He could have been winning MLS Cups or winning trophies with another club. He is phenomenal.
Love the guy.
So basically what you're saying is that the the fun and steel Welschmeiers is very very heavy there in Saint loui Us Saint Louis. I don't know what that means.
St.
Louis, World pain, welch Schmers, the world, world, world welt Schmers.
I still don't know what you're talking about.
Well, the angst, the angst in Saint Louis, there's more than a yeah, yes, it is world pain, it is velt Schmers, it has gone world pain.
I thought you were saying world paints and I was like, is there is there an artist that I'm missing here because art just doesn't do it for me.
Yeah, world pain velt Schmers, So it does. Faun and deel Weltschmers is what they're experiencing.
The looks more than more than that. Yeah, I think just yeah, it's.
It's it's fun And I was gonna say it's it's angston. Let's that's the term yes, yes, yeah, So Rodrigo de Paul has made it to MESSI and Friends with a couple of weeks left in the window, and uh uh yeah, and Thomas Mueller to Vancouver and some guy named you On Monson to LAFC. There's some heavyweights being tossed around here, sir.
There are Rodrigo de Paul by far as the most most attractive and most like holy crap signing. I think out of the three, for sure, the sunny one. I don't know how you feel about it, John, but it listen, the twenty six million that they spent, they're going to recoup that in Jersey sales within three weeks. Like if they haven't already recouped half, I'd be shocked.
However, isn't this just a.
Little curious given the Olivier Roux experiment that they just went through for the past years. Yeah, isn't it just a little perplexing? And I get it that as an owner of a Los Angeles sports franchise, you have an obligation to a tracked names to your stadium that otherwise wouldn't come and by, and and the way to do that is to attract people to your club that have big names and obviously the Korean population in Los Angeles.
You know.
You can't, you can't not mention it, but I just wonder. I just wonder if they if they've done it again in getting so obsessed with a name that you're forgetting that this group operates. Now, Steve Taruntlo will make this work.
For the Conglu's problem.
You think, no, no, no, you don't actually believe that. You think that after winning a Europa League title that he's gonna cut that he's gonna come.
Black helicopters here in the office.
Oh, Jonathan, I would love to know the odds on Anti Pasta Coagulo to be the next La SC coach because I will not be putting.
Any checks down on it. But do you do feel the same way that like, I'm trying to do a make good for the mess up, and so they decide to go and get Sonny for twenty six. I just wonder how that you're gonna integrate, how it's gonna how it's gonna work.
He's gonna be the nine. I don't you're not moving Bolonga at this point in time?
Are there? Are there gonna be enough soccer balls to go around?
Well, the good news is that Sonny doesn't have an ego and like he's not a problem child, and I think that he'll fit into the system however he needs to.
My question is just the legs.
I mean, you just paid twenty six million for a guy who quite literally was told over the past few weeks under Thomas Frank you're not part of the plans.
We'll move you.
If you want to move, just tell us where you want to go, and we're gonna try to get Tom Dollar. And I think that for Spurs fans, of which I know many, this business that they just got done is incredible. Twenty six million for a player that literally was not going to play this year is phenomenal. Mozl pumped Daniel Levy, and that's not like, oh they'll appreciate.
Me when I'm gone. Yeah, I would disagree, sir, Circle gets the square.
Yeah, I just I don't know. John.
I look at it and I'm just like, this is l e FC trying to, like you said, make good on the mess up. But yeah, and I Olivia Jruin Sonny at this point in time, very different stages of their careers, and I think that Sonny still has things to give whether or not he fits into the l a FC model, which I'm constantly told is based on on dyn dynamism, explosivity, legs, And I'm like, you just picked up a thirty three year old man, like what
are we what are we talking about? And then you're gonna take this opportunity away from Nathan Ordaz who's played brilliantly this year.
Yep, I don't know. Uh, do you wish to cut the promo for your matchup, sir? Since you're at the end of your cup of coffee?
Yeah, it's getting a little luke warm. Saint Louis City, Nashville, Downtown,
Saint Louis. I think that with a ten day break and both of these teams not having played in League's Cup, I think there's going to be a real energy about Energizer Park, if I do say so myself, and if you're if you're an Atlanta United fan and you want a game to watch this weekend that's not your own and have it on the second screen, I do think that this is going to be interesting because if you're Saint Louis at this point in time, throw caution into
the wing. You're twelve points off of a playoff spot. You've got nothing to lose, and Nashville are like a very very very fun team to watch. And I'm telling you, John, I'm telling you Eastern Conference Final, bare minimum, bare minimum.
I'm willing to ride.
I said Galaxy, We're gonna win La MLS Cup last year. At this at this juncture of the season, I'm willing to at least go to say that that Nashville are they're.
Knocking on the door or something.
So way it is, it is on the record, and it will probably be circled out to all of the social medias that we have. Thank you for crashing, Pete. We appreciate your left foot now and always, and thank you for answer the bat signal just to introduce yourself into the hour of chaos as you normally do.
Hey, I love having the keys to the garage and I appreciate you keeping it open for me. And make sure those beers, yes, sir, anytime, See you soon, my friend. All right, that's Pitty Martinez joining us live from Saint Louis. Who knew Pitty Martinez would be joining us live from Saint Louis the way that he did? Tyler Terrence basically just parachuting in and that's kind of what we do.
It's like literally, it's like, hey, you want to you want to come in, you want to come in and come on in, and so literally that's that's where we are. But yeah, he's uh, but Tyler was in Saint Louis in the lobby of the hotel. I was hoping that his laptop or whatever device he was on was not overheating.
So that way, you know, I didn't want, you know, because I could tell when when I promoted that Tyler had parachuted in that I could tell that was when his signal kind of got interrupted, because if they're was at one point where you were where you were watching and you felt his signal kind of burp a little bit. That was when I'd mentioned Tyler on social media and it went out on his phone, and that was when his phone kind of went off a little bit.