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