Playoff-ganza Preview, Best XI's & Messi Contract Extension

Yeah, turn my headphones up. Turn my headphones up. SoccerWise is back, baby. David Goss and Tommy Scoops with you for arguably... The best show of the year. We are into the postseason. We are into the playoffs. And we have so much to preview, so much to talk about, so much to be excited about. Tom, I'm not going to lie. I have some Bridgeview juice right now. I might be back to a bridge view situation. I might be anti-soldier field. Get me back into the building.

Not just anti-Soldier Field. Anti the new, beautiful, privately funded downtown location stadium that Chicago are working on. With Joe Mansueto paying for it by himself and not stretching taxpayers' things. Cancel that project in favor of Bridgeview? That is a plastic setup in stadium. I want...

heritage, and culture. I need Soctopus. Is that the name of that team? Did you see the story? Yeah. I need that. I did a video that we're going to be putting out about Bethlehem Steel. They built a stadium back in 1913. That's the history Bridgeview holds inside of its buildings. It had a vibe. It had a vibe last night. It was somewhat crowded, and Brian Gutierrez went off. Pleasantly surprised.

Went off on Orlando. Well, they had a lot to cheer for, Tom. I agree, but still, it's short notice. It's a midweek. It looked miserably cold in Chicago. Playoff weather is what I like to call it. It looked perfect.

Bridgeview is, again, I hear from Paul Tenorio, our resident Chicago expert, that Bridgeview is not the easiest to get to if you're a Chicago resident. So I was pleasantly surprised by it. I was fearing all of those excuses to be fair and valid, and the Chicago fans showed up. I was happy. Are you required now?

to always mention Paul Tenorio and give fealty to your overlord. I feel like I normally did that. I do it so much to a point to just make him uncomfortable about it now, which is one of my favorite things. Okay. I think that's a...

Great plan. And I appreciate that we could be a platform for you to help carry out that initiative as you go along. So we are going to do what we do best, which is we made up a fake draft game. I'm going to try and win. There is no winning and it doesn't matter. And you don't care. And we're going to go.

So we're going to go through the playoff series that we're most excited about in order. We're going to hit every single series. We also are going to be back on Monday. So we're going to be able to recap what goes on in the weekend. But because... Big brains at the league office in Major League Soccer figured out that if they spread the playoffs out over the course of a week, you'll never know when anyone plays and no one will be able to get to any of the games.

Next Monday when we come back on, still half the series haven't kicked off. So we'll be able to preview them for a second time when we get back for that show. We'll talk a little bit about the wild cards as well. And we've got awards to go through. So we have our finalists. officially across all the categories. They're pretty straightforward. There's a couple interesting things, I think, that you can read between the lines with of trying to figure out who's going to win and what it looks like.

We will give our best 11s. You've done this 14 times over the course of the week, so it'll be a little bit less news breaking from you. And then we will say who we picked for each of these awards as we go through them. But we got to start. Right here. Because it is official. A video came out breaking the internet a few hours ago from Miami.

that I have officially signed a three-year contract extension in the city of Miami, and I will be remaining here as the GOAT for three extra seasons. Obviously, I'm referencing Lionel Messi, who is about to win the MVP, just won the Golden Boot. His contract was up. There's been talk all year. I think Michele Giannone was the only one who got him on the record to even get close to a conversation about it. I love that in the video, they look at Messi and he's about to say one thing.

And then he's like, yeah, I'm not going to talk. And then in the video, he's sitting signing his contract at a desk. It zooms out and he is at the center. of what will be the new stadium. I think Chase Freedom Park is what it's called, right next to the airport. I can see it right now. It is 11 minutes away from me, just past Lone Depot. I've got eyes on it. I think you can see my apartment in the video as well.

high-rise building you know like one of those like what is it the squirrel suits where if you just jump off and then you can just glide i think we could try that put a gopro on you can I don't know if this is exactly where that goes. I think that was in Tomb Raider. But in my head, it's a Pierce Brosnan and James Bond movie. And I like Pierce Brosnan as a James Bond. I think he doesn't get enough credit. And I want that to be out there. I think that needs to be mentioned early in this show.

God, I love this show so much. Yeah, Lino Messi. Lino Messi. This is obviously... There was no big doubt over his future, but it is nice to have something announced official for the questions to stop because at some point...

It was going to be, hey, I know that this was close, but kind of what's going on? Is there any worry? Like, it's Lionel Messi. Like, there's going to be a lot of questions. So it's nice that this is done, dusted, and announced. The announcement video was really cool. I got to give him credit. Like, they put a desk in, and again, the construction area for him to sign.

and they're really cool photos is really cool video there's and that no chance that safety precaution wise he's allowed to be sitting there without that helmet on Steel toes, anything. But you know who gets to decide the rules? The Mosses. Well, it's their construction site. I feel like you should be able to decide those rules. Moss Tech, dude. It's everywhere, baby. So, yeah. The biggest news to come from this, again, isn't...

like the act of him signing. It's the confirmation on what I've been hearing that this is a long-term deal. This is through 2028. He's 38. That carries him past his 40th birthday. This wasn't just a bumper extension for one more year for him to open Miami Freedom Park at the stadium that they're going to call home. The planning is for 2026 for next season.

Like this is for the several years beyond. This is going to be Lionel Messi's legacy within this club and everything else that is going to kind of follow him from this. uh, career in this league for, again, as we said, very, very likely to be the first ever back-to-back MVP award winner, um, with his exploits this season. And again, now like he's going to carry this team into the next era.

and they're going to retool a little bit, but this will still be the messy era. I will be the first to say I would be shocked if he played the full three years of this, which is fine. It doesn't matter. The point is... The last soccer team he's going to play for professionally is going to be Inter-Miami. Whenever that moment occurs. And I think that's the guarantee, as you said, that they want. And it's a big moment with the stadium. It feels like...

you know, my construction. I, when I drive by, I just drove by on Wednesday when I picked up my wife, I think the building opens early. I think construction's ahead of schedule. I think it's going really well, but the whole point was you want to sell it with him. Like, that's the project. That's the next jump.

I have said many times, I think this team has become relevant in the market. I think it's relevant past just him. I think the colors are everywhere. I think people know about it. How you lock that in and you say post-Messi, we are a giant in our market.

is by opening that building with everyone wanting to come and it being an event, and then from there, delivering. And having Messi as part of that is the key. And part of the key is he's under contract through 2028, so... all sponsorship deals all sweet deals minimum of five to seven years whether like that's not even a joke it's it's like that's all part of this year and like let's remember that Messi is locked in a percentage to buy when he retires to be a co-owner of this team

It financially serves him to be here as long as he can because the longer he's here... the more valuable this club is. And again, I know that that's not the driving force, but it is something worth kind of bringing up. And I know he's obviously very, very happy, the lifestyle and just living in Miami. So that wasn't kind of any doubt. And again, this is a no brainer. And for, we can be cynical.

And again, I know fans of other... It's fun for fans of other teams to root against him and to root against this villainous team. But everybody can take a step back at some point and be like, we're going to get... Whether it ends up being, what, four full seasons of Lionel freaking Messi? It's pretty awesome, like, just at a baseline level. I think he might play in the World Cup. He keeps being like, oh, I don't know. It's a long time from now.

Bro, you just signed a contract until your 41st birthday. I think you'll make it. On international duty with Argentina in South Florida, where Argentina's built a training ground, and they let him... play both international games and also in the middle of it, go play for Miami. I think if he's going to play. He's pulling a full LeBron. So that's the whole battle here with all this. The one thing that I think about is...

if you remember with David Beckham, obviously there was like the short term fixes when he first got there of like, can we win immediately? Which didn't work out. And it ended up being when Robbie Keane arrived, when they found the full success and Keane ended up. carrying the stretch.

further than Beckham did and I wonder with a three-year deal can you now sell a Neymar whoever it is who's next and be like come we promise you you'll play with him for a while and then it's yours next and we still are sort of waiting and open with what will the next

spot how will it be filled is this hopefully you know a part of what ends up being the opening of spending and maybe it doesn't have to be dp spot maybe there's more spots whatever it is messy being a part of it i think gives the league a better chance of getting any of those rules

Over the line. Miami is going to kick off the playoffs first for us. We didn't do the debate this year. I think we've agreed on what postseason versus playoffs. Wild card game is postseason playoffs. It didn't count. So they haven't started yet. Friday night, 8 p.m. Eastern time. That'll be the first game. I will be at the game.

I'm going as a fan for fun to watch soccer. Exactly. None of the things I just said. So if you're going to be in the area, hit me up, let me know. And I'm very, very excited about going to my first home Miami game. Since I've lived here. I've only been to the USMNT friendly there. And then I've been to games at Hard Rock. I have not been to this. And I've been to Miami FC. I didn't know that.

Open Cup games, and I've been to Fort Lauderdale USL Super League games, but I have not been to Miami. Yeah, so I'm fully in the community, you know, just like trying to connect and all of that. We are going to go through every single series here for a little bit and talk about them. Then we'll get to our awards, Tom. I sit to you first. The number one pick. What is the series that you are most excited for, for whatever reason you choose?

I'm going to go hell is real. Cincinnati versus Columbus. I think that's the first pick for me. I honestly think that this is the best scenario for Columbus in a weird way. Obviously, since you're a really, really good team. rather than playing Miami or playing Philly or whatever, like Columbus has stumbled into the playoffs and they've had injuries that, that has been part of the issue for them. And, and we'll see what happens with less. And Mabualli looks like Diego Rossi is going to be back.

But getting to play your rival, I think, in the first round is going to help boost this team and juice this team. Again, for me, I still have Cincy getting out, but I think that this is going to feel like a conference final, but just played over three games over 90 days. I think this is going to be the most fun. Even when these two teams have been bad.

Or one of the two teams have been bad in the early part of Cincinnati's lifetime in this league. It's been awesome every single time. So give me all the hell is real that you can give me. Yeah. When these teams pre noon and pre non say we're struggling, as you said, they always put on a show.

this is the series because of the nature of playoffs and how quickly it comes that is the best chance of having true away fan bases because you can make the drive there is enough time um and so having that set up where Maybe for a lot of these series, it's going to be really hard to get like a large fan base to be able to get somewhere only having a week notice and all of that. And there are not as many of the like East Coast close together.

matchups as we've seen in the past. So I agree with you. I think this is the one to watch. The Diego Rossi news to me is big about it because without Rossi, yeah. Columbus has a clear idea of how they play and who they are. Gosdog scores a goal off the bench on decision day. That's nice. Jason Russell role finally gets a start as well. Like, yeah, there's nice little breadcrumbs in there. It just feels like.

A mountain too high to climb without someone like O'Rossi or Wessam Abu Aldi. So the quote from Nance midweek was that he could have played. in the season finale on decision day if it had been a playoff game. And now we'll see during the week. How does he feel? He trained normally. So we'll see. And that's huge because we weren't sure that Rossi would be available for the playoffs. His ability to finish, obviously.

his ability to I think draw some defensive pressure and I think for this Columbus team it's going to be moments where they're going to have to counter press at a high level or be able to break out quickly because Cincinnati right now their best attack

is their pressure and their ability to win it high, which means they're going to have to push numbers high. And at some point, you're going to have to go direct over the top of them. And if you can do that and break out, you've got a huge opportunity.

But if you're scared to go direct, if you lose possession immediately so often, you're going to not want to do it. And I think for Columbus, having that outlet in Diego Rossi is massive. Exactly. And you kind of hit it off the top there about... I would like I would play up or I would feel genuine about the rivalry aspect of this and like, hey, Columbus will feel like they have a chance no matter what, no matter who's out there.

Without Rossi, that would be a lot harder to kind of twist yourself into like full, full confidence that this is actually going to be a series. He is that important to this team. And again, like since you have so many individual talents and such like a really good team and Obi Noboto returning.

is massive for them. I think he's going to fill a lot of holes and, and fix a lot of issues that I think that they've had. And again, maybe it's just me continuing to like blindly say, no, no, no. Like this, like my, my brain can't compute that.

that you know you look at the point total and you look at the players on the team you look at the coaching staff you look at the structure you go this has they have to be performing like one of the best teams in the league and while their point total says it is we've been saying all season about the performances not quite being there and again i

genuinely believe that Obi Roboto and this team being fully healthy for pretty much the first time all season including him and some others around the team that have been kind of in and out like that

if there's a time to start peaking, it'd be now. And I think if there's a team that I could trust to go from, we haven't showed it yet to bang, here it is in game one. I think it's this team because of all of the guys who have already done it. And again, how much respect I have for this coaching staff. I've made this joke many times, but...

Tomorrow, the playoffs will kick off on Friday, October 24th. The conference semifinal will kick off on November 22nd. I say that in saying, like, it's not crazy to think Rossi or Nobito who have... I mean, Nobito's been out for half the season, could actually be in somewhat of form if you can get out of this round, if you can survive a game or two where maybe he's a little bit behind the pace or whatnot.

Yeah, there is real potential for Cincinnati to... find themselves here i think the rivalry the juice of that is massive uh and of course for this cincinnati team they're trying to get revenge because two years ago they lost in the eastern conference finals they were ahead they had home field advantage that time they would like to be able to take advantage of it

this time as well. This game is going to be Monday night at TQL Stadium at 6.45 p.m. Eastern Time. Tom, do you have a pick of who you think goes through? Cincy. I did say that. Yes, you did. Cincy in three. I don't know, since he did this. Okay, I'm going to say Columbus. All right, I respect it. Yeah, that's not a knock on Cincinnati. I wouldn't be shocked. There will be some series where I would be surprised if it went the other way.

I think Columbus comes in with a little bit of confidence. I think the Rossi stuff helps. The big concern, obviously, is defending in the box for Columbus and the center backs and if they get matched up one-on-one with a Denke or an Evander or if Brenner can bring a little bit of quality. in his moments as well. But I think this is a Columbus team that has enough comfort in playing against this opponent and in big moments that I think there's more game-breaking ability on this Columbus team.

I can just see it as the flip of last year, which was everything was going Columbus's way and the Red Bulls somehow were able to throw a wrench in it. And I think that might be the case this year in the other direction. I will pick. My series then coming out of this one. And I actually am going to stay on Monday night and I'm going to go with Minnesota, Seattle.

And I think this is one of those series where it's a 50-50 split in my mind. I think if Seattle had home field advantage, I would edge them because of the way things have gone for Minnesota, the lack of a true center forward right now. some of the attacks struggling, but I still think this is a Minnesota team. I saw enough in the Open Cup, even with the upset.

from Austin that this can be a tournament team that when they need to push for goals, they can get them on set pieces. They can make life stressful and dangerous for you. And the two wingbacks or the two fullbacks, whatever they end up playing in this one can cause enough pressure and enough threat to overload you and create big chances. And like, I'll take a Robin Ludd.

in a must-win moment and a must-win game, even if he's slightly out of position, even if he doesn't have the same players that he could play off of, I will still bank on a guy like that. And yet Seattle are a team coming into this that look like they could be an MLS Cup favorite.

are one in the Western Conference because of their history, because of what they've been through, and at this point with health, where they're landing. So I think this is a big one to me. This is a coin flip, which I'll be locked in for, and you know the atmospheres in both buildings are going to be wild.

Yeah, I think this is a really good kind of top tier pick for the playoff series here. Both of these teams, I think, are very, very good. They do it in different ways and they have different strengths and different weaknesses. I think they're all going to be tight games. Because Minnesota mostly only plays tight games, but Seattle are, I don't know, coming out of League's Cup, we were talking about them as a favorite, if not the favorite.

in the Western Conference. Things have changed. They've slipped a little bit. Pedro De La Vega injury is really, really unfortunate and sad. and best recovery to him but like particularly coming out of league's cup it's like oh my god like this is the guy they paid seven million dollars for and everything else that they had going from they still have a lot and they're really deep so they can handle some of these injuries

And they have a little bit of retribution to get to. Minnesota beat them both games this season. The first time that Minnesota swept Seattle over a season in their young history. That was a big deal for Minnesota. Seattle have been the standard. in the Western Conference more or less since they entered the league in 2009. This is going to be a really fun series with two really great home crowds. And Minnesota...

it's, it's what we've been saying all year. Like they have the defensive structure, defensive identity, and they have the set pieces. Those things play well and knock out round type games, except for if you can see first and like, As silly as it is, a lot of this is going to come down to who scores the first goal in any given game. Because...

Minnesota are hard as hell to beat, to break down when it's tied. They're really hard to beat, to break down when they're winning. So Seattle controlling the possession is what's going to happen if they can limit the moments in transition. If Kelvin Yeboah is just a guy. and not like, oh my God, he's a DP, then Minnesota are going to struggle, unless that they really are pulling in and set these goals. And another little reminder here, there's no extra time.

Draws go straight to penalties. There is a possibility, not in this series, but like in any of them, that a team could go through with two draws and win in penalties and they can get shattered in the other game and go through with a negative four goal difference because they...

winning penalties like so that's something that's something to keep in mind and this one team has dane st claire and he's a goalkeeper of the year for me he's a penalty specialist he's an absolute dog shit talking artist if they get to a penalty they're gonna they're gonna feel like they have the edge I just picture that video of the high school football player, and it's just like starts naming. Dane St. Clair, dog. Michael Boxall, dog. Will Trapp, he's a dog. Dog.

And that's how I picture this team being lined up and set up by Eric Ramsey. That's the announcement on the number seven, dog. Number one, dog. There will be one name that will be announced going forward a consistent amount of times for Minnesota, and that's Joaquin Pereira, the designated player, attacker, officially announced today, Tom, that he has signed a contract extension.

Yes, he did. The designated player remains at the club after they turned down an offer from Turkey for around $8 million, a really big valuation for Pereira. So good on Minnesota for coming back around and saying, hey, we'll take care of you. We know that you're probably going to pay a raise in Turkey.

We can't lose you right now. You can go at some point in the future, I'm assuming. But they did right by the player here. And this is kind of an easy situation to do right in terms of salary cap because he's already a GP. So anything you're giving him is just doing the right thing slash coming out of the owner's pockets rather than being like, we're locked into Max Tam here. We can't really move. So well done to Minnesota. And it's good to see Joaquin Pereira. And they're going to need him.

I think that there should be some pressure on him to help unlock the team rather than just pointing at the set pieces and defense that I keep on regurgitating. He is high on the list for Goss theorem award winner this year. We're not going to go through that award today because I haven't.

I was going to say why. But he's high up there because he's one where last year I said the opposite to you. We came out of last season and I was like, I am sold on Kelvin Yeboah, hence him being on my golden boot team. That lost. But I'm less sold on Pereira. I don't think he's a game-breaker individually, and therefore it all has to come within the team. And is it worth a DP spot for a guy like that? And it flipped this season. He has made game-breaking plays where he's taking guys.

He's able to beat guys 1v1. The passing is able to break lines and change defenses, and he clearly fits the system. This was something I was a little worried about for Cincinnati when Lucho left of like, okay, this is how a team plays. Not everyone wants to play in that.

A 10 is not often going to be comfortable being like, yeah, we'll be against the ball. I'll just close down a bunch in front of center mids and then every once in a while we'll be in possession. And he fits with all of it really well. He clearly reads the players around him very well and he's able to create. chances for them and I think he's got another level to go I think we'll see even more goal scoring going forward so this was huge to me because

It has not always been easy to get this player into this market. Like for Minnesota, they have worked on these big attacking signings for years to try and get them done. Hence why they tried to hold on with Reynoso as much as possible because it took like... two and a half years to get him. And so now you get it right.

Yeah, and now you've got it locked in and you don't have to stress about that one, which is really, really big. Both these teams, I wouldn't be shocked if they end up in a final. So this one's Monday night, 9 p.m. Eastern time is when the kickoff is scheduled for. Tom, we are up to you. I thought you were going to go for a snake here. Let's not overthink it. Miami-Nashville, we might have had more juice for this if they didn't just play on Saturday and Miami...

just throttled nashville and the weird thing is i don't think nashville played bad like i thought that they played pretty good this was just one of those games where messi just went nuclear and there's only so much you can do i still think that this is like that that's more of an outlier

of what to expect in this series. Miami ended up being a bit of a breeze by the end of that just because of the scoreline and Messi's excellence. I think this is going to be much more hard fought than that game ended up being. Nashville can... They can't quite trade blow for blow with Miami, but they have Hani Mukhtar and Sam Surge, and that's not a bad one-two punch trying to come up and combat this Miami team. What's going to happen is it's...

Can you take advantage of your transition moments? And can you do your best to contain Messi? Because there is no stopping him. He's had 18 goal contributions or whatever it was in the last seven games of the season. And it's...

just really, really difficult to come up against a player like this. They scored two goals. That should have been, you know, a team like Nashville that's usually enough to get a result. It wasn't against Miami because that's Miami and sometimes things are different, but...

I think that this series is going to be harder fought. I do think that this will take three games. And it's Lionel Messi. It's the final ride for Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba and maybe Luis Suarez. This is absolutely one of the best series to watch for round one. It is wild that we ended up, because of the play-ins with Portland winning three decision-day rematches in the playoffs, makes zero sense. And the fact that two of them were...

Hastings makes it really hard to be like, this is here. And I get what you're saying. At halftime, Nashville was up 2-1. XG said that as well. I thought they came out the opening 15 minutes and pressed Miami high. And we're like, we're not scared of you, which is awesome to see.

But it turns out they should have been scared of them because of what happened. What are you going to do, stab me? As the game went along and in that second half. And so now we have to figure out where does Nashville fall? One of the big ones to me. is I have Andy Nahar in my best 11, which we're going to do. He has to win that matchup. And by that means he has to be the game breaker on that wing, not Jordy Alba.

The fact that Alba steps forward and steps into the attack and is dangerous has to be a negative for Miami. And that means Nahar has to be filling that space or in wheel or Schaffelberg or Quasim, whoever it ends up being has to take advantage of that space.

has to beat guys 1v1, and that's where a bunch of the attack has to come from to make Miami make the decision of are we going to sit a little bit deeper or are we going to try and outscore you 7-6 in all of this one? Because, yes, Hani and Serge are that good.

And Miami center backs are that bad that they can create a little bit, but it has to come from other pieces. And like it has to come in the flow of the game to make Miami sweat and think, OK, do we not want to commit as many numbers? Are we in trouble? That's the huge like X. I agree. Like, I like Nashville. They won Open Cup. They have credentials. They have belief in who they are. It's just really hard to bounce back from a 5-2 loss against this exact team and say, oh, it'll be different.

in the next game and i i don't know i just wonder if they're even tight in game one and they don't get the win like what's the energy in the building in geodes next week after the performance they put on last week. That's the 8 p.m. game on Friday night. As I said, I will be there. And Sam Surridge, an MVP finalist. So congratulations to him. He is not Goss Theorem because he has a year and a half under his belt. It was a tough one. He would have been obviously first on that list, but...

He got that half season in coming out of a league's cup two years ago, one, which he lost to Miami in the final love. So I am up now with my next pick. It is tough to say a lot of the like high, low seeds. So I'm going to stick in my same territory.

and say Charlotte NYC FC a four or five This is like me, like I NCAA tournament. I'll watch the eight, nine game before I'll watch the one seat. Cause like, I want to see competition. I want to see a competitive game. I want to see two teams going toe to toe. And I talked about this on the kickback committee on Tuesday. With Wilfred Zaha suspended, it is kind of like a potential star-rise game for Edan Toklamati. He has done it this season. He is...

proven that he is a legitimate starting center forward in this league already at a young age. But most of it comes in the flow of the game. And without Zaha, there's going to be a little bit less threat and danger out there. I wonder if you can play through him more, if he can create chances for himself. Like a lot of his goals are running on to things where it's good movement from him. It's great finishing from him, but.

Is there that extra half gear from him in this one? Because you assume Brant Bronico gets to start in central midfield and like it's industrious as it always is. And there's not a ton of creativity coming out of the fullback spots as well. So then the game falls on Toklamati and Vargin. And that's a lot of responsibility on two young players, one in Vargas who has the ebbs and flows high to low and has big potential but hasn't really done it before.

Hey, don't let Leo Labato off the hook here. It's a $7 million DP signing. I have no expectations. Yeah, and that's an indictment in and of itself. And Pepiel has started to work his way back to health. So an option there as well. Was there an update? No, not one that I've seen, but I would trust Pep BL more than I would trust. I would trust a half-injured Pep BL more than I would trust. I don't know. I believe. believe in redemption story here um but yeah like that that they can and this

Charlotte have the home field advantage in game one without Zaha. And we're talking about the threat that NYCFC are going to pose and what NYCFC can do. And what can Charlotte do to combat that? Whereas like they should be taking the game to NYCFC. This is going to be a, this should be a fun one, I think. I hope it's going to be a fun one.

These two teams are pretty evenly matched. I think NYCFC have pretty quietly been very, very good this season because they started slow. They bring in DP in the summer. the team just kind of quietly was getting better and getting more and more results as the summer turned to fall

And then they would just lose to DC United and throw people off the scent. So this is going to be a really tough series for Charlotte. And again, particularly without Zaha. And Pepiel has obviously been out for a while. The last time these two teams played was at Yankee Stadium. And that was the match that NYCFC snapped. Charlotte's potentially historic winning streak. They really ran out of steam by then, Charlotte, remembering that game. Alonzo Martinez was...

It was pretty dangerous as he always is. It was two PKs for Alonzo Martinez in that game. And then Charlotte missed the penalty in that game as well. I watched it back a couple days ago because I was like, I remember this game, do I? And I watched it back.

I wouldn't say either team had a flow that made them look obviously better. And then PKs obviously throw the whole thing off. Let me give a quick update on Pep BL. This is from the Charlotte soccer show on blue sky. So Zoran Kornetta said two days ago, which by the way, We will have a special interview with Zoran Cranetta coming out tomorrow on our SoccerWise feed. Slight playoff preview, but really like...

good big picture MLS conversations about changing of roster rule, schedule, flip perception of the league, um, as well as what it takes to be successful in his role. He said for him here, huh? Yeah. He said that triggers have been met.

And that Pep BL has been converted from a lone player to a permanent player. I feel like I reported this already. But we don't know if it's a DP status yet. He also says Pep BL might be available if Charlotte FC were to make MLS Cup final. So he's clearly a few weeks away. Did you report all of that? No, the latter part. You were indicating he's working his way back. I was like, oh crap, game three? I know.

I thought he was closer than he is. Listen, this is nothing specific to Zoran Cornetta. Just make it in a faceless, anonymous coach executive of a team. He might be available if we make MLS Cup. What does that sound like to you? Well, the Brian White comments, I'm like, oh, okay, cool. And then I'm like, wait, wasn't Ryan Gold supposed to play five months ago? Yeah. It'll be good for the second leg, not the first leg, but the second leg.

And hang on, we're going back to Columbus. I wholeheartedly trust Wilford Nancy with just about anything in my life. So, but like, just got to be careful with the coach saying, like... The 49ers last year said, oh, Christian McCaffrey? If this was a real game, he would have been playing in the beginning of August. And then he was just gone the entire season. So just...

Be careful when they say, oh, no, if that was a real game, he would have played. How many of the, no, no, no, we didn't want to risk him because, you know, they definitely would have played if it was a playoff game. Just saying, be careful. You had that reported, right, because you and Kyle are close, right? As an NFL insider, you get along with Kyle. So you knew that one when other people were...

No, because I had Christian McCaffrey in fantasy. Nothing less interesting than somebody else's fantasy football team. But that's why that still sticks out in my head. So Charlotte NYCFC kicks off next. Tuesday at 6.45 p.m. Reminder, Zaha suspended for that game. Alonzo Martinez, the difference in the previous matchup, as we said, between these two teams. It's question mark with... What formation do you see? Five in the back, four in the back.

I think if Zaha was healthy, we probably would have seen five in the opening game on the road. Now, maybe do you try and go for it in that one and say, no matter what, we have belief in ourselves at home in game two. Then we figured out game three with no Zaha available. I think that's a real question on the table for Pascal Jansen, who's had a phenomenal year. They've ended on a high top five seed, I think is a really good bounce back.

for this club as they start to put things in place going forward. And now, of course, we'll do so under a new chief sporting director, which is big for this NYCFC team. I think a lot of these players are playing for. their spot in the future of this club because of the way things are set up and the way things are going. Okay, so that was my pick, Tom. We are back around to you.

I'm going to go with Philly, Chicago. I think that'll be fun. They are two styles that are different from each other. Because you love Bridgeview. Chicago, obviously, coming off... Big postseason win, advancing in the playoff round. Of course, Orlando.

I don't remember a more 1-2-3 Cancun performance in recent memory. Chicago were completely and utterly dominant. Michael Spillane in the chat said, did I miss you guys dumping on Orlando? Because I want it. No, but that was it. Just leave it there. I'm sure there'll be some offseason.

Conversations about them. But yeah, Chicago were rampant. And now they go play Philly. And again, Philly are the Shield winner. Philly are a really awesome team. But we've seen in the past, like think about those great, great Red Bull teams under Jesse Marsh and Chris Armis. that would just blitz team throughout the regular season and then get to the playoffs, then...

The pressing style is a little bit different when it's not a midweek game and, you know, hey, we got to go to Montreal on Saturday and then stop it at the Red Bulls on Wednesday and then we go cross country back home or whatever, right? So these get more and more difficult.

as you go into playoffs. I think Philly are going to be very, very good, but we've seen a bit of a shift. Like the last two MLS Cup winners were possession-based teams. And Philly getting through the gauntlet of the Eastern Conference playing this style, they absolutely can do it. But there is at least precedent for why we should have questions about...

what their, you know, playoff run may or may not look like. Chicago have buoyancy from that win. They have, you know, Zinkernagel, Kuypers, really, really good. Bamba, I thought was pretty dangerous in this game. Brian Gutierrez, really, really good. If Brian Gutierrez... And in that front four can really bring it to Philly, which won't be easy given how great defensively Philly are. That's where the game, that's where this year is going to be won or lost. Yeah, there's a lot.

I think, to consider in this one, which, as you said, makes it more interesting than a standard 8-1 series. One is Chicago comes in with momentum. They get this midweek playoff and they're home. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world that they played in that game and like had that experience to go into this. And the other is Quinn Sullivan, which is to all of the issues you just named. OK, what's your get out?

And we talk, you know, I talked about Pereira, what he can do for Minnesota. Obviously, through a lot of these series, we're going to talk about the Evanders of the world to Costa, what he can potentially do, like all these teams. I think Quinn Sullivan was that guy.

for philadelphia and he was last time they played chicago he had two he had an assist and a second assist uh and he was the one when chicago got pinned in and they were on the edge of the box he was able to create something special because of his quality and that's not there Right now for Philadelphia, but they haven't had enough time to readjust and decide, OK, what are we doing going forward? So I think that's going to be really big on the flip side for Chicago. These are polar opposites.

You go from an Orlando team that's like, let us know if we should attack because we were told we were only supposed to defend. They had 0.02 XG in the first half. at Bridgeview, did Orlando, versus a Philly team that's like, well, we're going to play all 11 in the attacking half, and so we're not even going to play a goalkeeper for this one. So it's like... Can Chicago adjust to that on the fly is going to be really, really big. And I think for Philadelphia, the whole key.

is come out and blitz them early and make Gutierrez uncomfortable and make Orgel uncomfortable. And if you can start to win those battles and put these players who have never been in a playoff game, never been in a big game really at this level before in their careers.

on the back foot, then I think you're going to be dangerous. And I disagree on Bamba. I was pretty let down by him in the Orlando game for the reasons I've been let down all year, which is he gets into great spots and he's either too passive.

Or he's not able to take advantage of when you have open space. I mean, Schlegel stonewalled him twice in the open field 1v1, which is like, that's a matchup you got to win every once in a while if you're going to win a playoff game. And as you said, they need him to...

complete the attacking for and they need him because they're going to be out in transition their best chances are going to come on breaks it's not going to be slow possession build-ups it's going to be breaks and i think that's where chicago has the chance where if they can

you know, steal one with Kuypers and Zinkernagel and Bamba out on the run, then you could start to play from a little bit of a lead. Then it starts to shift. Then the pressure goes to Philadelphia. By the way, I don't think we picked winners over the last few. So who do you have winning this one? Philly. And who do you have winning Charlotte NYCFC? Charlotte. I have Charlotte as well. And did we pick Minnesota, Seattle? Minnesota. Okay. I'm going to go Seattle, Charlotte, Philly.

I was hoping you were going to talk yourself into Chicago. I was hoping you were going to do it. No, it's not there for me yet. All the top three seeds last year in the East lost in round one. Yeah. Something to think about. Wait, all the top three seeds? Yeah. Oh, because Miami got upset. Miami. Right, because we ended up with... Orlando was a two seed, no? Four seed. They were a four seed. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Okay. You've shaken me, but not to my core.

I'm going to stick with Philadelphia. I'm going to power through that one. Let's go to my next game, which is Vancouver against FC Dallas. So this is one of the three games on Sunday. So we've got a triple header of playoff games.

On Sunday, which is going to be fun. Why they're not on Saturday, you ask? MLS doesn't play games on Saturdays. except for every other week of the season and next week when every playoff game is on the Saturday. This one, Vancouver hosting FC Dallas, 7.30 p.m. Eastern time. I think we know what a matchup between these two teams looks like. Because we just saw it, but there will be a couple of huge elements. No, Pat Ormus, no Logan Farrington. So, the league wins.

The league absolutely wins, and it feels like Vancouver might win as well in terms of in the crowd. The upper deck has been opened, so they've surpassed the 25,000 tickets that they can sell in the lower deck, and they're opening it up, trying to fill up the building.

I know there's a lot of quotes coming out about the Canucks playoff run. Did they go to the Stanley Cup? Did they win it? No. I don't know. They definitely didn't win it. I think Florida actually won it. Apparently, that's a big thing that they're trying to emulate. And then there is all the big news. Petar Moussa back from suspension. Farrington back from suspension. Matias Laborda is suspended for this game. And then Tristan Blackman, the reports are, is in full training this week.

which would be huge to get him back at the center back position. And yes, for Sorensen's quote on Brian White was, we have to see, but probably not going to see on Sunday, but hopefully next game. So it feels like that one's definitely not happening. It's probably hopeful that you'll see him in this series at all. I would say of the two, you would take Tristan Blackman because of Laborda's suspension, Veselinovich's injury, and all of that. But Tom, I have no idea what this matchup looks like.

because I was underwhelmed by Dallas playing 65 minutes up a man that entire game, and yet their best player and probably the Goss Theorem winner of the year, Petsar Musa, as Jason put in the chat for us. is going to be there and just changes all of the spacing and opportunity for Dallas from what they were last week. Yeah, that is absolutely the argument for Dallas. And again, it's a fair one. They're going to look very, very different. Whether or not that...

truly enough to impact or push Vancouver is another story. And I don't think that it is. I think that Dallas should be really proud of where their season was in the summer and what happened. to end up getting not even just towards the playoffs, but out of the wild card game. We're not trying to do moral victories here, but I think they're happy to be here. And I don't think that their season's a failure if they lose this game, particularly given where it was going in the summer.

I just have a ton of respect for Vancouver, as I know you do too, that as long as they have enough of their guys and they don't get a red card early, and even at then they were still playing their way against Dallas, like...

I think that Vancouver are rightly going to be heavy, heavy favorites, and they should be expected to kind of take care of business against this Dallas team. And again, the bottom of the Western Conference playoffs is much weaker than anybody in the East and obviously the top tier in...

The bottom three in this playoffs, the corresponding fixtures that they're playing, those are the only heavy favorites in even this round one. And this is one of them. So Vancouver, I'm firmly expecting to take care of business. I wish I had that full belief. And yes, I love the concept of if Vancouver have an ounce of life left in them, they're going to play you off the field and they're going to do what they do best. And I fully believe in that.

But the Moose of Farrington addition is like even bigger to me because if you don't have center backs, who steps in with them? Can they get behind you? Right. If Moussa sucks Ralph Preso center back in and plays Farrington through. Are you playing from behind? Then the pressure starts to build. And I think there's just real opportunity for Dallas to create chances. One of the obvious things from Saturday, Sunday, when was decision day? Saturday. Yep.

Lalas Abu Bakr is in for a day if he gets a start. They were targeting him on and off the ball. Anytime he touched the ball, the press was shifted. He was playing left center back. They tried to cut off the middle of the field, push the ball onto him, and he gave up the penalty kick. against Sabi because he got caught and the player got behind him. And that's where he goes in for an unnecessary tackle poorly from behind and gets called for the penalty. So he is going to be under pressure. Maybe.

You can shift him out of the team if you want to make Shaq Moore your third center back. Having Moussa and Farrington back, you could do that and go or go flat four, which I think would be too dangerous for them to shift into at this point. The addition of those two players just makes this a delicious game in that I wouldn't have had belief for Dallas otherwise, and now it's like a whole different thing. Do you have a pick?

What of anything that I said made you question who my pick is? I thought maybe you were feeling saucy. You're trying to bait me into this. You're trying to like, oh yeah, I bet that that's what you thought you were going to do. I'm like, no, no, no, no. You don't know what I'm going to do. It's Vancouver. I'm going to pick Vancouver as well. I think it's three games though.

I think Dallas has a win in them, and I think it's going to be tight, and I wouldn't be shocked if one of them goes to penalty kicks as well with the way these two teams are set up. Jesper Sorensen, one of the finalists for Coach of the Year. We'll get to those awards in just a minute, Tom. I think we each have one pick. left and then we are done so you get to choose your last one yeah i think san diego portland is going to be more fun than lafc austin yeah um because i think that the team

Both protagonists are going to be very fun. I think Portland are going to be more open than Austin, and that's a sign of respect to Austin for their defensive ability. So San Diego just beat Portland, what, 4-0 on decision day?

Portland did get through the wild card game. Those vibes look good. Phil Neville was very confident. And now they're going to have to try to run up against this team. Yeah. He's got new father energy. When asked at halftime, why did you start Felipe Mora by Weeby? After he scored two goals, he said he just had a kid. So he's ready to go.

Like, it was like as if it was obvious. Like, oh, no, no, yeah, here's what you are missing. I thought you were talking about Phil Neville. I was like, what? I don't know anything about Phil Neville's family situation. I think his kids are like 18, though. Yeah, that's what I was saying. Anyway. Let's talk about Philippe. Uh,

So yeah, congratulations to Felipe Amor. So San Diego, Portland, I think that there's going to be a lot of goals in this. I do think that Portland can get at San Diego and at least make it a bit up and down, a bit open. Like they do have the players, but like they've really backslid over the second half of the season here.

So San Diego, again, in the theme of the bottom three here in the Western Conference, like our huge, huge underdogs. For San Diego, they may or may not have Chucky Lozano. So Chucky Lozano was absent from the team's matchday squad on decision day.

And Mikey Varus was asked about it after the game, and he just kind of shrugged it off and said, oh, we're dealing with an internal situation. And I've been making calls and figuring it out. I got a lot of no comments, and I'm able to report per sources that... They don't know if Chuky Lezano is going to be available for the playoffs.

due to that internal situation. And what happened was he was subbed out in their last game before decision day against Houston at halftime. He was very unhappy about this. He made those feelings. There was a verbal altercation in the locker room. And Chucky Lozano was then...

you know held out of the team for decision day one source said he needs to prove to the locker room how committed he is to the team and it was like honestly day to day we don't know if or when he's going to be available for the playoffs so that is a major storyline to watch for San Diego

So in that game, San Diego was trailing in Houston 1-0 at halftime. He came off. They ended up winning 4-2. They conceded in the 87th minute. Dreyer had two goals. De La Torre had a goal. And then Pellegrino scored in the 130th. minute to seal the deal. And this is just a curveball that's unnecessary. You've had the best season in expansion year, like an expansion year of all time. Chucky has played really well.

without all the pressure on him, right? The early injury shifted, I think, a lot of this season of everyone came into it thinking Chucky had to carry the team. What else would there be? And the moment he got hurt right out the gates, it turned out... That the style was the star, the team was the star, and Dreyer elevated. And even when Chucky came back, I think it made his life easier that it wasn't all on his shoulders. And so you've had this great season. It's all fit together perfectly.

And now there's just an unnecessary internal struggle to take you off your game for absolutely no reason. I think it's devastating if it ends up being something that takes you from beating Portland 4-0 on decision day to potentially losing a series, but even past that. I have San Diego. I think they have a legitimate shot to go to MLS Cup. Of course. Of course. It changes if Chucky's out, but it changes even more. But if you said Chucky was hurt, I'd be like, okay.

I could still see them getting there. This feels like extra stuff that makes everything harder for everyone around the team. No, for sure. And it's definitely an unfortunate distraction. And again, just an unfortunate unavailability. Because Chukis is really, really good. I think he has 19 goal contributions in his time. It's still been a very productive season for Chukis, even if it isn't what maybe he hoped for, or particularly with the games played.

I'm sure that he thought he was going to be the MVP finalist, not Anders Dreyer, and I'm not suggesting that there's any animosity there whatsoever. I'm just saying when Chucky Lozano was the first player signed in club history, he's the faces on all the posters. I'm certain that his own standard was, I want to be one of the best players in the league.

and what Carlos Vela did for LAFC, all this stuff, because he is that good. And he has been very, very productive on the field, so it's unfortunate to not have him. And normally this is one where you're like, yeah, he wants to play. That's normally something that's fixable quickly. Because the issue here is not he wants a new contract. He doesn't like the way the team's run. He literally wanted to be on the field more for the team.

The fact that it's taken this long is worrying because that means whatever happened is really big. And we're probably in a time crunch where it doesn't end this series now. I've said this a million times. The next round doesn't kick off for a month. So you have a month to figure this out if you're able to get through this, which they should still be able to navigate Portland without him. Exactly. And again, people... It was truly...

Day to day. Right. And but they were the sources I spoke with were serious about like me like. There's no guarantee that he plays. But this could get resolved soon. To your point, when I was making these calls, I figured I was just going to get the, yep, internal thing. It happened. We're past it. We're moving forward. He's available. So I was surprised to hear that.

oh no, this is still lingering and this is still a thing. So that would definitely be something to watch. But in terms of San Diego, again, first of all, with Anders Dreyer leading the attack. That's enough to beat a lot of teams in this league because of how great he's been. He's indeed an MVP finalist, as he should be, as is obvious. I think he was a clear number two for me. But the other side, Amal Pellegrino, six goal contributions in his last two games.

San Diego had to work really hard to get that deal done pretty much right before the deadline. They're only paying senior minimum for him from what I was told per sources. So not a bad, well, again, between him and Corey Baird, like I was like weirdly bullish on... of all Pellegrino's fit within this team. Because I think he just fits better with this team than like Bruce Arena San Jose. And it was just like, I don't know, 19 people would have cared about that take.

Even on this show, I was like, there's other things to talk about around the transfer window, but I feel a little bit of vindication even though his second to last game was his first goal contributions. He had a few starts before that, but I'm here for the Amal Pellegrino era in San Diego.

On the Portland side of things, it obviously got better from decision day into the playoff game against RSL. Finn Sermon came back, which is huge for them. He's probably their best 1v1 defender. I thought they were still gappy. I just think RSL couldn't take advantage. If you watch that game, it felt like Luna and Gonsalves found the ball.

around zone 14 more often than they should and they're just not really capable of being dangerous with it as often or the pieces around them ola tunje his movement's not as dangerous i thought gozo had flashes here and there but

It's an RSL team that struggles to score goals because a lot of guys who have responsibility on their shoulders that they're not fully comfortable with, they're not ready for. And so one of the things coming out of that, by the way, Diego Luna won't play a competitive club soccer game for...

Maybe five months. Four months. Yeah. Those are really, really big for their potential standing in the national team. There are friendlies. There will be a January camp. You'd assume it'll be an extensive one. I wonder if there's a loan in there just to go and like play. And obviously they wouldn't get the full off season then. But if you're Diego Luna and you go on loan on January 1st to a team just to like be competitive and be around it, you still would get six weeks off now.

If they were to give you off whenever the training ends, because every team, by the way, the players are still under contract pass when you get eliminated. So for teams that didn't make the playoffs, they train for normally three plus weeks. And some other teams will train as well through the players end of their contracts.

So it's just something to note in all of that for Portland. It's obviously a big win for them. We saw on social media, it wasn't really the crowd interaction we expect from a Portland team. I think that's on everyone. I think that's on the league throwing these games around on schedules where you can't prepare. You're unaware. It's on days where there are never games otherwise. I think it's on the team as well. You backslid into an eighth seed.

In a year in which it looked like you'd be pushing for a potential home field advantage and a top four seed. And you do that in the context of Vancouver being the number two team and Seattle being the number five team in your conference. And so it's a team that is now struggling to put together big. performances. Um, I was impressed by the assist from Veld. Otherwise though, it's still not as all coming off for him. And to Costa was pretty anonymous in that.

wild card game. They have to be dangerous because they're not going to shut out San Diego. So this is similar to the Nashville series. They need to put up goals. They need to be dangerous. Having Chara back in the team obviously helps them. He sat on decision day, so that's a little bit of a change.

but I can't see Portland overcoming this one. So I have San Diego going through. I assume you do as well. Yeah. And we move into the final game to discuss, which is LAFC against Austin. So this game is next Wednesday. Do I have that right? Or is it Tuesday?

Time is a flat circle, dude. It is Wednesday. I just want to make sure. I'm going to wake up on Saturday and I assume because all of the games all season long have been on Saturdays that I don't have to plan ahead and I know that there's going to be games Saturday. Right, Gus? You got none. You got none. But next week, don't worry, there'll be about five games on Saturday. On the following weekend, so LAFC hosting Austin kicks off next Wednesday, 10.30 p.m. Eastern time. Big note.

Usman Bukhari, who didn't play on decision day, was listed as out. Nico Estevez said was precautionary. He will be back. So he will be available for this team for Austin. Austin went two and O against LAFC, but the last game three weeks ago was in the international break. So not a full strength LAFC.

Missing Sun, which is probably the biggest one. Missing Buonga. Maybe that one's even bigger. Whichever one you want to go with. And so that's all a huge shift. I think the reason that this game ends up last for both of us is... LAFC don't love the ball, so they like to sit back. Austin have not been great in possession. They've been playing in a lower defensive block. And so it just feels like a game that's going to have small margins, but not...

really because it's two teams going toe to toe. It's kind of two teams challenging each other to try and go for the win. And LAFC at home, I just think has too much firepower. You can't make mistakes. at right now against Buanga and Sun. And this does not feel like a back line for Austin that can play perfect two out of three times.

No, and I think it does speak much more to LAFC's firepower than Austin's deficiencies. We can talk more about Austin's deficiencies going forward, but they've been good defensively. This LAFC team, it's the only thing that mirrors Miami for me. In that, like, you can play really well defensively. And then Sun can just take your soul. Or Bulanga will get one moment in transition and kill you.

Just cuts out. So again, so I think that this is more play about LAFC strength and Austin's weaknesses. And again, when it's a, is it three, six, this match? Yeah, three, six. There's a 13 point gap between these teams. There's a 33 goal difference gap between these two teams. And I think that that's a story here. And LAFC would be borderline disastrous. This would be, again, any one of, I think, the top three in the West here.

It's not quite going to be Miami-Atlanta because I genuinely don't think we'll ever see that again. Just all of those confluence of events and circumstances leading to that. But it wouldn't be far off if one of these three teams fell. Denny Buonga, of course, second in the Golden Boot race, and he is in the MVP standings as well. Let's go into our awards now. A reminder, we will be back on Monday. We will recap what we saw so far.

This weekend, and then we'll do a full preview of all these games. Once again, hopefully some updated injury news and all of that. And so we will touch on them going into that one. And we have that Zoran Kornetta interview that's going to be coming out tomorrow. Very good. On our channels. Yeah, he's fun to talk to. He's a great talker, man. He's a fun guy. Yeah, he's...

former super agent who now runs a professional sports team. So he's pretty good at interviews and talking with people and all of that. Let's go into our awards. We'll announce our winners and then our best 11s. We have the MLS MVP. We kind of debated who the three would be. So they just decided to have five. It's everyone you think would be in it.

I was going to say, I thought that they used it because they have been doing three. But I was like, you know what would make a lot more sense? Five. But I was like, man, I'm already doing my soapbox about the second and third best 11s. Who cares if it's three or five? And I'm very happy. It's my point.

So all five are listed as finalists, which doesn't mean anything. It means that they are the top. Yeah. I mean, it means they're the top five vote getters. I don't know if it means anything in terms of. these players' careers and where they stand, but whatever. It is the top, what, four in the golden boot race, and it is Evander or whatever. In this group, I picked Messi. You picked Messi. Yeah.

And then we move on. The Ziggy Schmidt MLS coach of the year. It is the top three candidates we expected. Carnell Sorensen and Mikey Varis. That one was three. And as it should be, I think McKellar was on the show last week. He brought up B.J. Callahan. I think that's fully fair that he's the fourth option. He's not. He's adrift. And again, no disrespect to B.J. But first of all, Open Cup does not count towards this vote.

And like those three teams, the, the three finalists pretty much, it feels like in any other year, they would be just the obvious easy. Each one of them would be the obvious. Oh my God, that's a no brainer award. And we had three of them in the same year. Did decision day sway you in any way? Varus ended up winning the Western Conference over Sorensen.

It didn't sway me because, again, I don't want any of this to sound like it's a negative to the two guys I didn't vote for because they've done... Yeah, it's about the resume over being impressive. No, but it's like Bradley Carnell, what more does this poor guy have to do to win coach of the year? In my defense, I voted for Bradley Carnell in 22.

Um, so I was there for him there, but like he wins, he wins a supporter shield with a team that literally nobody picked for a supporter shield. Most people pick to miss the playoffs. And if people put him in the playoffs, like I think I was the high water market, like seventh. Yeah. You know?

To win the shield with that is unbelievable. Mikey Varsa, do what he did with his expansion team, to play the way that they played as well. So attractive. And hey, even if we concede a goal playing out of the back, guess what? We want to do it again. And guess what? There's a bunch of question marks on our defensive line. Dealing with, I don't know, maybe there were other stuff.

throughout the season that he's had to deal with and keep everything straight. And losing your leading goal scorer pretty much just as he was getting going, or sorry, your leading center forward just as he was getting going, Milan Oloski, that was just an unbelievable job.

But for me, it was still Jasper Sorensen because, again, he started hours before preseason started. This was a team that finished eighth in the Western Conference last year. They weren't particularly winning plaudits. They were a pretty middling team last year. And they were returning most of the same roster except for the new DP they signed, who they looked the best with when him and Gould were on the field together.

And then they didn't replace him with a DP. And the team was put up for sale. And we were all asking, is this team even staying in Vancouver? They better stay in Vancouver. But it was a real question. And then Ryan Gould gets hurt in the third game of the season, never to be seen until October. And they were the most aesthetically pleasing, the most fun, and they've had injuries all season.

And for me, it's just Jesper Sorensen for all that. And it's just, I wish that there was three awards for these three different coaches because at least Cardinal's got the shield and maybe Varos will get a team trophy. But like, it's just... All three of them are so well-deserving winners, but I went Sorensen. I went Sorensen as well, but you did dance around one thing there.

Shots fired. Shots fired. You know what you need to do? You need to go read Landon Donovan's article at The Athletic of the New York Times written by Paul Tenorio about baldness and all of that. Jesus. Is it not a fact that you guys look similar? Don't hit me with Auntie Bald. I don't look very Danish. You put on the sweater. On the BJ Callahan conversation, you said Open Cup doesn't count. And in all of what you just said...

The CCC run is a major part of it. I understand what you're saying. So, listen. If the CCC run didn't happen, is Jesper Sorensen your coach of the year over the other two guys? So, listen. It's... You can't say, oh my God, they went down to Monterey and won, and that's one of the reasons why I'm voting for them. But you can say, well, they were playing midweek every single week. I fully agree with you. Those are different things. What I'm saying is...

The length they went in the tournament is not exactly why. But we have a history of how unprecedented it is to be as successful as they have been while also being pushed in other competitions. And I think it is fair to say the amount of makeup games and midweek games and moved games and travel goes into. why it feels like Jesper Sorensen should be voted on. I'm just saying.

That's a fair question. That's a fair question. We mentioned on one side, we didn't the other side. I still think Jesper Sorensen has a right to the vote. Even if you say you have to pretend you've never even heard of Conca Champions and it doesn't even exist, he still has probably a running for the vote. the vote I voted for him as well in this one on newcomer Andres Dreyer is the correct answer did you vote for Andres Dreyer

There is, like, all due respect to Philip Zingrenagel. Who had a great season. This was the easiest vote for me. And again, Zingrenagel had a great season. Had a great season. I'm really excited to see what he's like going forward. Like... I think for Chicago, that's a cornerstone player. What can you continue to add around him to make his life easier? How does he get better as he gets more comfortable in the league? All of that. And obviously Sun came in and...

was explosive, but Andres Dreyer, you know, is an MVP finalist. Was Son a finalist? Yeah, those are the three. All 800 minutes? Sick. nine goals to assist sick yeah there you go that's all it takes to get yourself in like when messy messy got votes he got did he finish second in the year when he used 260 minutes yeah you should feel lucky if sun doesn't win

Not just that he was a finalist. He should feel fortunate if he doesn't win. MLS Young Player of the Year. This is our first one where I have a vote. off of the finalist list, so I know that I won't be correct when this ends up happening. Just a free thinker. You're not a sheep. You're somebody, you know...

So one of the things with the young player of the ward, which we talked a little bit about going into it, but I hadn't put the names down fully, is there were a lot of players that were eligible, that were interesting, that aren't 22 under 22 eligible. Yeah, that's... Why is it not uniform? No, for sure. So Eddie Aracompo, Quasim, Bo LaRue, who you said was one of the best young players in Major League Soccer. Finn Sermon became available because he is 22, under 22.

And Diego Luna as well. Luna ends up on the finalist list with Alex Freeman and Obed Vargas. I think all three of them are fine to vote for. I agree. Of the three, I would probably choose Obed. I think there's a good chance Freeman wins it. I think he deserves to win it for his MLS play. I think he might win it because of his national team play. But like all's well that ends well?

Yeah, I mean, again, I think all three are deserving winners. Like you said, I went with Alex Freeman. I just thought that he was so important to what Orlando did. And... Diego Luna, again, obviously he was the hard soul of the attack for Rio Salt Lake. But again, I just thought that Alex Freeman was a little bit better. And again, like I did consider Obed as well. Obed would be a fair winner. But again, out of those three, I did go with Alex Freeman.

So I went with Chris Brady. I'm just in my own. Again, that's not a crazy vote. That's a fair selection. He was a plus starting goalkeeper at 21 years old for a team that made the playoffs. They ended up winning a playoff game, which I didn't know. When I voted for him, he did so on a team that was really good defensively for most of the season.

with not the characters that you'd expect of a great defensive team. And he had a plus post shot expected goal differential as well. Like he was good this year. He's important. He's a leader. For a young player, I was really, really impressed by that. My list is 12 people long in all of this. I'm actually surprised Owen Wolfe didn't end up on this finalist list. I thought he was going to be the one who ended up winning or Quinn Sullivan.

It will be interesting this way it goes. I mean, I guess it'll be Obed because he was the 22 under 22 vote there. MLS defender of the year. Finalist. This is interesting to me. Blackman, Glessness, and Wagner. I voted for Kai Wagner. I didn't think he would make it. So this means that he's in the running to win it, obviously. By the way, for everyone who doesn't know, my assumption, because this is how it happens to me, the ballots you get are massive. They're like everyone who's eligible.

These are the top vote getters. That's what the finalist ends up being. So this is not who people are voting for. And this does not mean it's the only eligible. Yes. Everyone who was eligible based off. being in the league minutes played, whatever it is, they are all on the list. These are us being told these are the top three, the top five, whatever it ends up being.

And the votes have already been cast and it's just MLS teasing them out over time. It means these are the top three vote getters. I picked Wagner. He played for the second best defensive team. He played a ton of minutes and he was the biggest chance creator on his team that won the supporter shield. No, that's fair. For me, I just view him more as a wingback. The reason why I broke the...

Last year, Steven Marrera won. I voted for him. While his value was in the attack as well, he was playing as a right-sided center back more than like... a wingback type of player. And again, not to split hairs on Kai Valkin, because he was obviously incredible, but I do want to look at the defensive side of the ball first for this award, because we have enough that rewards the attacking players. For me... I went with Makanya on the Philadelphia Union, who is not on the finals list.

I was torn between him and Glessis. And so, by the way, you voted for Wagner and I was torn between the Philly center back. Which may mean Tristan Blackman's about to win defensive player of the year, which would be sad.

So I was really torn on Iglesias and Makanya. My initial lean was like, Iglesias has more minutes. Like, we know how good he is. And like, he's won this award before. And like, I was like, you know, it's close enough. Like, let me, I sampled some sources around the league and some of the... guys who I really, really trust their opinions and didn't really have anything to gain by voting one or the other.

And I got a majority back from Makanya of just being like, yo, that dude's incredible. And again, maybe that's just because he was newer, but that broke a tie for me because, again, if they had the equal minutes, I would have went Makanya. I wouldn't have asked anybody. I would have felt like...

didn't ask anybody who's your mvp right it was right so um but but that's kind of where my thought process went there and why i went with makanya over glasses who again was obviously awesome yeah and they won the supporter shield so i think all these philadelphia players will take

that over potentially winning this and i find it hard to believe one of them will win it because of the split that they'll have across these ended up being just on pure goals the two best defenses in the league so it makes sense that the three finalists were across them and it's really unfortunate

Ranko Veselinovic ended up injured because I think he would have been the winner if he had played the full season and Vancouver put up the numbers they put up. He is one of the best pure natural center backs in Major League Soccer and looking forward to him coming back. Let's go to goalkeeper of the year. Matt Freeze, Dane St. Clair, and Yohei Takahoka, similar. Andre Blake didn't have enough minutes probably to get into this conversation. And Andrew Rick.

It was going to be hard for him. So, again, similar, the best defense in the league in Vancouver, Minnesota, who are seen as one of the best defensive teams in the league, and Matt Freeze, who... I'm sure some of this is MLS and some of this is national team. It's still deserved from Matt freeze. The big like absence here is Christian Kalina who helped lead his team to the longest winning streak in MLS history because of the way he played on that nine game stretch.

Yeah. Yoaitaka Oka is an interesting one. I did not consider him for a second because I don't think that he's been one of the best goalkeepers in the league. He leads the league in shutouts and clean sheets. which I didn't know until 15 seconds ago, which like, but I, you know, I knew how good their defense was, but I thought Yohei Takaoka was in like the bottom percentile in shot stopping advanced metrics, which is what I care the most about.

because i think that that takes away some noise of course not no metric is perfect and no one thing is perfect but that always helps me really look into like the item like because i was like i don't think taco has been really particularly that great this year and um that confirms it but You know, he's fine, and that's probably unnecessary to put all the reasons why he shouldn't be on this. No, he's ranked 50th on that list behind...

Evan Bush, Sebastian Brezza, Nico Hagen. Yeah, all of these players played less minutes than him, but normally that makes it harder to have better stats. He fell behind Hugo Lloris, who had a bad year this year. It was not an impressive goalkeeper. So like James Pantamas, that's where Takeo fell on that list. I think it's worth mentioning. I think it's worth saying because I think that's why it's a little surprising he ends up on ballots except for some of the...

More raw numbers of the shutouts, the way the team played, the success of the team. He's good with his feet. Yeah, and I think he's one of the more entertaining characters on the field. Not always for the good reason. No, he always has great reactions to every goal, which for a goalkeeper, I feel like that's something you've got to specialize in and perfect. I voted Dane St. Clair. Me too. Yeah.

So he was first in American soccer analysis, post-shot expected goals versus goals scored. Essentially, how many goals are you saving more than the average goalkeeper, according to their models? ASA had him first. FB ref had... Sean Johnson first and Dane Sinclair second. Again, I like to look at both. I do trust ASA as my nerds of choice. Shout out to ASA. They're the best. But like Dane had both. And like Sean Johnson, awesome year. Awesome year.

Toronto finished like 12th. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's not his fault, but like you can't be on the ballot if the goalkeeper of the year for that. So maybe next year when they're better. But Dane St. Clair for me, like for all those reasons. And again, the eye test matches all of that and just...

Adding all of those things together, I felt really confident in Dane. So those are the big awards. There's other awards out there, which I don't think we're really going to talk about because they're... I don't know, weird, arbitrary things that are impossible to figure out. The comeback player of the year. AR of the year.

Yeah, which, yeah, assistant referee of the year. No, I always like the Ben Bear moment of like comeback player of the year ended up being like the player who came back from being trashed the year before. Sometimes it's from injuries. Sometimes it's from other stuff. Sometimes it's just from being bad and then being good.

Good, which is always great. And then there's some other stuff in there as well. Okay. Best 11s. Let's finish up here. We don't know what they'll look like across the league. You've put yours out a million places a million times, so we'll start with mine.

On this one, it's not a shock based off the votes that I just told you and put in. Dane St. Clair in goal. I went with a 4-3-3. Andy Nahar is the right back. Kai Wagner is the left back. And then Glessness and Boxall. As the center backs, I think McConaughey is just as deserving. Blackman fell behind for me on minutes there. Yeah. And we had this conversation about him last week when we talked about your best 11. It's just one of those where it's not a quality thing at that point.

If Boxall is there for every single game and is linchpin to what his team does and is key to what his team does. And I think the throw in stuff is worth bringing up because it makes you a more impactful player for your team having an even bigger season. Those are my two. And the formation actually. ended up being a i put together a competitive soccer team that could actually play which i was super excited about as i did it but that was not on purpose um and you know nahar and wagner are actual

dangerous players at their position and really, really special. The three-man midfield, I had Sebastian Berhalter to me was a no-brainer and Evander was a no-brainer. The third spot was the hardest spot I had. I landed between Danley. Jean-Jacques, Roldan, and then Yeppe out in San Diego. And I went through this in like five different ways. It felt like Danley was a step behind the other two.

but it was really hard to split between Roldan and Yeppe, and I didn't have a lot to fall on. I think, I don't even know why I landed on this, but I went with, I did not go with Christian Roldan in this. And maybe that's me just knowing I voted for Christian Roldan like 15 times in the past. And this time I didn't need to, but it felt like when you look at the overall effect and part of that is just the pure passing numbers because of the style for San Diego. And I think as well.

And I know Roldan carried the load as Rusnak's been hurt and Morris has been hurt and all of that. It feels like San Diego's missed a lot of players and yet the style has maintained. And so I tried to give credit to that. to the guys who were there and kept the engine going and all of that. I think that's fair. And I like that midfield. And then to your point, like, again, all the people that you've kind of been splitting arguments with in your head to come down to 11.

Again, we can quibble, we can argue over person by person. Every name you've mentioned, they're completely fair to be on a best 11. Yeah, and this is the pool. We actually have in the chat here, obviously, Serge will be the striker. but for the less games he played and impact on his team, could Moussa sneak into a best 11? I don't have Serge on my team. I don't either. For those who don't know, we are restricted to the positional limits. I understand and agree with...

What MLS has done there, it's not always going to be perfect. And in the past, they restricted you to a formation too. So at least they gave us more freedom there, which is nice. But you cannot have all four of Surridge, Messi, Dreyer, and Buonga on your team because all four are listed as foes. For me, I would have had Serge on my best 11 and dropped a midfielder and put Messi as like a number 10. But it's simply impossible. So one of those four have to be dropped. So sorry.

So I ended up with Dreyer, Messi, and Buonga, and I'm actually not upset about this. I think it's fair to say Sam Surridge had an unbelievable season, was in a golden boot race. I don't know that I would take Sam Surridge on my team over any of the other... 10 players on this. I think Sebastian Berhalter was more important to his team, which had a better season. I think Evander was that had a better season.

than Serge was. So I wasn't mad about this at all. And it felt very straightforward to me. It's actually, I mean, Messi's a false nine, whatever in this, but like, who cares? Messi's a false nine. That's the reality. And Buonga and Dreyer, I have them listed on the sides they actually play.

the way they actually play. So it was no question, messy dryer there. I would have a Vander over Surridge. I would still have the two center mids that I picked. And then really the only question for me would be between Buanga and Surridge. And Buonga is the most important player on his team. And even with the season, Hani is on his team, like from a cultural point of view, from all those things. And so it's not a knock on anyone. As you said, all these players are in the pool.

I think if I had a second 11, I'd probably have Moussa and Surridge as a front two or whatever the setup is in that one. Proper 4-4-2, mate. And two bigs up top? Put it in the mixer. And on my second team, I have Michael Boggs off. Are you kidding me, dude? Oh, my God. Are you kidding me?

i'm gonna fm 26 i got i got the beta downloaded i got a notification that it downloaded while we were talking and i was gonna pretend i got a phone call or something and just never come back but i'm still here i'm still talking maybe that's what i have to do literally in 15 minutes whenever we're done That's an alpha move from you, Tom, to jump on the beta there and get after it. Yeah, I have a lot of other players. So my second 11 actually did end up doing is Sean, John, and Goal.

Freeman, Makanya, Blackman, and Jordi Alba with Markanik as the last guy out. Zinkernagel, Ojeda, Musa, Surge, and Roldan. So that's what I ended up with for the 4-4-2. Yeah, I'm just going to rehash. I don't want to sound like I'm leaving people off my second team. My first one...

Blackman, Makanya, Glessis as a back three. Christian Roldan, Severkov, Berhalter, Evander, midfielders, the same front three as you. So those are all the guys that I already had selected. My second team, I went Matt Friesengol. Andy Nohar, Michael Boxall, Dilson Melanda, Kai Wagner, Philip Zinkernagel, Dan Lee Jean-Jacques, Martino Heda, Jordi Alba, because I couldn't split him and Wagner, and he plays like a winger.

a lot anyway, so I felt fine in my own head arguing with myself about that for own official work. In a made-up thing that you created, so you got to set the rules. And then Serge and Moussa up top, and then the third team. Blake, Freeman, Miles Robinson, Jackson, Reagan. Chris McVie, Christian Espinosa, Owen Wolfe, Mark Delgado. You know ball if you have Mark Delgado on the team. Daniel Vlitch, Alonzo Martinez, and Hadi Mukhtar. Yeah.

I think all those players, as you said, are fair to be in that. Jovalich ended up fourth in goals on the season for a team that really, really struggled. And Alonzo Martinez is in a territory right now where you could argue he's the cleanest finisher. Pure finisher.

In the league with the way he finishes the chances he gets, his body shape, all the things he does is like a true number nine. It's really, really impressive. And he's come a really long way. I'd be surprised if he was playing on NYCFC next year. He has very much the feel of like. He's now on the up and it's time for the next option and all of that. But in saying that, we are clearly stoked. This is the best time of the year. I think every team's still alive.

You know, it's a bracket setup. Any of these teams could move on. We have a really fun game that we're doing at Kickback. which I'm going to explain real quick, which is it's not a pure bracket. So you go through and we tier the teams and you get points for the teams you pick. And the reason we're doing it this way is so that we can do it across all four. of the leagues whose playoffs are going to start in the next two weeks. So next week.

USL Championship and USL League One's playoffs are going to kick off. The following week, NWSL playoffs are going to kick off. But because they're not like for like, it was like hard to find ways to compare across them. So we set it up this way. So that now we have a clean slate for everyone to compare across. So if you want to do one of the leagues, just one, you can do that. The link is on our socials everywhere. We'll put it in the bio for this podcast as well. We'll put it in the YouTube.

If you just do one, you could win something or you could be winner and just yell at us and be really impressive. But if you want to win the big prize, you got to do all four of them. So you got to get your picks in by, of course, Friday night. on the MLS side, and then keep doing them going forward. We will have more sheets coming out for USL Championship League One and NWSL. Tom, we at Kickback Committee, the whole commit, are going to do all of them. I'm talking about the prize, bro.

Who is the most ball knowledgeable across all of them? You don't get anything in town. Do I get the Buffalo Wildswing gift card or fax it to mail it to me? Would you go boneless if I did that? Is this a test? Yeah. So I prefer bone-in wings, but I think at Buffalo Wild Wings, I'd go boneless. All of this is disgusting to me, and I can't believe it. I answered both ways. I played both sides.

You can't lose. You're playing both sides. You know, you're always going to come out on top. So if you want to play, go in, put in your, put in your picks. If you want to be eligible for the prizes, you have to subscribe to our newsletter. That is our aim to try and get you involved. We have news.

We have one that's focused around the World Cup and global soccer and everything going on. And then one on Fridays that's focused around the domestic game here in North America with all the biggest stories across all of these leagues. It is time. I called it Bracktober, which I was pretty proud of. We have three separate playoffs that are going to start in the next week. Bracktober. Four over the next three weeks. Yeah, well, Tom, I got to land on something.

I respect it. I think someone else went with Brackvember to remember. or whatever because of the november to remember thing not bad yeah so uh we're working on it we're still workshopping all of that but the picks are out there so get involved If you don't already, subscribe to our Patreon to get you access to our Discord. It is the place to hang out during games. We will be chatting in there all throughout the next few weeks as we watch all of these big games. And the vibes are high.

Because we're into the playoffs. It's win now or go home unless you tie and then you win again and then you get the PK shootout so we get to the third game. Whatever it is, this is the time. So thank you to all of you for listening. Thank you to all of you for being here. We'll talk to you again very, very soon.