Big weekend in the world of football or soccer, whatever you want to say, both on the local scale, national scale, international as well. RSL with three points, they're now on beating in three straight games. The US men's national team falls to Mexico in a Gold Clup final. Nobody better than our next guest to walk us through all of it. Brian Dunseeth, the legend himself. Monday afternoon, Donny, Happy Monday man.
How are we doing.
Out in the beautiful state, the great state of New Jersey? Staring out the window the skyline over the Hudson to New York City and getting ready for tomorrow's semi finals to the Club World Cup between Flaminensa and Chelsea.
Wow, very nice.
And I like to say, I'm from the right coast, Donny, You're from the left coast, So what's it like for a left coaster to be existing in my ecosystem?
Back in the East coast?
They all are really loud, Like, why is everyone yelling all the time out here? I know, I know you guys are on top of each other, but everyone's just screaming all the time. There's not a lot of pleases and thank you and not a lot of acknowledgment. I said thank you today and I got a hook back at me. So, yeah, I'm surviving. I like to look people in the eye and say hello, sir, thank you man hold doors for people. That's not always reciprocated out here.
Well, maybe being back east will give you more empathy for dealing with someone like me.
Is that fair?
Yeah, that's fair. Okay, I probably need a couple of years before I figured that.
Out right, the unnecessary shots fired, Donnie, all right, let's start with let's start with what Diego Luna just showed the world during this Gold Cup run.
Yeah, listen, I know the final didn't turn out the way if he wanted it to. I'm of the term belief that finals are never as fanciful as we all kind of hoped for. And as I say that, I do recognize psg Inter was probably the most ex fun, free flowing five MIL Champions League final that we've seen
in a long long time. But listen, I think at the end of the day, what Diego Luna has done in these last six weeks has captured the imagination of fan base that was had a bitter taste in their mouths because of everything that it transpired with a couple of players that were available, a couple of players that weren't available, and on top of that, quite frankly, the disappointment of not only Nations League, but Copa Medica a
year ago. So he's allowed us, along with Elie Tillman, I think Sebastian Burholz, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards in particular, to maybe dream about watching players that would live and
die for the badge. And I keep saying this and said it's a broad stroke, but you know, I mean, you know this past the odd ball test, because as fandom is a finicky thing and at a bare minimum, all we want is to see the players theoretically quote unquote want it as much as we do as fans when we support, you know, the psychotic, psychopathic sports teams that we believe, you know, in golf, and maintain the
DNA of what we want to see. So I think, overall, a really high, huge net positive, even though I think if Diego was honest, it was probably not the performance he was planning on having against Mexico in the final.
So from a broader perspective, and I was stunned to hear that This was the first win Mexico had over the US in a competitive situation in six years. I was surprised to have I've learned that it honestly, Donny felt like an earned result.
I thought Mexico was the better side.
So actually, let me just ask you about that before we expanded to thirty thousand feet to maybe get a little bit of a preview of what's next for this team. What was your take on the run that they had to the final and your take on walkie watching Mexico lift the Gold Cup.
Yeah, the run was expected, I guess. I am love the very few that all we saw this Gold Cup. There is nothing more than an opportunity to bleed some players that were less experienced and start thinking about next summer. Not for starters per se, but for the roster and
impact players coming off the bench. I would gently remind everybody, and I said this today on CNN International when I was talking to Tacoy that this is this is a Mexico team that's quite honestly, this starting eleven we saw last night could be the same starting eleven at the World Cup twelve months from now. Basketball Getty Hiviera Getti has done a phenomenal job with his group of players.
He brought back Rathea Marquez, one of the iconic DNA players of the recent Mexico's success, who's our age and
ultimately I think deserved to who deserve to win. That being said again, I think there were some net positives, but that's only if you're willing to look past the results and think about what this tournament really meant to a highly I mean outside of Tyler Adams and Chris Richards, a highly inexperienced, a group of players that for Mauricio Pochettino finally got his hands on for the better part of the last six weeks, unlike anything that he ever
had previous. Because a domestic manager from Espanol, Southampton, Spurs, PSG, Chelsea, they're used to having their boots in the ground and working with their players every single day, and if a player doesn't fit the system, they move the player out and they bring a player in. That's not the case
with the usbn's national team. With the usbin's national team in the international window, you get players to the better part of maybe two training sessions before the first game because it's travel and recovery, and then it's a short turn around time until the next game. So this was Marisio Putcher in the first calendar year of him being head coached, was the first time that he actually had
the chance to work with a group of players. Unfortunately, it wasn't the first team and it never was going to be the first team despite the failure of Copa Medica and the Nations League.
So as we look ahead to a World Cup that will be played in our region where a lot of people who support and love the sport of football or soccer are hoping that it provides a bump. And I know that's a narrative that was around in the nineties, but the World Cup here in the nineties led to
the implementation of Major League Soccer. I want you to walk us through this process, Donny, what comes next between now and the World Cup which is less than a year from now, and then tied into your answer, help us understand where you think diego now exists in this ecosystem.
So what comes next is there's international friendlies in September, October November, which I'll be a part of on TNT and Turner. The soft free Game will be in New Jersey. I believe it's like September sixth in that region, followed up by a couple days later in Columbus, Ohio against Japan. I believe it's September ninth, and then you'll have another international window in October and another international window in November before heading into twenty twenty six. The runway is, you know,
ten or so games. I mean, there's not a lot of games remaining. And that's why Copa America two summers ago was really really important. That's why Nations League was really are important. That's why effectively this tournament was really really important, because you're only going to have so many chances to play in a height stake. It's environment where you know you have intense jeopardy. You're not going to get that in friendly. It's not moveing and you know,
win and move on. It's not one of those situations where you're thinking about tactics and identity and shape and if you get it wrong, you're making subs at halftime. You know, if you've given up a penalty, it doesn't and given up a red card for Dogzo for example, you're still you know, there's no jeopardy to miss out
for a quarterfinal against Germany at the World Cup. Right, So these are all international friendlies because there's no World Cup qualifying because of the United States, Mexico and Canada are hosting, which means that bigger picture, there's real, real difficulty with truly grasping how far along this group is. Now that being said, Spence, I can remember coming on the show after I believe it was Saudi Arabia and South Korea and the final two friendlies heading into Guitar
and the World Cup. I'm saying to you, I am very, very, very concerned about this group. My fears were alleviated immediately. Tim Reen came in, Jedi Robinson, Christian Poliicity, Tyler Adams, was McKinney, Timmy Weia. You know, they were all fantastic, and I think we all kind of underestimated their ability to turn it on in a moment where you know,
big game Bob really matters. So without all that saying, I can't imagine a world in which Diego Luna, unless he's injured or unless he's completely fallen out of form, isn't a major part of what Mauricio Pochettino is planning with the World Cup next summer here in the United States.
I'm not willing based on last night. I'm not willing to go as far as to say he's an absolute starter, but I am absolutely pinning him in to theoretically, quote unquote be on the plane to make this roster and be a part of the US men's national team here in the US.
Let me ask you about the dynamic of the US Mexico game that a lot of people are up in arms about this, but Stu Holden during the broadcast actually said he did not feel that it was a handball. It was Jorge Sanchez in the sixty six minute. I mean, you're going to have to help me because his hand was literally on top of the ball, and my pace soccer brain says, okay, hand two ball, hand ball, penalty kick, please, so help me understand what I'm missing here.
Dounniy.
Yeah, you're not gonna want to hear this, But theoretically it's the correct call, And I'll explain why. There is an updated adjustment from IFAB about handling inside the penalty area specifically which is a handball, but they use the terminology handling what it was meant to do, and this is the difficulty. And I had this debate today with a bunch of the guys that I'm with here at
the seas of Club World Cup. If you look at the problem is, you've got to start with I fab the lawmakers, and the lawmakers have this really crazy intense job where they have to talk about the laws of the game and the things that they want to change, but then they have to see that and put words to paper, and then on top of that you have
and I'll just walk through this theory. What is the laws of the game and how they're interpreted by FIFA at the national team level is different than what the laws of the game at the UEFA FIFA Club World Cup is interpreted versus different than what the Premier League would say is or is not handling is different from what Major League Soccer would say is different about handling
inside the penalty area. So just because you have one broad stroke of verbalizing what is or is not handling in the penalty area, it doesn't mean it's applied the exact same way. So that's number one. Number two, the updated Laws of the Game was basically taking away the jeopardy of being in a natural position when you're on the ground and your hand is extended away from your
body in a natural position. They didn't like watching so many different penalties be given up because a guy is sliding because what he's supposed to do with his arms in a natural position, and that drag arm, which is not making himself a naturally big being in a natural position, has been pointed referee it said that's a pKa points
to the spot penalty. So they've adjusted this. But the idea was if you're falling and your hands in a natural falling body position, you shouldn't be penalized for that. That's all fine, But what we saw last night was something that we haven't seen before. And this is where it becomes kind of the gray area in interpretation. If you would have if the referee would have blown the whistle and said penalty, United States, I don't think that VAR has enough wiggle room to overturn that and say
it's not a penalty. But by the referee saying it's not a penalty, I don't think VAR has enough wiggle room to say to the referee, he's made a clear and obvious mistake and that should be a penalty. Because there's a high bar of intervention, and what they're trying to do is take away var's ability to any referee
a game spence. That's the first time since the updated Laws of the Game included taking away the jeopardy of a player falling in a natural position or his hand being in a natural position, that we've seen a player in a falling motion put his hand on top of
the ball. So this was a first for everyone, and I would be shocked if Conky cast and FIFA and US Soccer didn't have some type of meeting of the minds to look for more clarity, to have a better understanding of should this have happened, what is the correct interpretation, and is this something now we need to include in verbalizing updated laws of the game. It's very complicated, it's
very nuanced, but I as a broadcaster, completely understand. While I don't think it fits with the spirit of how the law was written and intended, if that makes sense.
It does, and it's helpful context because I'm watching wildly confused, because I was as reductive as saying, like, dude, he put his hand on top of the ball like that.
You're not the only one.
Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, A few minutes left. Let's move over to RSL. Here's where I want to start with the RSL stuff. Based off of your experience playing internationally and having teammates you know, Clint Eddie, all the players that you played with that left to go play for the national team for World Cup cycles, Gold Cup cycles. What are you expecting from Diego as he comes back to club after his experience with the country where his star has never been brighter?
What do you think that's going to look like for Rsel.
I'm hoping for a double Whammie. I am hoping now that the Millers have settled in his ownership, that there's been a divestment of maybe the recent past of decision making, the fact that the club, it feels as though now we look back, was preparing for a sale, which meant that they didn't spend in the international window as expected, after reaping the benefits and the rewards of the last previous season of so many players leaving and quite frankly
leaving Pablo in the lurch and needing reinforcement for the departures not only from a talent perspective, but from a leadership perspective that this summer there's significant money being spent, and I don't know how to correctly verbalize a price tag that would make sense because it depends on if you want to establish guys, It depends on if you want to swing for the fences with some of these
young guys. But the reality is I would love to see a double whammy in which Diego comes back hungry and frustrated based on that last performance to continue to elevate his star and build upon what is right around the corner, an All Star game performance. And on top of that, look to see this roster calibrated with a
couple of departures and a couple of incoming players. Because it's insanely obvious to us from the outside looking in that if real Felt Lake doesn't want to waste twenty twenty five, that they have to swing for the fences now. And as I say that, I'm not saying blindfully just throw money at a product and think that it's going
to fit. I think this summer has to be. You have to be really, really smart and diligent with your six month plan, your two year plan, and ultimately your five year plan, and if you can align all of those goals and you know, really pull the trigger on some fantastic players that are going to be available for half the cost they normally would with regards to your salary budget hit, your salary cap hit, then certainly now
is the time. But my fear is that if you day with status quo with this roster, that despite all of the circulean efforts of that coaching staff, that this roster, this group of players haven't proven that they're good enough to date to be a playoff team, which is wild for me to verbalize publicly considering twelve months ago this was a team in the midst of fourteen games, unbeaten Chico had seventeen goals and nine assists, Andris Gomez was flying,
Matt Crooks statistically wasn't flying but was really really important, and Diego Luna was ascending into the player that he is right now. So I know that sounds ruthless and cut throat, but the reality is that if we also Lake wants to be a playoff team, they got to figure this out because this roster and this group of players that we thought could be good enough to maybe mimic what last season's performance was so far, they haven't
shown it. And you've got to be ruthless, to be lean, and you've got to make some big decisions in these next month and a half.
I agree, well said, but I do imagine Donny the Kurt's phone is ringing now about Diogo in a way that it wasn't maybe even a week ago, two weeks ago. And I've never really enjoyed. While I understand the ethos of development and sell for a premium, I don't like it.
It's not how I was raised in sport. But I get it.
I know there's been a bit of a paradigm shift for the miller's in charge. But what is the number that is offered for Diego where you just can't say no?
I mean, I can't see. Well, here's the thing you reference now. RSL kind of backed themselves in a corner in the best possible way, because Andres Gome is going for thirteen million. Is one of the biggest outliers that I've seen in Major League soccer. I still, to this day cannot believe that Wren offered that much money for a player that had only shown in a six month burst, not even a six month maybe a five month, four month burst. I scored a boatload of goals, but hadn't
done it before and certainly hasn't done it after. And I know injuries have curtailed some of his abilities to perform in Liga, and it's a different system and it's a different mentality playing in France. So when you've sold a player for thirteen million, that's kind of the base price. And Diego is a completely different profile, like his athletic profile is completely different than Undress. You know, we can talk about positions, we can talk about you know, numbers.
He's not an outlying winger, so he's more of a ten. Now. If you said to me where can Diego play? I would tell you Diego could play in any league in the world. But that doesn't mean that someone's walking through that door and dropping ten to fifteen million on Diego Luna. I could see a run from a league a Mechu's team. I could see Diego playing in Germany. I could see Diego playing in Holland. I could see Diego a lot.
I mean, I've said the the day I'd love to see Ryan and Robert Repsham make a run at Diego and think about the commercial power and the on field success that he could have in the Championship and on FX on welcome to Resham. But you know what do I know? So yeah, I would be really intrigued to
see what the valuation is. But I would also wonder if I'm a scout and this is going to be just ruthless for a second, if I was a scouter a general manager, and I went to watch Diego and I needed that final box checked against Mexico in the Gold Cup Final, I'm not sure that box is checked, so that could be a huge benefit to reale ce Lake. But I would also understand from a real ce Lake
fan base perspective. Hold on a second, We've we've sold all of our best players, right, We've let Albert go, We've let Donni go, We've let you know, for some Savarino goal, we sold on dress. You know, Chicho went for pennies on the dollar. Although there's a conversation somewhere in there, at some point, real Salt Lake fans want their team kept together and to make a serious wrong, I'm not so sure that's really possible in the way that Major League Soccer is built. But as I say that,
there is a blueprint down at LAFC. And again it's the sight and sounds of Los Angeles. But what John Thornington, Stevie Tarundelo and probably Bob Bradley as well, deserving credit have done is spent money on established players, spent money on young players, develops players coming through the system, and then constantly rotated and updated their roster to a tremendous
amount of success, continual success. And that's what I would like to see real sal Lake happen, not just once every two or three years, maybe compete for the top
four spot in the left. I would love to see the investment so there's stability and continuous investment because right now the nuclear arms spending in Major League Soccer is extraordinary and it's not going to slow down, and you're going to look at teams spending roughly between fifteen and twenty million per year just to continue to try to compete with their respective conference.
Donny, great stuff. Man, have a great call. What an exciting tournament to be around. And then obviously travel safe and we'll do it again soon. Thanks brother.
Yeah, I appreciate it. Man. After these two games, I get back, I get to call rialso Lake at Portland and then finally get to be back in America first field and call RSL Cincinnati was with TOOMX, so can't wait to be back and call Tomorrowslow games, it's been too long.
Very nice.
The Great Brian dun Seth brought to you today by Advanced Window Products. You can get twenty five hundred dollars off when you buy ten windows or more. Local Salt Lake company operated by a guy Naed Orchard who is still the mayor of sac Lake City is Buddy Jake Weber, family owned company. You are in safe hands. They've been working with us for a while. I've done a bunch of remotes over their spot as well. So I don't know if you've noticed it's hot outside, how's it inside of your home?
Is it too warm?
Are you spending a ridiculous amount of money on your power bill because your air conditioning is setle like sixty four so it gets reasonable. Well, you're hemorrhaging money, and it might be because of your windows. So if you need windows now, you should pick up the phone and call Advanced Window Products at eight oh one eighty five zero ninety one hundred. But the good thing about this offer, they're offering twenty five hundred dollars off when you buy
ten windows or more. Is that if you call to day and get on the schedule, you just lock in that savings. So maybe you're thinking about buying or selling a homecome fall, when the school year hits, you can lock this in and get new windows on a home you're buying, upgrade your home before you sell it and lock in the savings of twenty five hundred dollars off when you buy ten windows or more if you pick up the phone today and just get on their schedule.
So the phone number is eight oh one eighty five zero ninety one hundred. That's a one eight five zero ninety one hundred eight oh one eighty five zero ninety one hundred or online at Advanced windows dot com.