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Hello, Sunshine. I'm Alexi Lala, so welcome to the State of the Union show. This is where we look at the beautiful game on and off the field to the lens of red, white, and blue colored glasses. This live show will be talking, oh, to our special guest, Dougie Mack. Let's see, what else do we got? Potch speaks, geoscores, politic and McKenney sit. Banks is ongoing decision, sergeant with a reminder, a wrinkle in time, tell your ride, and so much more. So my friends, let's light this candle. But first, joining as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding lights, David Mossie, soccer, savant, and a Fox soccer researcher and writer, extraordinary. Mossie, how you doing on this Monday, September 7th in the year 2026 live show, huh? So it's like baseball is whatever happens now happens now. We could be fired by the end of this, but as we've mentioned over the last couple of weeks, we want to try to add some new things. Now, being live is not necessarily anything new for those that have followed and listened and watched over the years, certainly during the summers when we're doing tournaments, we are always live. And throughout the year, we do special shows, especially after the US plays where we have live reaction shows. And they always do well, people enjoy it. And we said, well, let's take some of the regular shows that we normally do, and for those that don't know, we do two shows a week. But they are taped and then people find them in their feed or they watch them on the YouTube and all the different things out there that we have. We said, hey, let's do a live show. And, you know, it's exciting. You can't go back, you can't fix it. So it's all out there. You got to be ready to go. But there's a spark to a live show. I just made a space balls reference. You famously don't like any of the naked gun or airplane movies. No, you feel about space balls. I think it's better than the airplane and naked gun movies, but I still think, and they're doing a reboot of it, I think, or an additional one going forward here. Correct. Hey, it's okay. Hey, listen, for those that are watching the show, you can see that I'm sporting my, my ruckus shirt, my scarlet nights, despite the shame that we had over the weekend. We're going to talk a little bit more football later on, later on in the show here. But I see you not sporting any Michigan stuff despite the crazy weekend that we had. Which should tell you, my take is going to be when we discuss that game. Well, stick around, stick around, because we're going to talk to talk to that. But as we mentioned at the top of the show, we do have Doug McIntyre writer for foxsocker.com. A friend of the show he's been on many, many times. We'd like to bring him back. There he is. Doug McIntyre, welcome back to the state of the union. My friend, you're up there in the the great white north, but you are reporting as always. You look wonderful. The World Cup is over. We are moving forward, both on and off the field. And we come to find out that Mauricio Pochettino, along with a select group of experts when it comes to American soccer, including you, got together to smorning to talk about the future, on and off the field, under Mauricio Pochettino with the US men's national team. First off, how are you doing? And how was this talk this morning, generally wise and big picture wise? Well, thanks for having me, as always, doing great. The post-World Cup Blues have gone away. I'm excited for the new European seasons kicking off MLS in full swing. The national team's getting back together at the end of this month for an extended four game window, which we've never seen before. So I'm doing great. I'm excited. And yeah, it was good to talk to Mauricio on some big picture stuff when the roster comes out on the 17th. We're going to be talking about who made it, who didn't make it. So this was a little bit more, you know, at the start of a cycle, getting some information from him on how he's going to approach things. So a worthwhile exercise before the national team reconvenes after this long break. A lot of different things were covered, including Nookai Banks, which I want to get to, but I know MLS is chomping. Chomping at the bit, too, I get to you. Doug, you wrote a piece days after the US's elimination, saying it would be indefensible to bring Mauricio Pochettino back. You said, given the way they lost to Belgium, in no elite soccer nation, would he keep his job? You said if Greg Berhalter got fired after the Copa America, Pochettino certainly shouldn't survive a collapse that was multitudes worse. So two-part question. Did anybody at US Soccer give you grief over that calm? And was it awkward meeting with Pochettino today? It wasn't awkward meeting with Pochettino today, because I did see him and talk to him on the Zoom call the day he was announced. It was announced that he was coming back. That was a little bit awkward. Not too much blowback from US Soccer. I don't think they were happy about it, but they weren't happy about a lot of things, I think, after that game, and certainly US fans weren't too happy. Either, but the decision basically was made to continue with Pochettino really before the World Cup. I mean, unless they had not gotten out of the group stage or maybe lost to Belgium, that offer that was on the table before the World Cup wasn't getting pulled off. And Pochettino wanted to come back. So I said what I said, I said it was indefensible. People have gone to Great Lens to defend it. So maybe I was wrong on that count. But clean slate fresh start, as Pochettino said, both when he was rehired in today. So I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with an entire four-year cycle, which is something he didn't get last time around. Well, you don't need to defend it. And I don't think you were necessarily wrong. It was your opinion. You can agree or disagree with somebody's opinion. You got a bunch of articles out already. Obviously, we mentioned talking to Mauricio Pochettino. You got something on the USA's next generation, 12 youngsters in the early mix. You can find that over at Fox Sports.com. And that's really why I kind of where I want to start here. Because after this World Cup, I think that there is a general assumption that there are going to be changes and new faces for this team. And in the very near future, we have the Olympics that are right around the corner. I know Posh talked a little bit about that. But some of these players that everybody is talking about right now, did you get the feeling that Mauricio Pochettino in this moment is looking to kind of turn a page. And at the very least look at and maybe add some of these young players that I think are getting people excited. And I think a lot of people feel like this US team needs after what was a successful World Cup. But I think also I think everybody agrees. And I think Pochettino would agree left something on the table and a bad taste with that last game. The national team needs new blood. There's no question about it. Every national team does after a World Cup cycle. I do think we're going to see a bunch of young players. Poshett it's going to be a mix of experience guys and newcomers, guys that maybe haven't been with the program wearing on the World Cup team. So I think you're going to see, you know, he made the point that you can't just have young players. And I know a lot of fans want to see that. But he also said we want to live in the moment and be competitive now. We're not just planning for what's going to happen four years from now or even two years from now if there's an Olympic in the Olympics or potentially Copa America. So, you know, they're playing Mexico. That's a team Pochettino hasn't beaten to try so far. They're playing Canada, which beat the US at the beginning of last year in the nation's league. So they want to win these games. But there are some young players that I think can help. The obvious one is Xavier Gozo, who we know moved to Crystal Palace and the Premier League, he's made his debut. He was tearing up in the last of the beginning of the season. Came very close to making the World Cup team. I think a lot closer than people realize he was on the 55 man original squad that the Final 26 had to be drawn from. So I think we'll see guys like that. Now, there are situations where players that just transferred. Maybe they don't need to bring those guys in. Poch mentioned specifically Max Arvston and Sebastian Brahalter. We both know what's the Middlesbrough. They're known quantities, right? Like they were on the World Cup team. They were part of things last cycle. So I think it's possible you don't see guys like that. You mentioned Christian Policic and Western McKenney in the intro. They're not playing, right? Did they come in? So there's going to be spots available. And I think a lot of these young kids are going to get a chance, particularly because there's no under 23. And we know the under 23 team is the Olympic team. It's going to be coached by Steve Trandolo. They don't have a campus window. So Poch has access to all these young players. And I think the idea is to give them a little bit of, you know, get them in first of all. See where they are, see how they look in training. And if they perform well, give them a chance to get a little bit of international experience in these coming out submission games. And then a lot of them, if not all of them, will end up with the under 23s in the lead up to the 20, 28 Olympics in Los Angeles. But, you know, players perform well. They're going to make a shout to stay with the senior team. So I'm really curious how that makes looks when that roster gets named a couple of weeks from now. The youngster generating the most hype right now is Kevin Sullivan. Do you get a sense that Puchatino feels like he has something really special there? How do you see Kevin being integrated over the course of this cycle? It's a great question, Massey. So Kevin Sullivan's name didn't come up today. Was it Puch? Wasn't asked specifically about him. Nor did he say anything specific about Kevin Sullivan. But it was very interesting when answering a question from our colleague Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer about the number of young players that are on the Philadelphia Union. And of course, Kevin Sullivan is one of them. And he was talking about young players in general and how they need to, we need to be careful as what he said. Like, we have to make sure, and I'm speaking, you know, paraphrase on what Puchatino said, we're not over hyping these kids. And then he said something to the, to along the lines of the only one who can, who can talk in a sort of arrogant way is Lino Massey, because he won eight ballin doors. So he didn't say it directly, but it sounded an awful like he was alluding to Kevin Sullivan's appearance on this podcast where he said he could have helped in the Belgium game. I don't think Puch has a problem with him thinking that. But, you know, maybe a little bit of a problem for a young player saying that out loud. And I think that's a conversation that they might have. I expect Kevin Sullivan to be in camp. I really do. I think he's earned that chance with his play in MLS. And that was a good time to bring him in and see exactly where he is. But I think that's, you know, I don't know if there even needs to be a conversation because Puchatino was definitely sending a message through the media with that comment today. Yeah, well, listen, you know, I understand what Puchatino is doing. And I think probably any head coach, you know, in this case of the United States, but any head coach out there recognizing that there are young players up to make sure that, you know, he's sending a message that, yeah, you need to do the work and you need to perform and you need to be, you know, I guess humble. However, this is not just some American notion here of propping up and, you know, putting a lot of attention on young players. So when he says that, that's all fine and well. But, but again, this isn't some of an American thing that we do. It happens all the time. It happens all across the world. It happens in all cultures. And by the way, it also at times results in young players who don't live up to the hype. And again, that's not something that's, that's American. That's not a reason to look to overhype. I don't think Kevin Sullivan is being overhyped. I also don't think, for example, Freddie Adoubac in the day was overhyped. Speaking of hype, and this gets to Nookai Banks. So we mentioned it at the top. And I know I want to get your take on this right now. And for those that don't know, Nookai Banks has been in this back and forth and a kind of friendly tug of war with playing for Germany or playing for the US. And I get it, I get that it is a difficult decision for any, not any, but certainly in this case, and many dual nationals in this. And I know I am a romantic when it comes to Nookai Banks. And there was a practical strategic reality to making these choices for them as players, for them as brands, for them as businesses. But you know, it's a, it's a champagne problem. And the US men's national team in this particular case with this particular player has bent over backward and made it very, very clear how much we want him, when I say we the US men's national team wants him to play, going as far as to basically giving him a golden ticket this summer to play, not only in a World Cup, but a World Cup in the United States. And you know, there is a part of me that worries that if it's just about the opportunity or the better opportunity, you become a mercenary. I don't, I'm not saying that this is happening with Nookai Banks, but there is an element of we have bent over backwards for this player and he's kicking it down the road. And I think Marisha Pochettino is doing the right thing. But at what point do we cut bait? At what point do we say, listen, you got to meet us halfway. And if it's not in your heart, then it wasn't meant to be. You know, he's, you know, what's that movie? He's, he's just not that into you. He might just not ultimately be, this might not ultimately be the place to play. And that's okay. It's okay for the US men's national team. It's also okay for for Nookai Banks. What, what did you glean when it comes to this situation with an undoubtedly talented player in Nookai Banks as it relates to the national team going forward under Pochettino? Well, I notice a little bit of a switch in the way Pochettino is dealing with dual nationals. He said, we're in contact. He didn't, you know, we just asked about Banks, but he said, we're in contact with all any dual national where we want to be in contact with. We're trying to get these guys. His first cycle, it was more like, if you don't want to play for us, then, you know, get lost. We don't want you. We're not interested in you. You should be beating down my door. I don't need to have to come and convince you to play for the national team. But there's a balance there because you also don't want to close the door on players that could help you in the case of Banks, who's 19 years old, or, you know, a decade or more, the US team needs centerbacks. And, you know, so I look at two ways of Lexi, right? If Banks now chooses to play for the US, well, that's great in that he, you know, that World Cup carrot was dangled in front of him. And, you know, he, rather than just take it and say, I'm going to go play in a World Cup because I have that opportunity right now, which must have been really hard to turn down. He's thought about it and he talked to his family, talked to his agent or whoever and, you know, made a decision that, you know, it's a one-time decision. He's going to, yes, to decide what country he's going to play for. And once he does that, he's not going back. So, you know, the other side of it is, if he's not going to play for the US, I had a World Cup. I mean, do I think that Banks is going to choose the US? I would think at this point, and that this is pure speculation, that no, he's more likely to go with Jürgen Klopp in Germany. We know that Klopp has reached out to him, Banks did an interview with Bill, the German publication. And he said he's going to, he knows he's going to have to choose by the end of the year. So, I don't think that it's a situation where, you know, US workers should be putting up deadline and saying, you have to tell us by this day, but it sounds like there is a realization on Banks' part that he's going to have to make up his mind and he's sort of set a deadline himself by the end of the year. So, I think one way or the other, we're going to know what country Banks is going to represent in the next few months here. Doug, you mentioned Christian Polisik. He hasn't played yet this season. He didn't score the second half of last season. The World Cup went the way it went. Stu Holden said on this pod recently, he no longer views Polisik as one of the pillars of the US team. He thinks it's a mechanic, Tillman, and Balagan. Now Stu says some nutty things, but are you on that page? Where do you see Christian Polisik right now in his career? Yeah, I wouldn't go quite that far. I mean, a year ago, Christian Polisik was the best player in Serie A, right? Like this time last year, the way he started the season for Milan, he had taken the goal cup off, every, you know, he was criticized for it. And it looked like the right decision at the beginning of the season because he hit the ground in the best form of his entire career. And then we know what happened during the second half of the season. He didn't do much, he didn't score, you know, the second half of the season at all for Milan. I don't know where Christian Polisik is right now. Like, what player is he? We haven't seen him since the World Cup. So it's really hard to know where he fits in. I think if Christian Polisik can be the player he was a year ago, and I don't see any reason why he can't be, you know, he has to be considered one of the top US players. I think it'll be 31 of the next World Cup, that's right in his prime. You know, I think back to the World Cup that Landon Donovan had in 2006, where, you know, he had been the best young player at the World Cup four years earlier and had a terrible tournament by his own admission. Landon will tell you that. He was so motivated for 2010, and then he goes out and scores three goals and helps the US get, you know, almost to a quarter final. They lose to Ghana in extra time Donovan scored a penalty in that game, right? So like, I think Christian Polisik is going to be super motivated to play in the next World Cup and have, you know, have that signature World Cup because he came in with, you know, big dreams this summer, and it just didn't happen, you know, dealt with some injuries, but, you know, four games, no goals, those stats speak for themselves. You know, I have to think Christian wants another crack at that. That he doesn't want that to be the last World Cup he plays for the US. And I don't think there's any reason to think that it would be, like I said, he's a good age to play in at least one more World Cup and be a big impact, impactful player for the US squad. A couple more questions to get you out of here. So you've talked about, you know, the Christian Polisik and let's say the Western McKinney's and Tyler Adams' side of the equation. Then we've also talked about these young players coming along, you're Kevin Sullivan's, et cetera. This middle group, and, you know, I would put guys like, you know, for example, Georena, Eunice Musa, Tasman, these types of players who have been there, some with greater effectiveness than others, do you see in Pocciatino, someone that is willing to let bygones be bygones, or do you see it's much more moving in a different direction and those guys had their moment, had their chance. Some of them took it, some of it didn't take it, some of it only took it half. Hardly, some of these players that we're talking right now, can they get back into the good graces, if you will, or as the train left a station for some of these guys? No, Lex, the train has a left a station. I don't think for anyone, it would be irresponsible for any coach to say, I'm never gonna consider this player no matter what. Now sometimes obviously age comes into it, his Tim Reem, who turns 39 next month, gonna be around, I don't think so. But Eunice Musa is 23 years old, he's a great example, right? He started the first couple of games under Pachasino, scored the first goal of the Pachatina era, and then skip the goal cup like Christian Polisik hasn't been called back since, but he's in great form to start the season. And I don't, I mean, we remember how good Musa was at 19 years old, and he turned 20 during the World Cup in Qatar, started all four games, right? Mark Jude Bellingham out of that match and that scoreless draw against England. He's a really good player, he has a lot of experience, he's not the kind of guy you can say, I'm never gonna bring this guy. And again, if he earns it, and Eunice Musa is earning it right now. So if I'm Pachasino, I bring in a lot of guys that weren't on the World Cup team. He's talked about a fresh start. He keeps saying fresh start, fresh start. Well, the way you should give people a fresh start is to give them one. So, I mean, I bring in Aidan Morris from Middlesbrough, one of the last cuts from the World Cup team, scored a great goal for Borough on an assist from Sebastian Borough last week, you know, a testament I'm not so sure about. I guess, I don't think he's played very much for Leon. But I think there will be a message set that this is a new cycle and everybody starts with the clean slate. If that's what Pachasino set, as said to us, so I expect that that's the way he's gonna handle it, you know, behind the scenes and that'll be reflected in the roster when it comes out, when it comes out. One of Pachasino's biggest decisions in the last cycle was making Matt Freese as number one in goal. Didn't go great at the World Cup, we know what happened against Belgium. Starting this new cycle, do you think the goalkeeper position is wide open or is Freese as the incumbent going into with something of an edge? I think it's wide open, Massey. It wouldn't surprise me if we don't see Matt Turner for a while again, that's pure speculation. I don't know, you know, Turner's 30, is he gonna be around four years from now? You know, I think it's a wide open race. Diego Cochin, young players now playing in Denmark. He's gone, he's on loan from Barcelona. Is there a chance he comes in? Tosh said he's bringing in four keepers for the next window. Camp size around 26 field players and four goalkeepers. It's, you know, we know that Pach brought a couple of practice keepers to the World Cup. He likes having keepers around. So he was asked about it today. He didn't really bite on the question. He didn't name any names or anything like that. But I mean, it's as wide open as I can ever remember the goalkeeper race. I mean, if you ask me, who's gonna be the starter four years from now? I don't think you guys would know. I have no idea. I would imagine that, you know, frees will be around this cycle. I would be surprised that, you know, you make one mistake in a big game, obviously. And then he just disappears. He's been good in MLS since he got back. So I'm very curious about that position, but I think we'll see some new names. And there are some players in MLS in particular that are playing well. And I think are deserving of a look. And, you know, when you play in the same league as the three keepers that were on the World Cup roster, Chris Brady was the other one. Then it's easier to see where guys are in relation to each other. So I think we'll see some new goalkeepers coming into camp. And we should. All right, Doug McIntyre giving us plenty to chew on going forward. When it comes to this US men's national team, you always bring it my friend. You can find Doug's work over there on FoxSports.com. Like we said, he's got a bunch of articles already up there, including with the talk this morning with Pochettino and the young players that we were talking about. Doug, that's my friend. All right, enjoy the great white North. We will talk to you again next time on the show. Mossy, my friend, where shall we go now? Busy weekend across Europe, the big one in the city. Juventus and AC Milan played to a one-one draw. Both goals in the second half. See say for Milan and then got to equalized in stoppage time. Lesson McKinney did not play due to muscle fatigue. And for the third straight steady-out match, Eunice Musa went all 90 minutes. Christian Pulisic was an unused sub. Ruben, I'm still saying all the right things about Pulisic. He's just managing him. He's coming off on injury. Nevertheless, it is a little bizarre three-stray game. He's been listed as an available sub and didn't play. Yeah, I mean, look, you heard Doug talk about what Christian Pulisic was a year ago. And it's night and day right now. But the fact that his coach is consistently almost every single week busy gets asked about this player being very positive about how important he is, that's a good thing. But at some point, you actually have to get on the field. This was an OK game going back and forth. From a US perspective, again, we talked earlier about Eunice Musa. And you heard Doug McIntyre talk about how he doesn't think that anybody has burned bridges and isn't going to be welcome back if they are playing well. And nobody over there is playing. Well, number one, is playing and playing really, really well, more so than most so than Eunice Musa. So I don't think it should be a surprise. However, the opting out that evidently was a source of consternation when it comes to Eunice Musa, that was still a decision. But I guess playing well is going to trump that if he gets called in. But again, he played well here today. No Christian Pulisic and no Western McKenny. So it wasn't without anything of interest. But we kind of wanted to see those guys, a practical perspective, getting back there on the field and hopefully playing well. And Luciano Spaletti really bemoaning Weston's absence, which speaks to his saturate that club. And they have a bunch of absences. But he constantly says he is so important to us. And we recognize over the years how important he makes himself a value playing multiple positions and playing multiple positions really, really well. We go to France next, Strasper, where they 6-2 away went over Tra. Gio Reina started and scored continuing. He's encouraging start to life at that club. Yeah, Tra spelled T-R-O-Y-E-S. Yeah, I love it. This is great. This is great for Gio. The goal is great. And we know that there's nothing that's more exciting. And there's nothing that brings more attention to an attacking player that scores goals. And Gio had this kind of resurrection through the summer with the World Cup, speaking of goals, scored a wonderful, wonderful goal. And then has made this move. We talked about it being last chance saloon, but he has so far made the transition incredibly well and successfully. And this is, I said last week, and I'll repeat it. You got to be happy about this. And it gave us mercy upon Chautino, some more good things to think about going forward. And it's not that Gio Reina has to score because he's been playing. He's been playing well. He bettered in. And now he's getting the goal. So wonderful to see, you know, although they beat up, straws are beat up on them. Six to two, even playing at, what was it? True. Traw. Traw. Sorry. Also in France, Monaco, 2-1 away win over PSG. Monaco with three wins out of three in Liga. And they are all alone atop the table. PSG, believe it or not, winless in three games. Bologna still not involved. The Turkish window did close. So it looks like he's going to stay at Monaco, at least until again. That was just Saudi Arabia or what? We'll see. The good news is when he comes back, he'll be joining a really good team. The bad news is they're doing so well without him. He's going to have to work to get back in the mix. It's going to be OK. And you know, they made a point of showing him smiling at training, although, like you said. And if we are to believe all of that craziness that happened with him from a physical perspective, he might not be at the point yet where he can contribute in the way that we and Monaco know that he can contribute. And that there's competition for him at the top. That's only a good thing. But like I said, he was smiling. I think that they are welcoming him back despite the breakdown of his transfer. And he's playing for a really good team right now. On the US Center Forward Tip, Ricardo Pepe got one of the goals for PSV in their 3-1 away went over Iax and the Dutch League. And you know, Bologna is probably not going to be called into this first US camp Pepe will. We've talked about the pecking order there. But that is a chance for Pepe, the US, with four games, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Canada. If he plays in all of those, score some goals. Who knows, gets a hat trick against Mexico? I mean, that'll resonate with Puchotino. Yeah, I mean, with flow being the incumbent and him being out. I agree. I don't think he's going to get called in. And not like as a punishment or not a, oh, what was me and problematic type of thing. It's just the reality of what he has been through here. Pepe's always been that, you know, 1a, 1b. Sorry, 1b behind flow balligan. And I think fairly so. So this is his opportunity. He's continues to kill it for PSV, scoring goals. So this, this window might be a moment for Pepe, all right? I don't think he's just going to come in and blow up everything when it comes to the pecking order of, of balligan. But again, he can just keep pushing. And that's a, that's a good thing. That's good thing for both of these players. In the Premier League, Newcastle, Bournemouth 2 2, Jacob Ramsey, where they late equalizer for Newcastle, Tyler Adams started for the cherries. Yeah. And if you ever needed an example of why Tyler Adams is talked about it in the, in the positive way that so many people do and how important he is, here is a wonderful example. Let's see what he had. Seven duels, one, three tackles, three fouls drawn, one block, eight recoveries, six miles of distance covered. And it wasn't just running around with a chicken, like a chicken with his head caught off. It was, you know, he does that. He loves to, you know, be on the front foot. And he loves even in a defensive posture to be on the front foot. So he had a really, really good game. And he left when Bournemouth was winning two to one. And so that association with the comeback, if you will, of Newcastle, that looks good for him again. So a really good outing for Tyler Adams. Again, we always have to knock on wood when it comes to Tyler Adams, because of his history of injuries. Crystal Palace, three to a wave victory over Fulham. Chowell got the winner. Jedi and Richards both started Gozo an unused sub. Yeah, I would like to see Gozo. Chris Richards, we've talked so much about over the last couple of weeks. Being on the, again, continuing to start, being on the winning end, even on a way game here. You know, that's a good thing. They continue to let in goals. And as a defender, you're going to get a lot of attention when that happens. Like you said, Jedi Robinson, 79 minutes in that, in that loss. Again, I'm not, I'm not worried about Chris Richards, or Jedi Robinson for that matter. So just the actual result. This is something that exactly with the doctor or when it comes to Palace. The big one in the Premier League, Arsenal hosted Chelsea, Morgan Rogers scored early, but Habert's 1-1, Othegar 2-1, the Gunners prevail. I continue to be impressed by them. I've seen nothing to dissuade me from the fact that Arsenal are going to win the Premier League again. Agreed. And, you know, best laid plans and all, and you score early. And it's like when they say to nothing is the most dangerous score in soccer. But there's not a player or a coach that wouldn't take to nothing. And so when Chelsea scores early, they kind of look around and say, well, we didn't necessarily plan on this. It does kind of throw you out of whack. But Arsenal, I think this showed the maturation process of Arsenal. No panic. They did what they needed to do. They recognized they were up against, you know, so far this very, very young year. This was the kind of the first elite matchup and they came out on top. And again, showed how important they are. Hi, Habert's. We've been talking about him for, I don't know, how many years, even back to the Bundesliga. He is a little bit of an enigma. You know, he's not necessarily fast, but he seems to beat people. He's not necessarily strong, but he seems to win, you know, balls in the air. And he just continues to kind of do things without being an all-out type of striker or even that big a personality out there. And yet I think his consistency is ultimately what is going to go down and make him one of these great players. Scoring against his former club member, he got the winner for Chelsea in a Champions League final against Manchester City in 21, a match Christian policy featured in Estavalle, the young Brazilian came on late for Chelsea, forced a great save from Raya. You're starting to hear the first rumbling that he's unhappy there. I predicted this at the start of the season. This formation Chelsea playing, he's not really a wingback. The only position where he makes sense is Cole Palmer's spot. So he's not going to you serve him. So there's not really a path to being a starter. And so I think Estavalle, in January, you're going to hear rumors about him going elsewhere. So let me ask you. So you're, as we said, incredibly smart about this. Do you not think that somebody at Chelsea thought this through and recognized this or how do you think this comes to be? I think because of the injuries he had last season, Estavalle stock dropped a little bit to the former. They weren't going to condition their next managerial hire on him. They're going to bring in the best guy they could get, Shabi Alonzo and let him do what he wants. And if Estavalle fits into that great, if not, there might have to be a parting of ways. We'll see. All right. Arsenal three wins out of three in the Premier League. Level on points with City. Next up for them is the Champions League. The league phase gets underway this week. Arsenal involved in one of the best matches. They're a way to Napoli, Real Madrid host Inter. Liverpool take on a Petico Madrid on the American front. We talked about PSV. They faced Shocktar, Dortmund host VRL. That could be Matisse Albert versus Alex Freeman. Very exciting to have the Champions League league phase. Give us another real quick primer when it comes to the structure of the Champions League right now, because I know people sometimes need to know this. Remember, it's 36 teams all in one table. The top eight advance straight to the round of 16. Then nine through 24 will advance in play in a playoff to spit out the other eight teams that will take part in the round of 16. Only the last 12 are completely eliminated at the end of the league phase. Let me just say, Arsenal and Barcelona are looking to me like the best teams in Europe early on the season. Bayern Munich right there too. And then PSG, despite their slow start, they won the Champions League last year. So you got to put him in there too. That would be sort of my big four, but I am enamored with Barcelona right now. Five Nile over Valencia this past weekend. Rodri started was doing Rodri things. La Meme back to his best. Rafinha scoring goals for fun. Very impressed. There's to lose. I wouldn't go that far, but they're one of the fair. They haven't won it since 2015. They're trying to end that drought. We'll see. By the way, I believe tomorrow they are announcing the 30 nominees for the ballon door this year. I'm gonna have some thoughts on that in our next pod. But this year it's one of the more interesting races. There's a lot of debate. How much stock do you put in the World Cup? How much stock do you put in winning trophies with your team? Because emboppé's numbers are bonkers, but he didn't win anything. La Liga, the Champions League, the World Cup. La Meme Al didn't play great at the World Cup, but Spain won it. So how do you reconcile that? So we'll discuss on our next pod. But this is gonna be an interesting ballon door race, for sure. Let's regenerate some good content. So come on back to the State of the Union. It's time for Ask a Lexi, that part of the show where you send in your comments, questions and concerns. Keep in mind that our handle out there on all the old social media platforms is SOTU with Alexi. And you can use that hashtag Ask a Lexi out there or you can call into our State of the Union hotline, which is 6-5-7-5-4-9-2-2-9-7. That is a 6-5-7-5-4-9-2-2-9-7. Masi, what do the folks want to know today? First up, a question on X at 346 motto asks, is Cabin Sullivan that good or is this a statement about the level in MLS? Both? What he's alluding to is Cabin scored again this past weekend. He got one of the goals in Philadelphia's 2-0 win over Montreal, 3-Straight games with a goal for Cabin. He is on fire. Yes, and hopefully you guys listen to the interview that we had with Cabin Sullivan. He got a lot of really good positive response. Apparently, Puccettino was listening, according to Doug. Yeah, I mean, yeah, maybe. And maybe he was. I also had a good friend of mine say that, I don't, you remember when Cabin was talking about the music that he listens to? And he said that he listens to 50s do-wap. A friend of mine wasn't sure if he was being serious or if he was messing with us. I saw it as him being serious, but I could be wrong. And it could be a generational type of thing. 16-year-old. But I thought that despite what Puccettino said here, I thought that Cabin Sullivan showed the personality and a personality that I think is incredibly needed in our sport and in the US men's national team now. Is he young? Is he immature still? Yes, both on and off the field. And we will give him grace to mature both on and off the field. But I really, really enjoyed talking to him. He gets it. And if you've been around sports, you know what that means. It's like defining obscenity of the Supreme Court. I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it. And this is a kid that gets it in the way that he talked and the way that he expressed himself and the way that he is playing on the field. And you know, he did a LeBron James celebration this past week. And LeBron is one of those prodigies like Tiger Woods who is so hype, you think they can't possibly live up to it. But then they do. So it is possible. I know people are uncomfortable putting so many expectations on a youngster, but we'll see how it pans out for Cabin. We have to, as I said, there's a couple of weeks ago in that Goodwill Hunting movie where the doctor is so concerned with putting too much pressure on it. When it comes to sports, this is what we do. And when I say we, the sports are not just Americans. Again, I mentioned it earlier. So the pressure on him, if he's going to crack under that pressure, it's not on us. This is what you do with vendekins and young prodigies. You, because at a very young age, they have shown such promise, you extrapolate it out. That's what happens. Some of them, to your point, not only live up to it, but even surpassed what your wildest expectations are. Some of them, you know, just have go along to have good careers. And some, yes, flail out, but that's not a reason not to be excited about a young player. Back to 346 Motow over here asking, is Cabin Sullivan that good? Or is this a statement about the level of MLS? And again, you're in security about MLS. No, he's good. He is a good player. Is he the best young player that's ever come along when you compare him to, I don't know, when Landon First, Landon Donovan first broke on the scene or whatever, or whatever. Yeah, I mean, he's in that, but he's also playing in a very different time. And he is experiencing opportunities that previous generations didn't have. I mean, hell, he's been sold to Man City in 16 years old. He's still got a couple more years before that actually happens. So it's not just us seeing the potential of this player, the international aspect of the recognition of how good I think says how good he is. And so no, I think he's just, he's just a good soccer player who happens to be playing at MLS and happens to be playing in Philadelphia in particular where they have a vested interest in young players. And the advantage again is that in this situation in Philadelphia, they are going to play young players. They need kind of proof of concept. And he certainly is, along with other players that have come along and that are in that program right now. If Kevin Sullivan, for example, was playing right now, I don't know, down at Inter Miami, we might not even have heard of him, okay? Because that's not how they develop and that's not what they do. So Philadelphia is the exact right place for him and timing is everything, everything in life. So yes, Kevin Sullivan deserves the attention. He is worthy of it because of the soccer player and the city he is. And yes, because of the way that we envision what he is going to be given what he is right now. And I do hope to see them in the playoffs. It would be fun to see him under that kind of pressure. Crazy one, Toronto, Chicago, 4-4, Levantoski got one of the Chicago goals but the striker who grabbed the headlines was Josh Sargent with a hat trick for Toronto. Yeah, good day for the red head there. Now this is interesting because we talked earlier with Doug about there's no doors that are closed. I don't know if this changes the perception and the perspective of Mauricio Pochettino, vis-a-vis Josh Sargent who we know didn't go to the World Cup and really kind of dropped off a cliff and had problems came back for a lot of money here to Toronto and hasn't really lit it up. Still he's on eight goals here and this was a big moment where we were kind of reminded, hey, Josh Sargent is still here. It might be a little too late when it comes to this next version of the US men's national team for Josh, for Josh Sargent but still it's fun to see him and it was a crazy game back and forth and back and forth one that coaches don't like but for those of us watching it's fun to see. Inter Miami Atlanta 2-2, Casamero and Suarez for Inter Miami, Almedon and Embolo from the penalty spot for Atlanta. Yeah, both of these teams, Inter Miami by the way, Inter Miami's 4-2 and 5 at home when I say home at their brand new stadium so they haven't yet harnessed the home field advantage of this new stadium and that's a little concerning going forward. I mean, they're much better on the road and this new home of yours, you should feel comfortable and you should be able to pile up the points and other teams should feel uncomfortable in that situation and that really hasn't happened here. It's nice to see Brio and Bolo not just play because Atlanta needs to do something but also get that goal. So some interesting games here when it comes to Major League Soccer. So that was the weekend in MLS. We also have a voicemail today. Let's take a listen. Okay. Alice Goldstein at Austin, Texas. First off, love your State of the Union podcast, Alexi Wallace and Obrigadu Mossi for being one of the best soccer opponents today, Abraço. My question comes regarding the United States national men's national team. With the World Cup coming up in 2030 in three countries, possibly a six with, I guess, the first few games in South America, would it be beneficial for the United States soccer federation to try to get way or much more away games for the U.S. men's national team? I feel like it's a disservice that we're constantly playing at home with being in more of a comfort zone. I understand from a business standpoint that, yes, we're going to make a lot more, you know, the federation is going to make more money here. But for us to get better, would it be more beneficial if we played much, much more away games in, say, Europe or Asia or South America to get that experience to play against the hostile crowd? So I want to get your thoughts on how does the U.S.S.S.F try to do that? Thank you so much. Obrigadu. All right, Obrigadu. Thank you, Alex. That's it. You know, I think we've had this question before and you're absolutely right. And, you know, I think back to, you know, you can go all the way back to Bora Milo-Tenevitch who recognized that the experience of not just playing different places, but even traveling to different places was beneficial. And, you know, even before the 94 woke up, for example, we traveled all over the world. And that was much more in an effort to, not just get the experience, but also kind of pair down to the 22 man roster. And so it was this running, you know, type of survivor and competition that was going on. We saw leading up to the World Cup this summer. Many, many teams recognizing that they, I mean, literally wanted to get the lay of the land and come over to United States and Canada and Mexico for that matter to, you know, kind of figure out what it was and what it is. And that helped, I'm sure, in different ways. All of that is to say, yeah, I think that Mariska Pochettino would recognize that it would be beneficial to his players and to his project leading up to the next World Cup to take this team on the road. And take away the business part of it. I mean, you're going to play games at home and you're going to play games away. It's what games, Alex, to your point, you are playing. So just going to play a game somewhere doesn't necessarily make it beneficial. I'm much more concerned with a consistent level of quality. For years, we've talked about in the men's side winning the World Cup. Well, the way that we are going to win a World Cup is to get to the point where we can consistently compete with the elites of the world. And in order to do that, we have to consistently test ourselves against the elites in the world. And keep in mind, the elites in the world, it's a small collection of teams. And everybody else in the world wants to play those games from a competitive side and a business side. So, and we live in a time where with all of the tournaments and all of the competitive games that in these Windows teams have to play, the amount of friendly games, which is what, for the most part, these would be unless we were invited to play in a tournament, they're just not going to be available to play. I'm not saying Alex that the U.S. soccer federation shouldn't be trying to get these games and it wouldn't be beneficial. Like I said, it's just, if they're there, great. But sometimes you just take the best possible teams that you have. Playing Canada and playing Mexico, I love it. It's wonderful. Does it make us better as a national team? I don't know, maybe at different times. But if we are ever going to win a World Cup, we have to be able to on a consistent basis play and play well and at times beat the likes of Spain, the likes of France, England, the list goes, it doesn't go on or not or not to be quite honest. It's just a small list. We are in that second tier, that second 10, if you will, consistently of the world. In order for us to win a World Cup, we have to get into that top 10 consistently and that comes from playing the best in the world. Alex hit me up on X a couple of days ago and I never responded to his question. So I'm going to do it here. I mentioned earlier, Monaco, after a great start this season, three wins out of three and league off, five wins out of five and all competitions. They have a Brazilian manager, Felipe Louise. I've talked about how Brazil is suffering through this coaching crisis. Most of the top clubs now have foreign managers, the national team as a foreign manager with Carlontri Laudite. So Alex asked me, am I excited about Felipe Louise? The answer is yes. I think he's very promising. I think he's a future Brazil coach. And I'm curious to see where his career goes in European club football. He played at a club to come Madrid for many years. Could he be the successor to Simione when Simione finally... Well, wait, are you... Do you think that you speak for a lot of the Brazilian sentiment in the way that they are looking at him as he's kind of broken through the great white hope as well? Okay, guys, got it. All right, well, we'll see if he lives up to that. By the way, Alex, one of the benefits of doing a show live is people can correct this if we make a mistake. Did we make a mistake? When I introduced the Yanks abroad segment, I referred to Juventus AC Milan as the big one in Italy this past week. And obviously, through our red, white, and blue glasses, maybe it was, but the best match was Inter-Napoli. Great game. Napoli jumped out to a two-lead Polytano in Hoilin and then Inter came storming back. Lautaro, Turan, Lautaro, three, two, the final. Inter-take it. Remember, those two teams have won the last four. Cediataro has gone Napoli, Inter-Napoli, Inter, and they're probably the two favorites this season. So with all the respect to Weston, Moussen company. Well, I think you can, I think you can judge it in that. And for those that are watching, listening for the first time, it is through the lens of American players and that's kind of how we have done this for a long time. All right, anything else when it comes to Ascolex? That is it. All right, let's finish up the show, my friend. And at the end of each and every show, I give you my one for the road. For those that are watching, you can see that I am sporting my Rutgers T-shirt despite the incredible shame and humiliation of losing to the minute men. I have never seen my phone blow up more than at the, well, that wasn't even at the final whistle, because they knew they were losing and then the fireworks after. But as I've said time and time again, when it comes to Rutgers football, even going back to the 80s when I was at Rutgers, you would see the Rutgers football roster come up on screen. And then you would go look at something like, I don't know, Penn State, for example, and it would be like New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey. So getting the best possible players, football players, in this case is what we're talking about, to actually play at Rutgers has always been a challenge. It continues to be, but this was not certainly our finest day. But you know, we threw some fireworks up and I guaranteed that we partied, because that's how we roll when it comes to exit nine. Now, that was our shame in the weekend, my friend. Your shame and for those that don't know, Masi is a proud Wolverine over there at Michigan. Do you feel any sense of shame given what transpired with the Michigan versus Western Michigan game? Yes, one of the most embarrassing nights in the history of Michigan football between the performance, the controversy at the end, which the big 10 kind of sort of explained, but a lot of people aren't buying it. And then these morons storming the field afterwards, which makes me wonder about the youth of America, frankly. So yeah, it was gross. The wrong team won. I feel sorry for Western Michigan. The good news for Michigan haters is, there are plenty of losses coming, beginning the upcoming Saturday against Oklahoma live on Fox, Rob Stone in the gang or headed in an arbor. So it's digital, Christina, Aaron Schechter in company. I believe Joel Clad is doing his show from there. So it's going to be a big weekend in an arbor watching the sooner stomp on the Wolverines. Well, a couple of things. Number one, while we certainly lost to UMass, when I say we are Rutgers, all right, and then proceeded to put off fireworks, at least we filled the building, unlike USC. And you know, who spent the last week just crushing the USC folks for not showing up for their team, right? Although I have ego in my face because the way the Michigan crowd acted, I wish there was nobody at that game. So we got a lot of comments after this and this kind of transcended just college football. And you remember I want to see this summer during the World Cup, when so many people came into the tent and everybody had an opinion when it comes to American soccer and what was good and just soccer in general. I loved it, it was wonderful. Whether it was informed or not, it didn't really matter. But when you see this happening, a lot of people are making a correlation or a juxtaposition between soccer, where time is relative. And it's elastic as a flat circle, exactly. And as opposed to football. And for those that have listened over the years, you know that one of the things that David Mossy has oftentimes said he wants to change when it comes to soccer is to actually have the clock counting down. And there is an element of drama. It's all fine and well. And that may be something that certainly could happen. But the problem is, is if you have a couple of clocks and this is where my little brain getting into this could not understand what was happening. We come to find out evidently that there's the clock that you're truly and everybody else, the millions of people that are watching are seeing. And then evidently there's a whole other clock that might not be exactly the same. Now that to me is mind blowing types of stuff. This is not just some sport or league that just came to pass and it's just kind of figuring it out and it's a work in progress or anything like that. I think that's where a lot of the craziness comes from right here. And I know a lot of people when they watch soccer many for the first time this summer could not wrap their mind around how this is a game that didn't have a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero type of situation. And it's just kind of subjective and left to this discretion of the referee. Some people love that about soccer. Some people like maybe mossy and others would like to see that change. But get your own house in order over their football before you start commenting on soccer. I have to say some of the tweets did crack me up. Christopher Powers says sarcastically soccer sucks. You never know how much time is left in the game. Unlike football where you know exactly how much time is left. And then this one was my favorite at Anthony de Bundo. All of this Michigan controversy would be solved. Their football adopted soccer's time keeping method where the game ends whenever the referee arbitrarily decides it's over. Oh my goodness. By the way, you know who was having a field day with all this was land in Donovan. He was blowing us up on text message. I mean, so many memes and things. You know, this college football, I mean, it brings out the best or the worst. I mean, I'm getting people, even the Rutgers thing people were screaming and yelling at me, like Travis publicly was calling me out because I went to Rutgers. I, you know, I don't care. I love it. It was fun to, it was fun to talk about. And I think in all sports and, you know, I know it's football and it's college football and pro football, but whatever, it's still, you know, a sports or leagues or anything like that. You need heroes and villains. We talked about Joseph Marinho and, you know, what Real Madrid is or, you know, England during the World Cup. You need people. And I think your Michigan team oftentimes is painted as a villain. But I think oftentimes you also own it and, you know, wear that almost, almost with pride. Well, you know what? It's just taken up a whole nother notch. If your Michigan team were to go on and, you know, win everything, it would just be wonderful. I would worry about that. By the way, I admitted Michigan got a gift and should be ashamed. If you tune into big new next Saturday, I'm sure Dave Portanoi will handle it. I had to look up Western Michigan. Broncos, no, not who Western Michigan is, where they are, because in the ranking of your college football, they do one through 20, right? They do a top 20 ranking or 25, 25. Sorry. I didn't know where to get. So I had to like Google, give me the 100 top teams. And I found one where they were in the 90s, one where they were in the 60s, but it doesn't matter. I mean, the fact that you stormed the field, had to have an extra second out of nowhere and came back against Western Michigan Broncos does not say a lot for your Wolverines. It does not. And sadly, this is my, what are we watching for this weekend because I couldn't watch anything else after that nonsense. All right. Yeah, Mossy does not have anything of what we're watching. I'm not going to have anything in particular, but I will say, Mossy, that the Telluride Film Festival is happening or has happened recently. And a couple of, well, three different things now, evidently, that will be on your radar because for those that watch and listen, you know that Mossy is always, he always knows what the Academy Award nominated films are and he has watched at times almost all of them. Let's see. You can see everything, which I'm fascinated with, which is the Elizabeth Holmes documentary. I think they were with her the 30 days leading up to her going into jail. And it's just kind of blowing people's minds as to what this is. Movie called The debut with Julianne Moore, Paul Jamati, directed by Jesse Eisenberg getting a lot of attention and then Wild Horse Nine with Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich. So we'll keep an eye on those as they come out of the Film Festival circuit and come on to our radar. But good job, my friend, for our first live regular show. We gonna thank Doug McIntyre, as always, for coming on the show. And more importantly, thank all of you. All right, thank you, thank you, thank you for watching and listening to the State of the Union. Keep downloading and reviewing and subscribing and rating and doing all the different things that you do out there. Keep smashing that button left and right up and down. Double fist and over there. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, my friends. We will talk to you again later on this week. As Massey mentioned, lots of soccer going on and plenty of content being generated out there for us to talk about so we will talk to you later on this week. And until then, and as always, my friends, size the day. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.
