Tactical Metamorphosis & Contract Realism: Futbol Americas Analysis

Early morning on a Manhattan sidewalk, a shooting caught on surveillance video. It was an assassination style killing, and everybody saw it. A new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside this captivating case. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer. Listen to burden of proof Luigi Mangione, wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, everyone. I was going to say we're getting ready for a big weekend of football, but it's been a big week of football and we get to talk about it right now on football. America's Alexis Eunice is back with my team's son precedent. Ale Moreno joining us, but we don't stop there, Jeff Carlisle and Casey Keller will be joining us later on because we have a lot of things to talk about. Mauricio Puchettino made some comments that have now cast some doubt on his long-term future as U.S. men's national team approach. Again. So the Belondor shortlist is out. Shock. Everyone's favorite, it's favorite. Lionel Messi made the shortlist, but is he everyone's favorite to win it yet again? We're going to discuss that later on too, but let's start off with La Champions. Do you like that, Ale? Do you like that? My little heart. Barcelona hosting Firenord in the league phase in a very rainy Barcelona that is looking like Manchester England and said, but three minutes in, we didn't have to wait long because Hansi Flick's men got their first goal and of course, Ale's that man. The initial touch from Rafinha gets around the defender, but it's all about that. Mommy! Mommy! Fly by! Sit down! Oh! Laura have mercy. Gorgeous from Rafinha. Not the best defending. That was the play that launched a thousand memes that we're going to show you later on. 22nd minute. It's 2-0, Barcelona. It's the new kid on the block. It's given time to cut inside, decide what he wants to do. And he said, well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Massage the ball into the back of the neck. Okieber full stretch. Can't get there, stuck the landing as well. To nothing. Into the second half we go. And guess what? It's much of the same. Rafinha, once again, finding the back of the net for a second goal of the night. Beautiful movement of the ball. Speedy with a gorgeous pass. The defending. Not great at all. Let me tell you something about defending. I'm going to set up a wall. Good law. Good law. Happy mercy. I mean, honestly. I suppose La Milla mal takes it well. But if the wall just stays together, it hits somebody in the chest. Oh, no. That was a wall with a serious crack in it for sure. Well, I mean, plan or do you get one back big celebration? Ok. The little too late. And then Gabriel Jesus. It's an important goal for him. Of course. It's also an important goal for Barcelona because once again they score five goals in a match. Four out of five games to see. So they've done exactly that. Well, Barcelona once again with a big, big win. And if you just have a lot of arrows. That's a lot of arrows. And it's all about Barcelona because not only can they attack from the one person that we thought would be La Milla mal, it is Rafinha. It is Adam Yemi. It's pretty much everywhere. And you can just see the absolute variety in their attack. And if you don't want to trust me, listen to what Hansi Flick had to say about it after the game. I think in every situation, in every moment we can change. This is a good thing. It's not when we can control. It's also like Danny is good in this control of the game. And Rafinha. He saw it today. His intensity is great. It's also when he attacked the deep, also with the pass from Petri. This is unbelievable. We have a lot of situations. We can, with the transition, with counter attack, we are really good doing good. But also when we have to keep the ball playing and waiting about the situation we create. And then we are in the right moment. We are there. And today, of course, the free kick from La Milla was fantastic. It was a good situation. Hansi Flick, they are a very happy man. Pretty much confirming that variety truly is the spice of life. Now, we need to talk about why Barcelona is just so hard to defend. And somebody who is really hard to defend both on and mainly off the pitch. Thankfully they are Ale Moreno. But of course, Ale loves some good attacking, being an attacker himself. Ale, so why is Barcelona so hard to defend? Show me. Well, first of all, we're going to focus on Rafinha because he's been hot. And Rafinha himself, although not a number nine, at least wouldn't think so coming into this season, is given a clinic and how to play the position. But now what I'm noticing is little things, little things that tell you he's getting comfortable in the position and he's being in to set up defenders. If you don't believe me, you're going to believe me after this. Look, Rafinha, in this particular play, let me just focus on him. Yeah, I just mentioned Rafinha, he's not even looking at the ball. He's telling the defender, don't pay attention to me. I'm not engaged. I'm not even joking. I'm just a slow walk. This is a slow walk. Don't pay attention to me. This has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with him. Because notice, as Pedro begins to dribble this ball forward, you're going to notice how Rafinha starts making eye contact. And in making that eye contact, you're going to notice that Rafinha is alive. And when he's alive, he's dangerous because you know what he's going to do? He's now has set up the defender. The defender is thinking that he's not involved in the play. And then Rafinha says, no, change your pace. I'm coming this way. You think I'm going to show for the ball? No, I'm going to go that way. This defender here reacts to the movement of Rafinha. And then he comes this way. And when he comes this way, he's now out of the play. He's no longer participating. Pedro recognizes that moment, recognizes the movement, recognizes the space, recognizes the pass. Defender is gone, and Rafinha is scoring goals. Now, here's the thing. It's not just about Rafinha that makes Barcelona dangerous. Well, this is great. I said variety. Yeah. And we just said, he's setting up defenders, right? What makes Barcelona really and truly dangerous is that it's not just Rafinha. It's not just Rafinha again. Pedro is in ball. But who is the highest player right now on the field? He's actually taking the center forward position. And so if you're a defender, you're kind of going, wait a minute, but we should be paying attention to Rafinha over here. And they do. They have two and three players around him. But that creates a 2v1 in this area of the field. We're now with a little bit of movement. You're going to find Karina the Yemi in a position where he gets to make a decision as to what he does with the ball. And the option that he has, even when he chooses to dribble, he can do whatever he wants. Whatever he wants. There are options here. He chooses to take a shot on goal. And so he should. But there's an overlapping run from Danny Omo that is happening. There's a slip ball to Rafinha here that could happen. There's another slip ball that could happen to La Minha Man. He has a multitude of options. He decides to go for the shot on goal. He decides to go on goal himself. But the point being is Barcelona has options. The rotation, the place interchange. Everything that they do in the attack is not just Rafinha that is making it happen. You're seeing the movement, they're recognizing each other's movement and they become so very dangerous. But Rafinha is hot. He hot. Barcelona is hot. They're all hot right now. They're all playing at a high level, scary thing to play against right now. Remember the beginning of the season and at the summer where we were complaining about oh Barcelona needs to sign a strike up because where are all the goals going to come from? You need to liberate La Minha Mal to just do what he does of poetry to do what they do. Well, just have a look at that. Goals galore for Barcelona. This is through five games in a season at all competitions and they're absolutely flying high. But one other thing that we do love about this almost maturity that we're seeing from Rafinha because not only is he the man doing big things for the team scoring goals on the pitch, Ale. But he's become quite the leader. Absolutely he has. There's no doubt that Rafinha is the leader on this team. Yeah. I saw it live up close and personal in the opening game against Elche in which Rafinha he noticed a little bit of attitude, a little bit of something from La Minha Mal and he was the first one to say, hey, let me show yourself out. Let's have a conversation. This team is playing well. Don't get frustrated. I need you to be at your very best. He's always talking to players. He's always leaning on somebody else. He's always telling people where to be, where to go. And more importantly, it's not just the talking that Rafinha is doing, it's the defending. When there needs to be somebody who's going to go and chase the ball, he's the first one to do that defensively. Now, this is a message. I don't want to create controversy here. This is not what we do. This is just a statement of fact. This is a message to a guy like Gilegan Bappe, who in the past, one of the points of discussion has been that defensively he's not giving you the work. What are Rafinha right now as the team captain for Barcelona? He's giving you the work defensively, he's giving you the leadership and he's giving you the goals. So you can do all three things. All three things can happen. All three things can happen. They're doable. You're seeing it with Rafinha, then you should be able to see it from a guy like Gilegan Bappe. There shouldn't be any excuse. So what I think it's outstanding from Barcelona and Rafinha himself is that you're seeing all three facets of the game and he's doing it at a very high level. Thank you, Gilegan Bappe. Catching strings right now on football Americas. But, Ale's right, Ale's right. I think the majority comes with the mustache. I've noticed that Rafinha's mustache has gotten a lot thicker. So, there you go. All right, well, it wasn't Rafinha's mustache that broke the internet. Instead, it was him dropping defenders like they were flies with an extra squatter. And these are some of the sweet because he clearly put them to bed, Ale. Oh my, it's not the banana peel, not the Mario Kart reference. Absolutely. That is, I want that on a t-shirt. Hang it in the Lou Valley. You used to drop people like that. No, no. Actually, no. The answer to that would be, no, I did not. And again, he's given a clinic on how to play the position. And now, with that level of confidence, he's doing things like this. Special play for Rafinha and the little dip of the shoulder. Love in that. They're needing a kind of orange canoe to go all the way back to the Netherlands. Anyways, you can watch Rafinha and Barcelona all season long on ESPN. Up next, they're going up against Levante. That Sunday, 1015 AM kickoff time. Join us 13 minutes before, though, for the pre-show. Right. As promised, let's talk about Mauricio Pochettino because he has admitted that there are circumstances that could see him leave his role before the next World Cup. Yes, you know that he recently signed a contract extension for this next World Cup cycle. But he says four years is a long time. A lot of things can happen. What? Yep. And now everyone has been getting some panic stations, indeed, because what does this mean? But first, we have to see exactly what Mauricio Pochettino had to say. And this is it. Now, it's a four-year contract. It's different. We can next season lose the Copa America or the Gold Cup. And they're not happy with us. They can sack us. Or we can say, okay, it's not the way that we think four years is different. Maybe now, if someone calls in the future, it's a different type of situation. But we're excited. We are thinking to spend four years to the next World Cup. But now, it's a long period. I love how we brought it back, you know, to just kind of calm everyone down. And then said, but anyways, four years is really a long time. All right. To try and make more sense of this, let's bring in Casey Keller and Jeff Carlyle, Jeff Carlyle, who was at this Mauricio Pochettino round table. But he did end up saying these specific comments to the UK media. One could say he knows his market. But Casey, let me come straight to you first. Just how much are you reading into these comments? What are you taking away from them? I think there's nothing different from what we've heard from Mauricio Pochettino from the very first minute he took the job. Is that there's always an eye on a better job, on a bigger job. On Zor, at least something that he feels is a better and bigger job. Particularly in Europe, back in England, it has been noted multiple times. So, yeah, I mean, I guess, I mean, I guess everybody is always available if the price is right. But I find it a little interesting that in basically his kind of first foray, after resigning with the press, it was brought up that it's a different contract and I'm available if the right situation arises. But I plan on being here for four years. Hi, Leigh. I just think that there are moments in which you could potentially bring these things up. If you so desire over the course of four years, because as he said, it's a long time. Look, things can change, realities can change. But to do it, right after you sign an extension, in the first meeting with the media, and then conveniently so that it is with the UK media that you say, I'm available if you want me. I'm here. If something comes up, just give me a call, things can change. Nothing's set in stone. I love the US, but not really. Look and change over time, can it? I don't think there's, if I'm the national team manager, and you just came out what was, I think an encouraging world cup for the United States, and you're looking into the future, if I'm a fan of this team, I don't want my manager in his first time addressing the media, flirting with the world. Because that's what he's doing. And it just, it doesn't send the right message. It really doesn't. And the fact that he chose to do it, let me do it to that media, but not this media. Maybe he doesn't like Jeff Carlisle. I don't know. I don't know. How can he not like our Jeff Carlisle? Jeff, let's bring you in them, because like I said, you were at a media roundtable with Mauricio Pochettino on Monday. So if you compare the two now, I'm surprised you, are you wondering why you didn't say them in yours? Listen, I mean, what he said, everybody's thinking it. I mean, from the moment he resigned with the US soccer federation, everyone knows it's four years, everyone knows that's a long time, everyone knows that a lot can happen in the interim. And there may come a time where he decides that he wants to take another job. So I mean, I think it's, everyone is acknowledging the reality of the situation. So I'm not getting completely worked up about these comments. You know, he talked about a lot of other things. He talked about how excited he is about this crop of young players that's coming through the US ranks. He talked about how happy he is to work with the US soccer federation, although they just signed into a new contract, so go figure. And he talked a lot about the Olympics and some of the competitions that are coming up that the US is going to participate in. So, you know, I think, you know, at least to us, you know, in the US media, there were a lot of positive comments. There was a lot of excitement in his voice. There were some cautionary statements, not in terms of him, but in terms of these young players, you know, they have to be careful, he said, with how they bring them along, with how they introduce them into the program, make sure they're behaving the right way, treating the staff and their teammates with respect, et cetera. And he also talked about some bad habits that he thinks still exists within the US men's national team program, is pretty clear that the 2025 gold cup, when a lot of US regulars opted not to play, that still grates at him a little bit. And so he, I think he was sending a message, you know, in talking about that, that I'm still the boss. I'm still here. And, you know, we're going to continue to change the culture for the better and continue to hold people accountable. So, you know, it was a mix of statements, but, you know, overall, he struck me as a guy who was excited about the task at hand, and that starts at the end of this month with the four friendlies. Yeah, exactly, and we're going to get to it. By the whole law. Okay. The clarification. Right? This can be all the exciting statements that he made, and that Jeff was just sitting there saying, oh, yes. Excitement to his voice. Yes, I can sense it, I can feel it, I can buy into it. And then he hung up with Jeff as I'm done with you, Jeff. Let me talk to this people over here. And then he went and talked to this people over here and said, he's blaming you. You know, you know, I could leave. Spurs haven't started too well. Things can happen. Again, I think it's two messages. I'm all for the exciting messages of building into the future, and the young talent, and all this, and all that. Oh, yeah, I'll get excited about that too. But if at the moment I leave the room, he gets on another call and he's saying, you know, there's a possibility that this may not work out for them or myself, and I could go to whatever opportunity arises. That's a different message. That doesn't tell me excitement. That tells me, I'm here for the time being, but I'm always willing to listen if opportunities come about. I suppose that's the way that managers are behaving, and should behave now. Now, apparently, all I'm suggesting is, this is not what you say in the first time talking to the media. The last time that we heard anything from Marisa Pugetina was seeing his toes outside of a pool, which wasn't the best picture ever, right? And now we hear from him on a press conference, and this is what he tells Jeff and his buddies is completely different than what he tells the rest of the world. That dichotomy, that two different opinions, diverging opinions, going in completely different directions, that troubles me. Because if you're going to say that, say that to Jeff as well. Don't just say that for the UK media. That part I don't like. Casey, if you're the US soccer federation, are you kind of seeing it like how alleys that, you know, these comments can trouble me a little bit? Yeah, of course they can trouble you. But it's nothing new. I mean, he said it from day one. I mean, if he wants to go back to England, he definitely wants to go back to Spurs at some stage. And I think he's been linked with every team that, at least every big team that could afford him whenever their manager gets fired. And so, yeah, it doesn't surprise me. I agree with Ali 100% though that the timing is terrible. And just don't say anything. It just say, hey, I'm back with the US. We're going to go great. Have your agent talk to people behind the scenes and say, look, they're still a buyout clause. There's still some opportunities if things go wrong or the right job comes around. But I also dislike, but if you're going to say it, if you're going to say it to one group, say it to both groups. In fact, I don't understand why there was two groups in the first place. Why not just have a big open, except for maybe you want to have more access, but still, yeah, that worries me to say the least. Rattles, some feathers have been ruffled. We love it. We love it. But let's talk about some of the comments too, because usually it's us that are weighing in on Mauricio Pochettino's comments, but he himself had to weigh in on some comments made by the likes of Kevin Sullivan and Xavier Goso as well. But basically, they were just saying, Jeff, that they feel like they're ready for the big stage now in a US shirt or maybe a couple of months ago for the world cup. We talked a little bit about that on Monday's show, but overall, as we look at the next international window, how soon do you see Mauricio Pochettino turning to the young crowd? Well, he said on the, I'm very, the press conference that he had with us, that he was going to be a mix of players that he was going to have on the 26-man roster. And he said it was going to be 26 players, even though there's four games. He wants to make sure that everyone gets a chance to play. You know, he gets to see them on the field. And he said it's going to be a mix of young guys. It's going to be a mix of World Cup veterans. And it's going to be some guys in there who were kind of on the fringe of the team towards the end of the last cycle, but who are now playing well or, you know, who have caught his eye. He didn't supply any names. But, you know, it's going to be a group of players that are very different stages in terms of their international career. So, but, you know, it's, everyone's excited about the young guys. But, you know, I think there will be some veterans in there too. There will be some familiar faces. And we'll just have to see, you know, how balanced the squad is. But, certainly, I don't think you want it to be all young players. Because, you know, they could be exposed. And, you know, it could set them back a little bit in terms of their confidence. So, you know, I think it's the right move to kind of have this mix of players. Young, old, guys just coming in, guys coming back. Those kinds of things. Yeah, well, despite what Jeff says, like I said, some of these youngsters do feel like they are ready for the big stage case. He's just in case anybody missed it. Of course, Gozo and Sullivan saying that they felt like they could have even been ready for the U.S. for this World Cup. And basically saying that they don't really buy into the fact that just because they're young and inexperienced on that level means they should be held back if they are playing well, which they have been, then let them have a run out. So, what did you make of their comments, Casey, and how Mauricio Pochettino handled them? I rewatched the comments just to make sure I got it right. It really just kind of reminded me of a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old saying things without they've really learned how to speak with the nuance to the press, which also then gets translated to what you hope will be your teammates on the national team. And so, yeah, I kind of just shrugged it off. I could have easily seen myself say the same things when I was 16 or 19. So, I kind of laughed about that a little bit, but there were some other things, particularly in Sullivan's interview with Alexi that word me a lot more than those comments. It was basically, oh, this new coach lets me do whatever I want. And sometimes I just come back and get the ball because I need my touches and I need this and I need that. And I was just kind of like, ooh, we all know that it's way easier to teach somebody the right habits at 16 than fix the bad habits at 20. So, that scared me a lot more than the comments about possibly being ready. I love the confidence with thinking that he was ready to play in the World Cup. Maybe a little ignorance in a little arrogance, but I did that for a young player. But yeah, there are some other flags there that I would want to take care of pretty quickly. I don't mind, on the whole, the attitude of players to be watching the World Cup on TV or live in the stadium as the case may have been and thinking, I should be there. I could have done this here or I could have been useful there because that is something that any of us who were young players at any point thought every time that our national team was playing is like, why am I not there? I could help the team do this and it is just thinking that you are the competitor that you are and feeling like you can be useful to a team. Now, you come to learn as you get older that it's not as easy as you watch it on TV so therefore it must be easy to do on the field at the national team level. I can picture a young Casey Keller watching Tony Mayola or David Vanoli or I am thinking I could be doing better than this guy, which may have been the case or not. So I don't mind that attitude of thinking, I am going to put myself in a position in which, if given an opportunity, I could help the team. I don't mind that. What I do mind is I think it was Goso in particular who said I deserve to be in the World Cup and maybe the nuances that Casey is talking about in terms of how to express yourself and not having the experience to do this through the media and through these platforms to serve is not the word. Yeah. Because it would have been great for him to have been part of it. But when he said he deserved it meaning that means that there are others in that group because somebody else would have to have been taken out that didn't deserve it. And it also speaks to a level of play and a consistency of play that is necessary for a national team player to be part of a World Cup team that frankly he just doesn't have and hasn't had. He may be good enough to be part of the national team from here on out and he may be good enough to be part of the World Cup team in 2030. But to say now that he deserved it didn't quite care for that too much. I am going to give both of them a pass because their platforms now that were not available 30 years ago. This podcast were not around. So even a guy like Leonid Messi was not getting this sort of platform to talk about what he deserved or didn't deserve. Those platforms exist now. We live in a different reality in a different world and they are taking advantage of it. Yeah. Well it's definitely not just some of the youngsters for the U.S. men's national team that are looking to get a run out. Some French players as well and as usual our Jeff Carlyle has been very busy at work. Look out for his latest piece dropping tomorrow on espn.com about some of the French players who are looking to make their way out. Back into Mauricio Pochettino's roster at least for this next cycle leading up to the World Cup. But Jeff of course the next FIFA window is coming up. We are expecting a roster release around next Thursday. So who is looking for a fresh start as early as next week? Well I would say Eunice Musa has really experienced a renaissance almost at AC Milan. I mean you think about what was he was going through last year. He went on loan to Adelanta. He never really established himself in that team. Really struggled to get consistent playing time. And to no one's surprise he slid further and further down the depth chart to such an extent that when the roster was announced it was not a surprise to anyone that he was not on it. But so far this year there's a new manager Rubin Emmerim in AC Milan and he is really trusting Eunice Musa to be part of that middle, that central midfield alongside Luca Modrich. It's almost as if Musa is kind of the perfect counterweight. You've got Modrich spraying passes all over the place. And then you've got Musa doing the defensive work but also carrying the ball out of trouble, kind of breaking pressure in a different way than Modrich. And he's able to really help the team at both ends of the field. He's asking against Juventus, you know, late in the match he's got a defensive head or deep in his box. That if he doesn't get to that it's probably a goal. So, you know, already he's played 90 minutes, three times for Milan. That's as many 90 minutes stints as he had all of last season. So you're talking about a player in Eunice Musa that is really kind of, I don't want to say reinvented himself but resurrected himself. And, you know, given that he's getting consistent playing time it would not surprise me at all to see him get called in. Aiden Morris is another player who I think is playing really well so far this season. He's adding a little bit more attack to his game. He scored his first goal for the club recently but he's also taking more shots at a much higher rate than he has in the past. You know, he's always been a bit of a bulldog and a guy who could link play. So, you know, we'll see if he gets another chance. And then there's a guy like Johnny Cardoso who everyone knows that he's never really showed his best for the US men's national team. But, you know, he does have a skill set that Reese would put your team in with buyers. Just his calmness on the ball, his ability to link the play. You know, take the sting out of the game but that's what the game calls for. You know, and he was a late injury victim towards the end of the World Cup cycle for 2026. So, you know, he's another guy that I think could get called in. And, you know, we'll see now if he's able to make a name for himself and improve his worth at international level. Yeah, there are a couple of names there in the mix. Casey, but I want to touch on the main point that Jeff was bringing about their Yunus Musa. Do you believe he deserves a look in or who else would you like to see for these next friendlies? No, I think Yunus has made the biggest point, I think, with his club form. And I think that's the most important thing is particularly for guys that kind of got left off the team for whatever reason is go play well for your club. Go reestablish yourself weekend and week out and give the manager something to think about. And that's all you can do. And if Pochettino says, you know what, you're not my kind of player. Hey, so be it, he's the coach. But just go play. You know, I'm also interested in a couple guys and this isn't necessarily for this camp, but I think just going forward after Pochettino resigned is, you know, looking at someone like Diego Luna, looking at someone like Tanner Testman, two guys who, you know, most people felt we're going to be on the World Cup squad, they get left off, then, you know, how do they reintegrate themselves back? And, you know, is there an edge to their play or is it still kind of pouty? So I'm interested to see how that all goes down as well. And then obviously the next phase is, you know, who of these bright young kids coming through are going to establish themselves? We're going to kind of step into that team and we're going to go, oh, okay, that's good. You can do all you're talking. You can say all that garbage. But go step when you get the opportunity. I want to see you prove it. Yeah, I know. He's definitely not a fringe player, but is Christian politics someone you'd like to see play in any of these friendlies? Or we call it for this window? Honestly, I don't care. I don't think, and more importantly, I don't think he's too concerned about it. Well, that's where I was kind of leaning to, especially after going to jump and all of that. Well, you know, it is for matches. So you would assume, and if indeed we think of Christian Policik as a flag bearer for his team. And to kind of put to bed some of the chatter that questioned, you know, his commitment to the team. Look, he could play 90 minutes for all four matches and that question will still be linked there or thereabouts. He is one of those guys that chose not to come and play gold cups. Oh, yeah. That is one of those guys. He's part of that conversation. And that apparently was going to set him up for success in his club team. I didn't quite work out that way. Point being, if indeed you're the leader of the team or you're the flag bearer, and you have built momentum with the World Cup and the World Cup performance of the United States men's national team, then your superstar has to be in the first column. He has to be. He has to be. Now, whether he plays in all four games, whether he sticks around for the whole camp, I don't know about all that. But he needs to be part of the picture. Because if indeed you're bringing young guys, you're bringing young guys in. You're going to ease them into the group and then you need the veteran presence. Christian Polisik is now part of the veteran presence. And he is indeed the standard for this young guys. Yeah. They want to get to his level and beyond. So he needs to be part of the measuring stick for this young guys. When they show up to a training session, Christian Polisik is there. It generates a level of expectation for the young guys. So yes, he should be here. But he has to care in order for me to care. He has to be engaged in order for me to be engaged. And at times, and I like Christian Polisik, but at times there's been moments in which he has thought more about himself, his career, his future, and not so much the national team. I think that's a fair statement. I'm not making this up. Sometimes he has prioritized what he thinks is most important. And that has been his career instead of the national team. Perhaps, perhaps it's time for him to start prioritizing his role as one of the leaders of this team. And how important it is to start off the new cycle with him being part of the column. Well, Jeff has a slight smirk on his face. So Jeff, you want to weigh in on this? Can we expect Christian Polisik to be a part of this roster? Are there any other of the veterans that we probably are not expecting to see come next week? Well, Marisa Pochettino's history has been that if you're not playing for your club or that if you're dealing with an injury, then you don't get called in. And so, you know, I think there's a couple guys. I think Polisik could fall into that category. I mean, he's back training. He was on the bench for the eventous match. We'll see what happens this weekend if he actually ends up playing. But it would not surprise me to see him left at home. The same goes for West McKinney. He was in the stands for that game between AC Milan and the eventous. And so, again, that would not surprise me to see West McKinney left out. But guys like Chris Richards, I think, have to be there. I think guys like Tyler Adams have to be there. I mean, those guys are really the leaders. I think they are the emotional center of this team. I don't think it's so much Christian Polisik. I think Polisik is a guy who, you know, at times has led by example, you know, with his play. But, you know, when I think of guys, when I think of players that, you know, really communicate with their teammates, you know, check in on them. You know, Tyler Adams was fantastic at the 2022 World Cup. You know, Chris Richards has captained the team at times as well. So, I look at those two guys as being guys that definitely come in and, you know, help permitting. And really try to help move this team forward at a critical juncture when you're bringing in a lot of young players. I understand what Jeff is saying. And I'm not trying to make Polisik enter an emotional leader because I don't think he's ever going to be that. But he is your best player. He is your best player. He's a captain of America. And so, him walking into the dining room makes a difference for the young guys. His presence, and he doesn't even have to say anything. He is Christian Polisik. And so, this guy's when they look around and they go, oh, Polisik is here. He's here. And this must be big time. Yeah. And I also need to, if I'm pochettino, I need to demand from my best player. Because if I'm making cases for the young guys, this is how you carry yourself in a national team camp. This is what the expectations is. This is what the man from you. I need to demand that from Christian Polisik as well. Because that's the example I'm trying to set. Yeah. It can be that it just applies to Yunus Musa because he has to prove himself. It has to apply to Christian Polisik because he has to prove himself. If you don't do that, this is when you have double standards. And when you create double standards, you create problems. All right. Well, I'll tell you what is a problem. Mauricio Polisik looks like he's slapping me on the head right now with this one. So we're probably going to end this discussion. All right. Now, Jeff Carlisle. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. Like we said, look up for Jeff's article. It drops tomorrow over on ESPN.com. Something else that's coming up on our networks is NWSL action. The Washington spirit and Trinity Rodman up against Boston. Legacy. That's one PM Eastern time over on ESPN 2. Still talking USman's national team because a pair of their players were in action in the Champions League. Serginio Desk and Ricardo Pepe as well as PSV are hosting Shakhtar Don Yesk. This is in the league phase. Bit of controversy here now. Alebica Serginio Desk carrying the ball through the midfield. Gomez slides in with a tough challenge. He goes down. PSV wants it a foul, but the play kept going. I really don't care about your controversy because the only thing that really matters here is that Glaker Mendoza. And why is that important? BAM over Nesuela. All right. I was trying to like, you know, stay on topic. But a turn. No. BAM over Nesuela. Vino Tinto. Wait a minute. It's a good challenge. I don't know what the controversy is. Great finish. I don't know what the controversy is seriously. You kidding me? It's a good challenge. All right. Well, Vier says it does well. There you go. So when Nesuela gets that one, but you can't write him off. Serginio Desk comes drawing back for PSV and he scores. It's a good finish. Very good finish. That was a finish of a right back right there. Look, Serginio Desk opening up his foot. A little fade to it. It's a gorgeous finish. Gorgeous finish indeed. In the end, not enough for PSV to get the win, but still quite a goal from Serginio Desk there. And if you just have a look at how his time has been going with PSV this season, he is in a hot streak three goals in all competitions. So is he back to his best, Casey? Well, yeah. I mean, I mean, he's obviously had some tough injury problems. He made the move to Barcelona. It didn't work out. He went back to Holland and has succeeded when he's been fit enough to be successful. Look, it's still a PSV side where he's listed as a right back, but he doesn't really play as a right back. He's kind of all over the place. And that's great if it works for you. I mean, as I was watching this game, yeah, this is on set. So it's a little different. But I was watching this game as they had the ball, they definitely defended it at three and let Desk just have the freedom of that right hand side. Well, you saw where he was out of position when the challenge came and then that forced everybody around, which then gave Shocktar the opportunity and all these former countrymen to be able to do it. Because all of your American now, by the way. And so to be able to score that goal. All right. So I'm sorry. Where do you want to take it? There's not a local catching series. But yeah, so she does that back to his best. Well, I don't. The best for Serginio Desk seems to be really good for PSV, but I think there's a ceiling to it. And part of the reason as to why there is a ceiling to it is because this freedom that he has with PSV, he can't have everywhere. Yeah. And what now, Casey was talking about how he has the right side for himself. I would argue that it's not just a right hand side. He starts coming inside. He's combining top of 18 yard box. He almost plays more like a number eight. More of like a midfielder that sometimes goes out. Why? Sometimes goes back to defend. But he's more like, let's go in the attack. Now, that I think is useful to PSV in the way that they play. And the conversation about Serginio Desk and where he fits with the national team, I thought at times it was very effective down that right hand side. And when he has somebody in Alex Riemann that was essentially covering his back and allows Serginio Desk to have the freedom to go and find the game offensively, I think he's a different player. And the United States need more of that. The guys that are different. And when I say different, a guy who is a player that you can't quite figure out what position he plays. But you know that he won a 1v1 situation. He's good enough to get around. He has speed. He has service about him. He'll score a goal here and there. Has a lot of offensive capabilities. But playing him means that you're willing to sacrifice somebody who's going to cover his back. Because if you're trusting him to defend, that is just not going to work. And I don't think this is a surprise to anybody else. So you might as well just give him the freedom to go forward and do the things that he does. Because if you're trying to put him out of there to defend, he's only going to hurt you. Well, I don't think despite his great goal scoring form, Roderick Serginio is going to play him as an out and out number nine anytime soon. But someone who can fit that role, Casey, is Ricardo Peppy. He had a bit of a quiet night at least in this game. But we do know that he is in some good form. So, especially with the situation that's going on with Balogun and Monaco at the moment, is there an opening for Ricardo Peppy to kind of make a push and leapfrog him into being that number one, number nine, four-punch? Absolutely. I mean, you, again, his league form has been good. Yeah, it was a quiet game today, but you can't expect, you know, you to be the best player on the pitch every time you step out on the pitch. Yeah, it's all you can do again. And I'll refer to it again, it's play well for your club. And Ricardo Peppy has done that. Now you have to look at who's around you and who's playing well for their clubs as well when you talk about national team. And obviously, the Balogun drama is opening the door for someone like Ricardo to come in and get meaningful minutes for the national team and to continue to approve. Ellie, you pointed it out in the last segment. Every time you step on the pitch, you step into a camp, you go into camp, you're always proving yourself. You're always doing that every time. And if somebody's not there because of form or somebody's not there because of some sort of drama at the club level, that opens the door for you. And I think this is a good opening for Ricardo. Alay, especially for this international window, I know you're a fan of Ricardo Peppy. You compare him, of course, the Balogun says he brings a different layer there, but is it enough now? What I think it's important for Ricardo Peppy is that unlike Balogun, who seems to be hung up on the things that could have happened, may not have happened, didn't happen, I think Ricardo Peppy already went through this a couple of months ago with Fulham. And so now he's further along to where he's now accepted, well, this is it. And if this is it, let me make the best of it. So what's important for me, I think, Ricardo Peppy, is that goals, goals, productivity, productivity, productivity, all the time with PSV. That is the most important and most convincing message that you can send to Marisa Puchotino is doing that consistently for PSV. Not coming up the bench and doing it, but starting and doing it. You want to be a starter for the national team, you got to be starting for your club team and doing it on a weekly basis. You want to be the number one guy in playing up top, then you have to be the number one guy for PSV. And he hasn't always been the number one guy for PSV in that time. So he has to be that. When he establishes himself as that and there's no question that whenever they're putting together as a starting line, who's starting up top? Well, we know Peppy's going to be there. Whenever he reaches a level of PSV, then he can raise his hand and say, Hey, I'm your guy. Daddy, I'm your guy. I am it. You need, you need goals? I am it. That guy over there, he's still hung up on what didn't happen. I'm scoring goals over here. That's, I think that's how you make a case for yourself. So the number nine debate rages on. We all had a clear cut answer for like two months this summer. And then here we are again. Wouldn't say rages on. Let's just throw some genius dancing to that debate as well. We're going to have a lot of time there, Alexa. Forget about the race. All right, I love a rager myself. Anyways, let's rage on with some run it back, shall we? Some other conca-caf stars were doing bits abroad. Alfonso Davies, Alex, scoring for Bayern Munich and the Champions League. And let me just say that when we were prepping the show, he wasn't going to make the show up until he did this. Lower, he hits is so beautiful. So beautifully of the short hop. And Katja says, so cleanly this. And I know Casey's going to agree with me. Here's a courtesy dive. Courtesy dive. By the time the goalkeeper got there, I was already too late. All right, Casey, I'm not going to let you weigh in on that one. This one, Alex Freeman, he came on as a halftime, sub-making his Champions League debut. And what was the loss for Villarreal to Dortmund? Yeah, but I mean, I think Alex Freeman, if I remember correctly, didn't start the first league match for Villarreal, but has really kind of worked himself into starting several matches. Obviously he wasn't in the start for this, but then got his way in. And so, yeah, I'm very happy because I was a little worried that potentially Freeman would be loaned out. But it's clearly proving himself at Villarreal. Two yellow submarines there. It's not interesting. Jonathan David. It worked. He's not here to celebrate him, but he made his debut out of electrical imagery. Then what was the loss at Anfield? Well, he was out there. He was out there. Alex, a debut. Katma. He ran around. He did a whole lot of, not a whole lot. I love it. Look, I understand that we want to highlight the fact that he got on the field, but that was about it for Jonathan David. You know, to make it like on-song, I was going to go to Casey for this one. But, Alex, I'm going to stick with you because it is Mexico's Santa Humaniz. He got some, I want to say valuable minutes. It was only 18 minutes in what was Porto's lost to Manacetti. He was out there. He, again. He got in. He did a whole lot, not a whole lot. Look, I know we want to talk about Santa Humaniz because he got on the field, but that's about it. Algo Salgo. Look at him. He's smiling again. I mean, that's what you want to see. If you're being rough, right? Well, Casey Fidelgo, he made his Champions League debut with Real Betis and they won and Betis looking nice. Yeah, Betis are having a really good start to the season and coming off that. You would have thought that maybe coming off that 1-0 win over Real Madrid, that it would be, you know, emotional to kind of fall flat. But, you know, good win and obviously Fidelgo helping in that win. Good win indeed. Well, let's talk about Laudmira Gonzalez, shall we? Because he got a brace for Olympiacos in this Greek cup win over Volos. You know it's for the Americas when we're showing highlights of the Greek. I would like you to know that my boy Leon Bailey has also signed with Olympiacos. So let's hope he makes these highlights. All right. I know I look great. Hey, he got on the field scoring goals. That's good. Yeah. La Rmiga, I'm not going to get nearly as excited. What? He got an assist too. Okay. All right. Good job, La Rmiga. All right. This was an absolute thriller between Chelsea and Lee's goals galore, a 6-3 loss, four leads. But Casey Brennan-Iranson found the back of the net all be it in a league cup exit now. Look, I really like how Brennan-Iranson has kind of reproved himself at Lee's signed a new contract, chipping in with goals and assists. So all be it. Tough loss to a very good Chelsea side. Still happy to see Brennan succeed. Yes, indeed. Tough loss, but good goal. All right. Well, La Liga is coming your way on Sunday 3 p.m. Eastern Time Real Sociedad and Pellegrino Matarazzo up against Cholo Simeone and Atlético de Madrid. We also have Obed Bargas, Johnny Cardoso. Oh. Just can't get out there every day. Jonathan David. Jonathan David. Let's see if he can get on the pitch and do a bit more so Alec can maybe be more complimentary about him. That game is at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Let's talk about the ballon door because the nominees are out. The short list is out. Some of the usual suspects like Kylian and Bapé, Usman Dembele, Bruno Fernandez. I just want to say all making that list. La Minyamal, of course. And no surprise that the magician that is Leonel Messi has made the short list once again. And like I said, that is no surprise because he is who he is. But the question is how much of a case can we make or does he have Alec to win it? Can I just address that we first have to define what a short list is? What's your choice, Alec? Honestly. It was 60. 30? There are 30 players around the world that could win the ballon door according to this list. Please. It's maybe three. I'll go as far as five. We'll get there. But we'll have a conversation about Dayo Barmecano. We have a conversation about Ferran Torres. Harry Kane. Marco Curella. No, wait a minute. That's a different category. Oh, this is the shorter short list. OK. No. So my point is, as a potential general Messi, I was going to get there, taking the scenic route. But I was going to get there eventually. If players like Roderie are going to be not only in this list, but at the top of this list, if guys like Ferran Torres are going to be in this list, it is because of their World Cup performance in the case of Roderie over the course of the whole World Cup. And in the case of Ferran Torres, for scoring the game winning goal in the World Cup final, not because of having a great World Cup, because up until that final, he had not had a good World Cup. I happened to believe that Leonid Messi was better than everybody else in the World Cup. I thought he was the best player in the World Cup. And if we're going to weigh so heavily, whatever happened in the World Cup so much so that we now include Roderie into this list of the ballon door, and the reason I'm having an issue with Roderie is because Roderie had a really difficult club season with Manchester City. He happened to have a great World Cup. Well, I think that Leonid Messi was even better than Roderie, regardless of the fact that Leonid Messi was not given the Golden Ball. Even then, we're going to weigh this so heavily that Roderie is number three in terms of the favors to win the ballon door. Then why is there not a conversation to be had about Leonid Messi? Look, I don't think Leonid Messi should win it. But I'm following the pattern, I'm following the path and the pattern that this ballon door conversation and this short list has taken us down. If we're going to have conversations about Roderie, then we've got to have conversations about Leonid Messi as well. All right, I was just getting a quote quickly because Leonid Messi has also been the topic of conversation for a certain Zinedine Zidane indeed. Now, I want to read it because I want to have to translate this in a bit. But Casey, what Ale just said is that Messi does have a case to win this ballon door. Do you agree? No. Well, Zidane says that he wants to for Messi a hundred times. He believes that people don't want to understand the incredible that he is and what he's doing at 39 years old. No, absolutely a hundred percent. I think Ale made very, very good points. But it also doesn't mean that Messi should be winning the ballon door at this stage. Yes, he was a very good player at the World Cup and arguably the best, if not one of the best. And yes, Roderie had barely played this whole season. So yes, all he makes very, very valid points. But right now, Leonid Messi is not the ballon door. I think when you could move Roderie over to the other side, you could move Alisa over to that side. You could move Bellingham over to the left. But I like the combination with Harry Kane and Luminumall and Bope there. But yeah, Messi, maybe in that top 10, I'd slide him just down a few spots. But to win it, no. And I agree. I don't think Messi is going to win it, nor should he win it. But you believe there's a case and a stronger case than I think some people think. Well, I'm just following their logic, not my logic, their logic. What's your logic? My logic is Harry Kane. And if you want to make a stronger case for others, maybe Luminumall. But the reason I bring up Harry Kane and while this is not full of America's main topic of conversation, the English guy who plays in Bundesliga, All I'm saying in terms of Harry Kane is he is the one player of those guys who were at the top of that list, who had an outstanding club season, historically good club season, and had a good World Cup. He had the combination that the others did not manage to do. And so in that sense, I think his argument is far stronger than it is for Luminumall, who had a great club season, but not a great World Cup. Brody, who did not have a good club season and had a great World Cup, Harry Kane was able to put it together much better than everybody else. Therefore, that's where I think he should win the ball on door. All right. Well, Elise, it seems like everyone's agreeing on that one. But you know what, this is a football America's. So we got to give. My anguish on his flowers because yes, indeed, El Mexicano made the short list. After what really though, Ale has been an impactful year, not just for club, but we saw him for Mexico this summer at the World Cup, and he treated us to some stunning performances. Again, we have to define what a short list is. Guys, it's for both the Americans. Okay, but that doesn't mean that Julián Quinoa should be included in the conversation as the best players in the world. He had a great World Cup. He did. He was a Saudi pro league that's holding him back. Is that what you're saying? That makes you believe. I mean, you're all on first of all, I speak in a full of America. So you really want me to make an argument for the Saudi pro league in a full of America. You can only find success where you're placed. No, I know. And he did well. Got golden boot. Okay. Got golden boot for in the Saudi pro league. Three. Okay. So do you. So then do we then recycle the conversation, Balion El Messi, and how dominant he is in MLS? Yes. I mean, algo salvo. Okay, so hold on a second. You're bringing up a conversation and making an argument for Julián Quinoa's, but not making the same argument for Julián El Messi. Who said it wasn't making an argument for Julián El Messi? No, no, no, I'm just merely suggesting. Look, Julián Quinoa's had a really good World Cup, scoring back full goals for Mexico. Had a good league season in the Saudi pro league. However much that's worth, I couldn't tell you how to quantify that. But Julián Quinoa's, I can tell you, with certainty, certainty that he is not among the best players in the world. And I think that is not a crazy statement to make even if this hurts full Americas and the full Americas crowd. This is probably going to be the easiest thing for Casey to agree with. But Alex, one of the most important things about this is it definitely has arose celebrations in Colombia for Julián. Oh, geez. He has to go there, didn't he? Wow. Oh my, geez. You know, Julián. Why are you bringing facts into the conversation? I'm just going to, why are you bringing facts? Come on, Mexico. Look at that. Multicultural. Just like Ale, Venezuela, USA, media, Mexico, Salvador. Look at that. I'm more just Alvin. It's all going to be honest. We're not going to get into that right now. But big up Julián Quinoa is, I think, you deserve it, Julián. All right. Well, ESPNF, see you after our other show. It is on seven days a week. You can find it over on the ESPNF. All right. Antoine Griezmann. He's taken to the MLS like a doctor water. But this clip of him went absolutely viral as he struggled with the heat down in Florida. Welcome to Florida, Antoine. It gets hot. You know what it is? It's a humidity that really gets to you. It didn't seem to be enjoying this. Let me tell you that. It was also the face that launched 1,000 reels and memes. But that brings us to the tales from the page. Because as you can see by Antoine's expression there, sometimes you go out there and your biggest opponent is not the 11 men on the other team. It is mother nature and the elements. And Casey, I know you know a thing or two about that as well. And a little birdie has told me that your tales from the pitch also has an honorable mention for one of our favorite Scotsmen, Craig Burley. Wow. Wow. Yeah, yeah. I had two, particularly. One was with, against Scotland in 98 in DC when a heat wave came before the 98 World Cup. And it was shocker. It was nil nil because nobody could move and everyone was like, oh my god, what is going on here. And then we had a second one in the orange bowl against Brazil in a gold cup semi-final where it was like, you know, one of those young Brazilian sides where you've got Kaká, Diego, Lucio, one, all trying to prove themselves with the national team and players just melted. And I remember coming out of the locker room in both these matches after warm-ups and just feeling like a furnace was just hitting in the face. So you had warm-ups. You cooled down in the locker room and you came out and I think that was the worst thing that happened is just coming back out into that heat. Wow. You can't experience it unless you experience it. That was what it felt like. Can I just pass the ball side foot and go from there? Ah, yes. The Scots do not do very well in the sun. But as I did perform, as I did promised, Craig Burley very much did play in that game. We didn't have those highlights of him because we didn't want him to upstage Kasey and in any way, shape or form. But here he is. Look at that. Craig Burley. Looking young and chippo. He's still miserable. He was miserable. He was miserable. But he was miserable now. That hasn't changed. He was miserable. Well, I don't know if he was more miserable than or now in the heat. All right. He looked happy about how you're that. And it was the sun. It was the sun. Kasey, how did he do that day? Yeah. I mean, you weren't judging anything on that day. You were just trying to survive and make it to the world cup and not die of heat exhaustion. I mean, and again, it was the point. It said 89. But the heat index was well over 100 with the humidity and everything. And yeah, it was a monster. And I can only imagine if you were playing an Aberdeen last season and then you came into that heat that it was going to be tough for you to do just. I don't know. I still rather play in that heat than in like snow my get on because I'm not built for that. It's not for you. It's not for me. Snow. You see me suffering though. Every winter. Every winter. All right. Let's check in on Antoine Griezmann because he was in action. He managed to recover. Look how happy he looks now and cooler. This is him going up against Atlanta United. So you know that is one of the best stadiums ever in that dove seven minutes. In though, Atlanta takes a lead. It's a perfect mission, I think. The air on goal as well. Indeed. 26 minutes though. Don't you worry. Our boy cool calm collected and getting the equalizer. It helps when you can run. It helps when you can move and you can actually get to the near post lighting finish one one. And breathe and enjoy some climate control indeed. 58 minutes. This would be checked by VAR. Where is the back line? I'm just asking a basic question. Where is everybody? Oh. And he's on side. He's on side. Played on by the full back there and the goal is given. So Orlando up to two to one 77 minute now. Orlando forcing the turnover. Grizzy and Justin Ellis here with some nice passing. And our Frenchman gets his second of the night. It's good combination. Played the home. Did Armstrong Christmas just do the Heisman? What? Oh, yes he did. You know he's a big fan. There's a little early for that. One week and I'll call it football. Just saying. Maybe he was just getting ready for NFL. They don't give out the Heisman in the NFL. Oh, there you go. That just goes to show you guys. This is real football America. Come on. Can you put a note down? No. Have mercy. I didn't know that. Lionel Messi up against Robert Lewandowski. Thank goodness. I know this one. Nine minutes in though. He left on the goal ski. He puts Chicago up. It's good service from the left hand side from Andrew Godman. But then the finish from Lewandowski. That's vintage Lewandowski. How he's able to control his body more importantly. Control the finish. Put enough pace behind it. 40 minutes now. Lewandowski here with a little bit of magic. A chance. But it's saved by the keeper. Yeah. I mean, doesn't that look like the ballon door winner? Stop it. I learned New York. It counts. It counts. If he had scored it probably would eventually. There you go. He's got a little. Yeah. It's amazing. 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