The Tactical Vacuum in Los Angeles & The USMNT's Positional Chokepoints

Hello everybody and welcome to the Total Soccer Show. My name is Taylor Rockwell and it's time to talk to Major Lee Soccer and some US men's national team together. Again, speaking of together again, I've got two friends who last I checked have not been fired by L.A.F.C. Joe Lowry. No termination notices as of yet. Yeah, yes, is the operative word there. I've been waiting. I mean, I feel like it's coming man. I haven't been doing a great job for them, which is to say I haven't been doing anything for them. And I just don't know how they can keep paying me. Frankly, I don't get it. To my understanding, doing nothing for them might be better than the present situation. Jeff Ruder, still in L.A.F.C.'s good books for now. As far as I know, yeah, as far as I know, as far as you know. All right, you are dressed appropriately. You've got the black and gold on. I think it's tough. I mean, and DeSantis was always inspired to be a man in black. I had no doubts that if they got to the playoffs, he would have been all black suit, maybe a below. You know, that's always like, I love when a manager like foregoes a tie and throws on a below because like that's a really intentional thought. And there's no context for it. Like we don't know if they think they're a desparado, or if they just like don't want to fiddle with fabric or anything, but I love a below coach. No fiddle with fabric. Joe, that's the thing you're given at birth, right? In the Arizona desert, you're born in the birth certificate, you get the blue or the pink hat or the blend, and then you get a below tie. Turquoise below tie in particular, while your lack of desert knowledge is really showing. And then you also get a tumbleweed that grows as you grow. Which is exciting. It's like, you don't put it in water, obviously, because we don't have that. But you know, those, those, those toys that you put in water that I've seen on TV and they grow over time. It's kind of like that, but just much, much slower standing work by you. You're right. I got to, I got to up my, my desert jewelry knowledge. For now, I am excited to talk about Mark the Santos in LAFC, mostly intrigued for the, the sacking and the timing of that sacking. We're going to start that off or start the show off with that today. Then we're going to get into some USM and T, their recent results, the upcoming game. We are doing a show this evening, post match, their game against Chile is at 8 p.m. So we will be recording sometime after that. And then Saturday on the weekend, Joe, we've got to watch along. We don't do watch along very often. How are you feeling about it? It's great. I'm not going to be there. I'm going to be hanging out with Jeff at the game, but you guys are going to watch along. And I'm sure you're going to have a fantastic time coming out. I don't know, drop comments. You can, you can hang out with us as we're going through and watching the game. It's, it's going to be blast. We did one of those for the pretty world cup friendlies. And I really, really enjoyed that. I think I get something different out of watching the game with people than I do getting it, get out of it, just watching it by myself. There's more discussion. There's more sort of figuring things out as you go, which I really enjoy. And I think a lot of our listeners enjoy that as well. Or you can just drop funny things in the chat. There's a place for that too. So Saturday, live during the US game, we'll have a live stream watch along. And then a show coming out. I believe for that US Mexico game on Sunday morning. And then tonight we'll do a live show right after the final whistle of USA Chile as well. So lots of live. Relive all the time. Guys, come on. Come hang out with us. Yeah. We're going to be doing some, some previewing of that game, some reviewing of the USA's glorious start to their friendly campaign. But for now, Jeff, we're going to start with LFC parting ways with Marc Des Santos. How did we get here for a man who is less than a year into his tenure appointed in December of 2025 now out the door in late September? I'm going to say curious timing, but not surprising at the same time. Yeah. I think that there were more obvious points. This could have been done some earlier, some later, but they've chosen the middle instead. Marc Des Santos is someone who has endeared himself to LFC over the years. And I think that if you look at the comments of his Instagram post, it's a lot of fans thinking him in spite of some frustrations about the club's direction. Keep in mind, he was an assistant under Bob Bradley. It was his first foray into MLS proper after some fine work in the NSL and the second division rung went and left for the Vancouver White Caps stayed for two and a half years came back as an assistant for Steve Shurundalo when he was appointed then when Shurundalo left was promoted one of a couple of head coaches who was promoted sort of from the bench after a coach left along with Minnesota United's Cam Noles. For him, it's look like results haven't been where LFC expects them to be. It's one of those things, by the way, where people are like, oh, the international break is so long I miss club soccer all that sort of stuff. And MLS didn't keep running though. We've got it from here commercials, which is really too bad because I think people would love to know that a coach got sacked on the after the weekend after losing to FC Dallas. But that lost to Dallas does have LFC down in six three points, a drift of St. Louis city. SC with two more games played than St. Louis so realistically, you know, they could stay down towards the wild card spots. And that's just not going to do for a team like LFCs. So dos Santos out, they have six games left with the regular season and a lot of ground to make up to meet preseason expectations, I would suppose. Joe, are you surprised with the way this has gone? Because on some level, like Mark de Santos's LFC look fairly similar to Steve Churundalo's LFC playing a similar style, maybe less effectively, at least recently, like were you expecting an evolution from this team, were you expecting them to for him to take them in a different direction? Or is this about where this was always going to go? In terms of style of play, this is pretty much what I expected for LFC where Steve Churundalo had made them a much more defensive team than Bob Bradley's version of LFC. And I think that that's completely fine. And they got some good results LFC along the way. Those struggle to actually go out and win finals. Dos Santos being on that Churundalo staff as well as what Jeff said about his earlier tenure in Major League Soccer, I think it made sense that LFC would kind of continue being what they were, not that that was, I think, what they should have done necessarily over the offseason. But I think there was logic to that decision too. We've had a lot of success playing this way. We have a lot of the same players. Let's continue to do what we've been doing and finish third or higher in the Western Conference and give ourselves a chance to be in every race for every trophy. At the same time, I think it is clear that LFC's style of play was not helping them get to where they wanted to be this season. Now, I don't think soccer is a sport that has to be played one way. It's not like everybody has to play like Will Fernandez Columbus crew. That might not be the last time we say Will Fernandez name on this episode, by the way. I don't think every team has to play like that, right? It's not true. In Europe, not every team has to play like Barcelona. They can play like Arsenal and win the Champions League. So you can play more aggressive is probably too strong of a word, but more defensive soccer and win trophies. Nothing wrong with that. Problem for LFC this season is that all of their key metrics have trended in the wrong direction. Under Mark dos Santos, compared to where they were under Trondolo, their goals have gone down. Their expected goals have gone down. Their expected goals a lot have gone up. This is a team that has not been playing nearly as good of soccer as they did last season. And they've had the young men's son and Danny Boanga pairing for the entire season, right? So they've had a more talented roster in a lot of ways. And they've taken a step backwards. And I think the real issue for them is not that they are this sieve defensively. It's not that they're incapable of creating chances in the attack. They're still pretty good above those things. This is just relative to their standards that they want to be better, rather than relative to most of their peers. The problem is that when they trail in a game and they have to hold the ball, it does not seem like they have the tactical principles, nor the players ability to solve problems on the field. So there's plenty to go around. But it doesn't seem like they have the setup to actually go and get back into games. Unless they are in the perfect game state for them protecting a lead, it doesn't seem like this team has been able to actually use the ball that got there and create chances. And that I think is where the changes needed. And that I think is where they came up against some problems under Steve's run below. And I think it's where they've come under even more problems. This season under dos Santos, it feels like they have lacked answers and those critical moments. And I think some of the best teams can't really afford to lack answers in. Jeff, if we're apportioning blame, how much of this is directly under Santos? How much of this is on the players? How much of this is on the organization? Our friends over at Backheeled did point out that maybe in the transfer window that did not leave them in the best of positions. It might even have left them worse than when the transfer window opened the secondary window. So I'm wondering if you have thoughts on where we're looking in terms of who's to blame for how this is gone? Yeah, I had some notes on the winter window as well. So credit to Backheeled, there's some smart folks there. You should be reading it. And then also Joe. And also you should be. I mean, the winter was strange. Look, like this is, keep in mind, as Joe said, you have the best attacking one two punch in the entire leap, right? In theory, you should be able to build a roster and a game model that really caters to their strengths. And I would say that this year, LFC has done neither nor when you look at their winter, there was a really savvy loan, I thought to bring in Stephen, Steve and Eusachio in on loan at first. And I thought I assumed that that was going to be something where he fits. Make sure that he works well in MLS that he's motivated that he didn't leave Europe to soon. Okay, fine. That's great. Sign him to an extension, right? And then you bring him back for the rest of the season because he is that high level of a midfielder image of League Soccer. Well, World Cup comes around. He leaves for Canada. He's a hero for Canada. And he doesn't come back. Instead, he goes to the championship, which is such a curious move to me. But they didn't really replace his production. They didn't really replace his ability to kind of pull strings from deeper to actually truly facilitate midfield. The midfield hasn't been able to do what it needs to be due. And then you throw in things like overestimating the impact of Jacob Schaffelberg as kind of a weak side option from Danny Bawanga, paying a million dollars of game when you could get probably some more effective end product players than Jacob Schaffelberg for a million dollars of game from within the league or could use that to sign a free agent and buy down the cap. Tyler Boyd is getting real minutes now as a result. David Martinez was sold. Didn't really seem like they actually expected that to come off, which is strange because Joe has been saying that he is a top target in the transfer market for about four windows now. So that should have been an anticipated, you know, sort of a departure. But when he looks stylistically, it's on mark two, right? And Joe's right, the style is a crucial part of the problem. When you get like under the hood and you're really checking out how it was operating, they were less interested in the ball possession dropped about five percent from 52 to 47. So you're already at a disadvantage just because you're on the wrong side of 50, right? But the field tilt was especially worse. That dropped by 6.6%. So it's not just that they had less of the ball. They had less of the dangerous time on the ball, right? They were giving opponents more chances. Their opponents were being able to create more chances as result of that. Hugo Luis was getting no younger. So in theory, I would want more just volume of shots against kind of an agent goalkeeper because eventually that's when their agility starts to wane later in games. I was doing some looking at a team since 2022. So a five year sample now, I suppose 61 teams in MLS have average 1.4 points per game in a season. So that's solid. That'll get you in the playoffs almost every single year, 1.4 points per game, right? 61 teams have averaged that in the last five years. LFC is 59. So third worst in terms of the opponent's average time of possession. And so that just means when the opponent has the ball and they're working a secret, a secret, they're working secrets. Well, they don't want to tell you what they're doing with the ball, right? They're they're always trying to kind of put it under a thin veil. But when they have a sequence going, when they have a sequence going, they are lasting 30 seconds. Joe and Taylor, 30 seconds. Just imagine like you're watching your team play, like just really put yourself in this headspace. And the opponent has held the ball for 30 consecutive seconds. Like it's it's it feels like a kind of long like, okay, get on to something guys. You got to get the ball off their feet, right? But if that's the average sequence, like there's just a lot of opportunity to put that in frame of reference Ramsey ball at its like absolute like Titus zenith last season, 27.5 seconds on average before Minnesota regained the ball. Even LAFC last year, it was about 27 seconds, the year before 26. So it was just kind of further crystallizing what was going under Shurundalo. And as a result of that, that's less time on the ball for your best players on in Belonga to be on the ball, doing what they need to do. This team is needed a ball dominant six or someone to get the ball off of opponents feet all season. Instead, they're signing 22 and 23 year olds who are making their first forays out of the country, which just generally is not a profile that's going to instantly come in. That could be good for like next season or for, you know, the next full season after this print season. But they are just so linked with the only two teams by the way that are even slower to get the ball feet before I throw back to you, Jeff. This year's Houston and Charlotte, which are two teams that neither of us are really buying a ton of stock. And those are the only two teams that have let opponents take longer in possession while also averaging 1.4 points per It paints a picture, Jeff. I love, I love that stat and very much clarifies how LFC have played this year. And I'll be honest, I have some sympathy to how Mark dos Santos and Steve Churundalo approached soccer with son in Belonga, which is you talked about them being the best attacking pairing in MLS. Well, it's probably messy plus one. But then you get to these guys. And you're absolutely right. And, but what are both of these players best at transition attacking? Right? I mean, Belonga is is a nightmare in open field for opposing defenders and son is as well. Now that they can't do other things, but that is clearly what they're best at, right? And so I can understand trying to maximize the number of opportunities that those players have to attack in transition, which is sort of what you're trying to do when you sit deep and give your opponents 30 seconds on the ball. That implies you're sitting deep. Then you win the ball and then you go. There's a lot of green grass in that 30 seconds that's created by the opposition for you to go and take care of the problem is I don't think dos Santos and LFC and a little bit of Churundalo before. I don't really think they accomplished the goal of getting those guys on the ball in transition as much as possible. Could you try to facilitate more transition opportunities? Could you try to use a little bit more of the ball to create moments that you can counter press and then go attacking create a pseudo transition opportunity there? Or could you use build up like some of the best teams that MLS do? Could you use build up to create those pseudo transition opportunities for yourself or you draw the opposing defense up because they're trying to press you and press that deep risky build up that you're enjoying and then you plan beyond them and you've created that green grass for yourself rather than waiting for the opposition to do it for you? I just think this LFC team has lacked ideas and it seems like LFC's for office agrees right? There's a lot of talent in this roster. I don't co-sign some of those same opinions as some of my back yield colleagues though I don't think LFC had a brilliant transfer window by any means because we were sort of waiting for them to go and make one more big splash in the market just like Chicago. I mean I don't think they crushed at LFC but they consistently signed good players and I really do think they've signed good players in this window. Vazquez, the new Ecuadorian central midfielder they signed looks quite good to me. See the attacker they signed from the Bundesliga looks good to me as well. Very different profile than Martinez but LFC have so many good players. I just think that they need a system that harnesses a little bit more of the attacking quality so that they can control games more. They can create chances when they need to get back into games rather than just when opponents are going to leave themselves open. Why then do this now Joe? Like is the idea then with what you said that like maybe they are a little bit stronger maybe they do have a little bit more talent maybe there are things that can be immediately improved. This feels like a white flag to me a neutral casual observer for the rest of the season of like yeah we're in the playoffs but it's not going the right way we'll put in an interim and then we'll figure it out and we'll do the sprint season and it'll be fine. Like that's probably an oversimplification given everything you guys have said it just feels like strange timing to me. Yeah I mean LFC probably think that there are a bit of an outside chance to win them a less cup right which I suppose is true given how the season has gone so there's some logic there. I will say we saw Minnesota United win some games that before our cramps he showed up and then go on to have a really good season. It's not like you absolutely have to have this pillar figure on the sidelines and having somebody you know two months ago is going to make a massive difference to your season outcome compared to doing it now. Like it's it's it's not a huge deal on the grand scheme with things like if if you think dos Santos is making you a little bit worse then you cut ties to them and you go ahead and get somebody else. Why this didn't happen sooner? Yeah great question. I think this probably should have happened sooner. The only other thing I can I can say about that is we probably underestimate a little bit the rhythms of what it's like to work at a club right where where LFC and the rest of MLS at right now well except for Red Bulls in St. Louis because our game got postponed because of the weather. Well all those clubs are now in the international break right so basically LFC got through this game against Dallas on Saturday lost disappointed they now have a little bit of time off which is rare given the calendar of this MLS season once you get past the World Cup break they've got time off to actually go out and and do a little bit of process work to go out and find the next person that person's probably not going to show up now they're probably going to show up in the office season or or whenever but I do think that this is a pretty natural time for a club to make some changes on the back of introspection because they actually have a pause which which you just don't get a lot of that. Joe I want to paint a picture you tell me if it's accurate the young Joe Lowry he's like six or seven years old he's sitting on the sidelines of his soccer team he's on the orange team and the coach like puts in a player adjust the formation in a way that Joe doesn't approve of and six or seven-year-old Joe says to himself coaching doesn't matter you guys are you guys are important to these results is that where it started your dislike of coaching that's right yeah okay I wanted to call the team orange crush and they they said no there apparently I was copyrighted for some by some soda company and I that from there just like my whole evil plan spawned I mean we good song to tongue in cheek sure yes and I have heard that and that's true and I know what it is we can't seriously think that it matters that much right to move on from artisan does now like the timing is odd for sure but like it's not really I mean son and boy are still going to do son and boanga things and the talent like I said it is good even if it's not being maximized I think I think the more interesting question is who are they going to get next rather than like is this exactly the moment that it should happen or should it happen soon or later blah blah blah I think LFC are uniquely positioned to go out and get some some very very interesting coaches or at least have an opportunity to talk to some of those people and I'm seeing what's going to happen could you possibly be alluding it's not like you referenced them earlier and then said we'll talk about them later yeah Jeff well who could I who could I be all I'm actually really curious not say it would be on my list for sure on some of the I would call he should Tom Tom Boger it's been reporting that Emma lost Cubs have reached out to Wilford Nancey already this season he said thanks but no thanks I'm gonna I'm gonna focus on Europe which makes sense and I do yeah it would surprise me without knowing anything it would we would surprise me if if Wilford Nancey comes back to maybe like soccer for this job but if he's going to come back for any job Jeff you have to think this one would be darn near the top of his list it probably would but at the same point it would also be pretty close to like the apex of what he could do here and so if his fear is he's going to be branded as a you know a coach who can't work in Europe but can only work in North America well if you thrive in this job I don't think it's impressing anyone who wasn't already impressed with what you did in Columbus Montreal right so I think that that's where it really comes in for him is what's left to prove a major league soccer and this feels more like the opportunity that'll almost always be in the background because of how you know kind of rare his his blend of effectiveness but aesthetic was in this league and how many teams admired that balance look that they will have a lot of opportunities to talk to a lot of coaches that other MLS teams can't right and I think that there was a point maybe it was this time last winter people were kind of suggesting it could be antipose to co-glue and I think I kind of misread what motivates him in his career trajectory like I'd always kind of assumed he was a project guy who wanted a tough challenge and all the clubs he went to look like that and then Pitchx worked pretty well too so I'm not really sure who would make a lot of sense I don't think that there's necessarily like a gilded x player who has been kind of crushing it in the youth management ranks who will then be coming through right for all of the kind of esteemed x players that they've had but I would say that for LAFC you've got to look for someone first of all in the short time you need someone who's just going to inspire more you look at their last five games and there's four away games right so they won their one home game and that was against the New York Red Bulls who were kind of sputtering but they're four away games they drew at a kind of floundering RSL and RSL team it should be said who in their press media emails usually teams are very much like oh we lost in this and just like leave it very straight as but RSL in their subject lines was saying it's our eighth straight game without a result which is just like a level of sort of acknowledging how hard times are that's that's tough to see frankly so anyway so they get one point on the road against that team uh sporting came to city beats them three one gulp uh two two draw at San Jose credible that's fine and then the loss against Dallas so you you're looking for someone who can get better results than that and unfortunately with the talent that they have I think that a fair number of coaches probably could let me drop more name on the pile on the pile I guess first on non say I'm just I'm just I'm just imagining LFCs attacking profiles working so well and that will for non say front three like again this is probably more of a pipe dream than anything but remember that crew team like kucho was the nine but also Christian Ramirez in that team and Diego Rossi like like very fluid forward types that's kind of what LFC have right I talked about Davin Martinez leaving and and seed coming in from Germany he is like playing on the right wing in a front three for LFC seed and uh and he's not really a winger like he doesn't dribble one if you want to hold up from what I've seen so far he's much more of a nine playing a little bit wider very good pass or the ball good off ball mover can win physical duels has some athletic talent but he's not a pure dribbler I get some Diego Rossi vibes when I watch him just like maybe a little bit bigger Diego Rossi and I feel like you could toss all those profiles into a non say front three ball goes maybe the most awkward fit because he likes to flex wider he's the one with the clearest position yeah yeah the the interchanging between those players could be filthy good I mean I don't know if LFC quite have the ball players in the back to to play non say ball but I don't think they're they're far from it because again I am a real believer in the talent that's been assembled here the other name that I would think about and I don't wish any ill will on Vancouver White Caps fans you guys have been through enough Thomas Mueller sticking around for the sprint season so that that's a good sign for you all that's news um but uh yes per sorenson if I I said this over the off season LFC should have thrown the baggy yes per sorenson but but they didn't obviously decided to go in house for the second straight higher Toronto was at Las Vegas it was their affiliate club at the time and now they appoint dos Santos so that has been the pattern I do expect that LFC will break from that pattern for this higher but sorenson I mean why not go do it with the crew did it with well for non say and go get a coach who has helped transform a team and and has proven themselves within now that's not like you know under the money or the the talent to attract someone to a position like that I know Vancouver squad is very good as well and maybe even better than LFCs on balance but sorenson is such a fascinating coach I think he thinks about the game in so many smart ways from having talked to him and the product speaks for himself and Vancouver of course that's heavily on the players and their crewman staff to get those players around but the the before and after sorenson is quite stark so I would really push if I was LFC to go out and get him it won't be a total departure from what you're doing sorenson is a fairly balanced manager but I think it would evolve this team in so many of the right ways whether throwings and does that or not after you've shown a clear preference to have coaches in the team that I would imagine and I don't want to paint John throwings in a bad light I never spoke into the man I think when you look at Toronto low and dos Santos those are hires that that probably aren't going to have a huge voice at the table over over Thornton maybe I'm underestimating does it maybe I'm underestimating Toronto low obviously us soccer legend right so like he's a nobody by any means but really these were coaches that that didn't have a huge sphere of influence in my perception in Major League soccer or a huge reason to sit at the table and say hey I've coached all these places I know what works give me these players this is who I want I think Thornton has correctly assembled good squad after good squad after good squad and I can understand that wanting to break from that this higher though I think will be so interesting because it may test his resolve a bit for the kind of coach with the kind of voice that they want to go out there and actually higher all right well we shall see what happens next for L.A.F.C for us what will happen next is a discussion of the USMT's win over Peru maybe look ahead to Chile but right now we're going to take a quick break we'll come back and talk USA welcome back to the total soccer show everybody I am very excited for the rest of the episode not that I wasn't excited to talk about a person getting fired and what comes next but this is the first time I've heard from Joe Lowry about his thoughts on the USMT's win over Peru ditto jeff rudder so the two of you coming together for the first time to discuss the first game of Mauricio Pachitino's second cycle in charge right knows the numbers yeah it was going to go to you just straight up opening thoughts what you liked thoughts on the lineup will stay mostly positive to begin sure I mean my thoughts are mostly positive I think it was a box checked for a lot of these young players to me the US youngsters looked borderline dominant against a bad Peru team and that's that's the takeaway for me really the players look good the youngsters look good and that's exactly what I would have hoped for and frankly expected against a team in Peru that had one MLS player in the starting lineup one championship player one Danish league player and one Colombian player and seven Peruvian players league players right for all those it was it's not Peru or not good right and yeah and so when you see Kevin Sullivan they were just like sorry we just we we called in like Stephen Frippa or whatever one MLS player check okay we get Dwayne Holmes check her right now what else we've run a Danish guy just hopefully no one checks it be right right guys don't stop looking at their ancestry okay it's pride it's possible right I don't like how you keep putting your nose in this um so Kevin Sullivan just now let's take Miller in the starting lineup I thought they all looked good I mean not not perfect certainly but they looked good and clearly better than the opposition and not off the level I didn't think in a real way compared to the more senior players in the team I do think there was a bit of a separation there from the Malik Tillman's and the Tyler Adams to the the solvans and the LSS and the Miller's but the players check the box that's what I was looking for that's what I'm looking for again today against Chile like these kids are as good as I think they are and so far nothing is this way to me from that they should be clearly looking better and creating good moments of opportunity for an attacking US team against a team that has Peru's quality or lack there of so that's my takeaway I know that's not like overflowing with praise because I don't think this is an opponent that you can really overflow with praise against after you play a team like that but I was was happy to see a lot of these kids look like I I thought they would one follow Joe why borderline dominant um yeah I mean maybe dominant I don't know I guess I was just hedging against like it wasn't like these kids were perfect basically yeah right it wasn't like every touch that Kevin Sullivan was taking made him look like Luminium all or something like that you know so there's still levels to this and I do think there there's still lots of refinement for these young players to do the first international cap man like I mean I I think in general this went basically as well as anybody could have hoped for yeah I would I would echo that that's what I said in our review show on the weekend Jeff what were your expectations for this team heading into this international window because I think if I'm being honest I didn't like having not even looked at the Peru team when I formed this opinion I was nervous because it's a lot of teenagers it's a lot of young players who don't have any caps I think 13 in total that number has obviously shifted since then but I was a little worried that this was going to be sort of more veteran South American teams physically knocking the US around and kind of playing them off the pitch and that is not the way this played out yeah and if not play them off the pitch then certainly like play them into understanding what the international game looks like like just a lot of that welcome to the national team sort of stuff and there were a couple of moments like that where it seemed like Peru used maybe a little bit more veteran savvy when defending and got in the head of a couple of US players but it was few and far in between right I think what I was expecting was that the first game was going to be kind of ugly but they booked probably their week is not probably their weakest opponent of the quartet first and so you kind of take your lumps there and then Chile good test but you kind of rotate out some of the players played in the first one so that you can kind of just pick your best combination for Mexico because that can tend to be such a like identity crystallizing it's a big moment for a player to be able to play the first game against Mexico for the US been national team right like I still remember like in mass it was a Dave Sarakin window I think after failing equal all five for the World Cup and it was what Tyler Adams and a few others debuting pretty much the same window that they play Mexico Adam scores against Mexico stuff like that right like it goes a long way so I'm like I'm glad that they in Canada are also on the docket but I assume that it was going to be first game ugly second game okay they're starting to show it Mexico will see how they do in Canada hopefully that's the one where you can kind of play with a little bit more joy and they had a lot of joy right and and just had it like a lot of kids you could tell that Kevin Sullivan's presence actually takes a lot of pressure off of the other 12 dudes who haven't played on this team before because all we're talking about last week is Kevin Sullivan right all of us right this isn't even like a dig at certain outlets or at certain podcasts or whatever it's all of us like of course and how could it not be Kevin Sullivan has been like one of the hottest stories in the sport for the last month or two since the World Cup right so I think that you know the rest of them for the most part with one exception looked like they were playing with some sort of freedom and joy and and we're able to kind of lean into their strengths in a way that I think we'll move them moving forward the one exception I thought was Xavier Gozo which maybe makes sense he was the one who kind of was a fringe world cup snub right like had really forced himself into the conversation and so this was something that he's been looking forward to for months in a very different way and so when he came on looked like some sequences were a little bit forced you could tell he's a little bit rusty not playing as often as he'd like to at Crystal Palace hopefully that changes over time but overall Taylor I thought that you know young players look good the combination at center back between George Campbell and Austin trusty looked a lot better than I thought granted Peru didn't really give them a ton to do their their method of attack by minute 20 was pretty much far post crosses and trying to get Peyton Miller out of position and lo and behold they're able to do it I do worry about Peyton Miller's ability to defend in a back four very much left-sided Sugino desks sort of observations but it's he's still so young that he does have the time where maybe I think that he can build up that skills that we're as desks at this point I look and say yeah leave him further up field because that's where he's most impactful anyway yeah overall I thought it was really really good Diego Koshan also looked really good in goal I thought and that's that's nice to see you guys you guys talked about how four game window like tell you you mentioned the South American opponents coming in I I would expect the US to have a pretty similar showing against Chile tonight if I'm honest although Chile Chile are clearly a better team like at least the 11 that Chile used against was Canada they played right is is noticeably better if we're doing bad Jeff C then Peru's team so some there will be a difference but I don't think I don't think maybe Peru is gonna be miles Chile is gonna be miles better I do think it was impressive to me how fluid the US looked against Peru even accepting that Peru are not a very good team this is a US team that a lineup that I never played together before right I mean huge chunks of this this outfield group had had never even touched the field and across substitutions and across the starting 11 the player seemed to understand how to move and combine and play with each other and Pachino's talked a little bit about that and some of his media of the abilities like I think he said something along the lines of the players can understand better than than we can teach and he was he was pretty overflowing with praise when it comes to these youngsters ability to understand what they're trying to do and also to execute it sort of autonomously which is a huge part of this game right coaches can't give micro instructions to every player and every moment of the game that's not how soccer works so you need to have players that can problem solve on the field and I thought the US players did a pretty darn good job of solving problems on the field and part of that is is when one player moves how do I go and fill that space and how do we continue to maintain some sort of structure that keeps us balanced both in possession and in transition defense while still going to create overloads and moving and disorganizing the opponents with the ball and with our off-ball movement I thought the US did a really good job of that where I think Graham talked about this in the post game review y'all did on Saturday just now us playing as nine not really a nine he would drift all over the field and solving would drift inside and for anyone would get forward and geo would move and Tillman would move and Miller would move inside like everybody was moving and it felt like there were so many slick moments of on ball play for the US maybe they didn't all lead to golden chances in the way that you would like but I was really impressed with how the players seemed to understand each other after not I mean these guys haven't played together a lot before maybe a little new national team stuff here and there but like it's a different environment a different group of different coaching staff at different level of pressure all these things I think it speaks again the talent of these players like Kevin Sullivan I think if you put him in a lot of different teams in a lot of different contexts is going to look like the Kevin Sullivan that we've seen just now is very much the same like this dude is a guy that you can drop into a lot of teams on the planet and he's going to play like Justin Ellis Adrienne Maddie we saw like two minutes of I believe the same is true for him I think you can run through a lot of these young players and that they look so good together and pretty good in isolation I expected the isolation bit I maybe didn't expect that together a bit and that is that was encouraging for me that wasn't quite on my radar a question for you both Jeff will start with you how are you watching these friendlies then not necessarily on like what streaming platform because it's seven or eight different ones you could be going like why do we have a sponsor Taylor a thing that we refer to over and over again in that review was basically like this was great this was awesome you know we got weak opponent we don't really know exactly what to take away from it but it's a great start and and so like it makes sense to be positive I I thought all the goals were really fun I thought we saw some interesting like tactical adjustments or maybe a slight bit of evolution there and then I thought individual players like performed well and stood out but for each of you like what were you watching for in these games was there a thing you were paying particular attention to was it an individual player was it a couple of individual players was it the tactics was it just how they looked against more veteran players what was it for you Jeff well like usually I would try to pick a little bit more of a specific focus I was on the Guardian's live blog for the game so you have to be watching everything right but I think in a way I actually really like watching games with that sort of responsibility because I'm taking so many notes as a result of it and I think that what I found was a lot of it was looking at individuals because a lot of this still doesn't look like when you when you look back at it it is some combination stuff like there was some really good moments that I was kind of surprised and encouraged to see if Kevin Sullivan working one two's up the right with Eunice Musa right someone who he wouldn't have had previous experience playing with at youth national teams or with his club right and I think Musa actually did very well too it should be said and I think looks like he's someone who's going to come back and maybe be very ready to let bygones be bygones and actually try to put his best foot for for Mauricio Pochettino and that's that's very good for his career in the program thankfully but I think that it was a lot of individuality it was a lot of players making decisions and and other players recognizing that and doing that so so in a sense that tells me that a lot of what we saw installed at the start of the world cup is the ideology that the team wants to keep going forward which I'm so grateful for that the the aim is to entertain and not just get results right that the idea is that if Mauricio Pochettino is coaching a very young US national team that team should probably lean into their strengths and not be trying to do a low block against Peru like it would have been kind of ridiculous right but at the same point I think that there would be some coaches say it's important to start with a win in this window so we can build off of that and then improve it as we go and I'd like that he was giving these young untested players a lot of license to sort of impact the game in the way that's natural for them while also trying to get them to do some broader team stuff yeah Taylor I'm watching these games for individual players I mean especially the first two games of this window a lot of young players in this team the results really don't matter I mean yeah you want to show something against Mexico you want to show something it's candid for sure but especially in these first two games it just it just doesn't matter a lot of the macro stuff doesn't matter with that being said I do think there was some interesting tactical things that happened in this game but really I'm watching it for the young players like who who is ready for the varsity squad and who probably are we thinking about for the the JVU23 team in this like or or even the U20 World Cup or something like that they're players that could go all of those different directions who should go where when when a full strength or a closer to full strength US team assembles whether that's in November or in March which of these uncat players previously uncat players should be in the team so that is the lens I'm looking at this through and a lot of young US players impress me in this and and really Sullivan did a lot of good stuff I actually think he's been a little under discussed coming out of this game maybe that's like a natural course correction from where things have been but I thought playing in a role that I don't think is best role and I think it's interesting that Pachkin are used and wide right and a lot of this game obviously Freeman had a lot of opportunities to overlap especially if the US pushed higher up the field but Sullivan's not really a boots on the chocolate winner I think he's much more of a half space guy who can come in and combine he said his best when there's players around that he can then go thrive and push past and do all these little you know bursty combination things that's not where Pachkin know had him set up initially in a lot of US possession phases but he was still impactful I thought I thought he was still really good in this game he did when he tucked inside he combined when he when he did get to go and get closer to goal he threatened goal when he was a little bit wider there was some good stuff there too I thought he looked at the level he's a little bit of a messy player but he's messy in every game like you watch him he's a guy that is a high volume player tries a lot of stuff not all but it's going to come off when it does it spectacular that's Kevin Sullivan right now and maybe that gets refined a little bit as his decision-making improves with experience but I thought Sullivan looked ready to help the US and one other player along along those lines I thought Justin Ellis did too I was really really impressed with Justin Ellis the story of course of Jarena the player that he likes the most or wants to play the most like his role model no let's feel old together so his role model Jio Reina the veteran geo geo assisting him on the goal in Orlando his own club team all that stuff is cool Ellis looks like a player he looks like a guy that can help this US team now maybe not in every game I think this was very much a Justin Ellis game against Peru a low block opponent that allows Ellis to go and float and drift and do all the things that he does so well because he's not really a nine he's like a nine and a half at best he's maybe more than 10 or a half space guys on a winger but he's a central attacker he's not necessarily a goal score though he does score in this game and it's a great finish and if you can add more that to his game man this is the guy that could be popping up in some very very impressive places but it's his combination plates as fuel for the game it's his ability to hold the ball up and play with his back to goal and also hit ridiculous passes facing forward I mean it's not just the goal that he scores in this game he also does the combination play with Malik Tillman that leads to the goal well it's the free kick that leads to the goal and he has a lot of other moments like that in this match I was impressed with Justin Ellis as somebody who's been beating that drum all season long it I mean my arm was getting a little tired and I think now I've got a little bit of a boost a little pep in my step to go and do some more that all right we're going to take one more quick break we'll come back we'll talk more individuals maybe a look ahead to Chile as well back soon welcome back everybody we hope you never left Jeff Reuter I know you never left and now I'm excited for you to be here to talk some more about Eunice Musa because that is a player who if the post game chat was to be believed had a terrible game and played himself out of contention and shouldn't be in consideration anymore I would not go that far with it but I'm wondering why you were so pleased with what you saw from him because he looked like he was playing with more composure than we've seen him play after guitar I would say when we were talking about you this Musa through 2022 he was a player with a very versatile skill set with progressive instincts who like to carry the ball or was looking to pass up field verticality we were all about verticality in 2022 never forget and he seemed like he was a very vertical player he seemed like he was someone who's going to really lean into those strengths and then he became a messy player the player who wasn't getting a lot of playing time at the club level it should be said up until this fourth coach or whatever number they're on since he signed at them a few years ago wasn't really playing in consistent spots wasn't playing the same role week to week was hopping around kind of filling spaces one of those guys Weston McKenney for Ed first with Juventus sort of stuff right and his development really suffered for it and he would get to the national team and he was really untidy he was very turnover prone but also didn't really have the defensive work rate to track back and clean up his own mistakes right and so then it was like okay it's Tyler starting okay great well then the mistake is probably mitigated for if not oh no look there's a free break against Joe Scally up the flank right and so that is ultimately where he gets played out of the pool I am encouraged when a player who wasn't tidy completes all 38 of their passes and when a lot of them look like he is assessing a game and looking and saying nope that avenue isn't open to me an old Eunice moose of would have really attacked it and tried to force it because it could come off and instead do the smarter thing which is get it to your centerback to recirculate it to atoms to throw it you know out to the channel out wide or do kind of simple giving goes he was much more within his own head I guess with this performance than I remember seeing him before the gold cup that he ultimately missed out on so I thought that that was really encouraging and then just again I think that there was some some fluidity still where you can see that Eunice moose can drift and cover for an overlapping right back and has the positional awareness to take that space which is a space that he actually did play with some regularity when used with Valencia right so he does have a skill set that works really well there's an alternative universe where you use moose it kind of stays as a wingback in a five or maybe is playing more of like not quite an Alex Freeman role but I think that if he's staying out in that wide space maybe we're looking at him very differently but if as a central midfielder which is what he has kind of crystallized to become I thought he had a really tidy shift I'd like to see more from him and maybe part of this is it's just easier to play midfielder Tyler Adams is next to you right and and they played Tyler longer than I would have liked and that's not just me as a board midfan saying that but yeah I thought Eunice moose so it looked good I don't think anyone who really started looked bad bad right like I think that's the other thing it's like this is a game where a lot of players shown and so the guy who completes 38 passes but none of them are really in the final third isn't really going to look terribly ambitious so I understand if that's the criticism but I think it's kind of wild to say he played himself out of the pool in this performance how to prove that Joe any thoughts from you on Eunice moose sir or any other individuals you wanted to spotlight good or bad uh we can talk paint Miller for a minute I was surprised at how fast he looked in this game again Peru not good um but Miller looked like again borderline dominant in the attack as a left back I mean that that moment where he just absolutely dusts his man and gets close to the inline and cuts the ball back it's not something we see a whole lot from a lot of us players with that combination of athleticism I also thought the size difference between Ancien Robinson and Peyton Miller was quite stark as well where I didn't realize how how physically imposing Ancien Robinson is especially compared to Peyton Miller had some defensive troubles in this game I would like to see him do a little bit more on that goal while recognizing that there's other blame to go around on that US concession but he's got a foul shortly afterwards like struggle to go and actually get involved in some of the tools I thought in this game so that is a concern I don't think he is a a desk level defender Jeff to what you said earlier but I think he's got some limitations there right now and probably a lot of this stuff will be helped if you actually have to play full back for his club but sometimes that's not the cards you're dealt and you're needed higher up the field or you're needed elsewhere it is what it is I did enjoy Peyton Miller and I look forward to seeing more of him in this window that's all the all the starters in this game for the US I am really busy is that where we are now he's not a desk that level defender Jeff raised that earlier and so I wanted to revisit I didn't say that he's I didn't say that he's as bad I said that he's young and he's making some of the same mistakes but I have confidence he is the time to refine them my mistake was genuinely not trying to mischaracterize what you said that is that's our standard of poor defending desk level yeah yeah why not you've seen him it's the last two world cups right like there's just always a sequence where opponents are like oh he's starting at right back all right well dribbling it is go ahead Joe yeah I was just going to say I was unmoved by George Campbell in this game I mean I don't think you look to worse than Austin trustee probably looked a little bit better than Austin trustee but the search for center back options continues yeah and I look forward to seeing a full 90 from Neil Pierre or something close to it I imagine we'll get that very soon I imagine we'll see everybody if they're all healthy in this in this window for the US all 28 so there there are plenty of other options to cycle through but that was another thing I'm watching for is George Campbell's not in the same categories all these other young players but he's a player in a major position need and I he just didn't move the needle for me what would you like to see then against Chile this evening Joe are there any any other players you want to like start again get another like good chunk of time do you want to see any players subbed in or swapped out I want to see all the the youngsters or so I think are the best so I would love to see more of Sullivan I'd love to see more of Ellis I'd love to see more of Hall probably those guys wouldn't be playing together but it's it's very possible because again I don't think Ellis is maybe at his best when he's playing as alone nine I want to see Pierre and Mehmeti those those are the two guys I mean there's a good chance we do see him right I mean podge a cycle and through dudes I think there's a very real opportunity from Mehmeti they get the starting midfield maybe playing extra barolter or it doesn't really matter much to me who he's playing next to but I hesitate to do the the running bit on the show Jeff for a long time was I went Tiago with touch the ball like everybody's reaction to Tiago's eyes all he hits the ball different you know even when it's something very normal and not not that impressive I don't want to do that with Audrey Mehmeti but you see him calling the field immediately he's controlling the ball like just he just looks unfazed and again you he should look unfazed against Peru if he's going to reach the heights that we think maybe he can reach but I would like to see Audrey Mehmeti get get a start and a real run out here in Pierre in the back line as well just because it's such a position of need he looks comfortable on the ball under zero pressure against Peru because he did have a couple of passes I think even a line breaker or two but more more of that would be towards the top of my list for this game tonight Jeff for you uh don't play Tyler Adams please sign to Born with Finn uh in reality though I do want to see some significant rotation because I'm viewing the Mexico game as the biggest game of the window right so a lot of my decisions are coming off of players who I think are less likely to start against Mexico um I would like to see branch walking angle I'd I'd find with Matt Freese not getting a minute in this game I'd probably am looking at Tiago's caution at this point against Mexico if it's up to me certainly for the first half I wasn't good feeling that environment his claiming his control of the box I thought was already a lot better than anything I've seen of Matt Freese with the U.S. or New York City and his his distribution was was actually quite good as well yet a couple of nice passes got a ball to gozo in the 79th minute another good pass under a little only a little but a little bit of pressure in the 90th minute we'll go that one's on the floor that's that's something maybe something to build on and something I'll be watching for if we do see more of them Jeff keep going I think so no and I think that just getting 45 minutes no goals conceded like that's just good for young players confidence he's actually playing games at Lingby he doesn't get as many clingsheets right so I think good for him to experience some of that um otherwise I mean like let's see Frank USfield at right back like I think that his ball progression could be really good let's give Alex Freeman a little bit of a breather there Ajua Metti is also on my must start list I've got him next to Burr Halter and I'm like let's just get Burr Halter there I'm bad because I think he's someone who just like I don't know one I'm playing a lot of young players in my lineup as I'm looking at this like Burr Halter is one of the most cat players in this team already so I think it's kind of a natural progression but I think that ultimately he's someone who can come in and Pogetino is found a really good role for him being kind of the guy who comes in around minute 60 and just changes how the midfield operates by fitting a couple of roles and changing players around him and I think that that's a role that he can continue to do throughout this cycle in big games so give him a start when you can in the other games I suppose um and then beyond that like Julian Hall would like to see him up top I just want to see you know what changes when he's in there Xavier Gozo get him out there from the start um I don't know about Metti Saber we haven't really brought him up yet I thought he did some really good stuff once he came on the field and I thought that he played with that sort of like fearlessness that we we talk about a lot with Kevin but like I think that he did it in a very different way a more maybe finesseful way rather than sort of a like creator trying to create something on the fly as ugly as might be at the first draft right and and I think that there's something like look was it a penalty I think he was fouled outside the box I'm totally fine with ref saying let's not do long-var delays during friendly's I think that that's actually like a really kind of them to do so thank you for just getting on with it um but I want to see more of what he can do at the ball at his feet and so I would like to see him play more minutes on the oh sorry Jeff you could go no you okay I'll go I'll go instead on the note of Al Bear who I thought was was good in this game as well I would like to see more of him I think it's the US is an interesting spot right now where so many of the the talented youngsters coming through are attackers right which is not a position really that the US is in a generation with as much talent as this one that's coming up right now is also quite foreign to the US as a general rule but I was thinking about this the other day like now you think about the attacking depth chart and I'm not trying to overact to one gaming it's peru I think there's a lot more of watching these players at club level that we've all done that gives us more context than just this this one 45 60 75 90 minute appearance for the national team we think about the the US's attackers and and the number of them that are interesting right now we'll just use that word politic reina mechani tomen like the established guys that are still going to be around in this cycle and should be then you get to Ellis then you get to cabin then you get to Al Bear then you get to maybe gozo you get to a Shakiris who's not in this camp and it's unfortunately seemingly injured again for San Jose which is brutal because he's been amazing I mean that's that's basically another double you just double the the number of interesting attackers as you head into this new cycle with this next generation suddenly I think the US is maybe things go according to plan going to have some real decision making problems when it comes to the starting 11 and I want to tie this all the back to Sullivan who is used basically as the wide attacker and that three to five role for the United States in this game it was not a three to five in every phase especially as the US push forward Freeman would would really go and and either be the width provider go and rotate around with the other attackers and it was really just a back two for the US the two center back so it was not a hard and fast three to five know was it that of the world cup right so much you know is shown plenty of willingness to iterate and changes tactics and I assume you will continue to do so but seeing Sullivan start at least in some possession phases wide right did make me think about just how many attacking options the US hats and and suddenly that wide right attacking spot is is maybe more for grabs in almost any other position on the field outside of goalkeeper and center back because so do you know desidon think his spot is written in pen in the starting lineup by any means he was not effective for the US as an attacker in the world cup for large portion the same team way at this point yeah absolutely the same with Tim way and those are the guys that were earmarked for that spot wide right well maybe patch not using way out there but at least in the last couple of world cup cycles those guys were the guys to go and push forward on the right side I think there's an opportunity for maybe it's Sullivan maybe it's go zone maybe it's somebody else to go and make that spot their own and I'm really curious to see how potchina is going to allocate minutes there maybe Sullivan's guy that's too good to not be on the field for the US moving forward but he's not quite good enough to this place ballistic arena or Tillman so maybe he doesn't up wide right or maybe he ends up centrally and goes winds up in that spot or maybe neither of them right this is this is finally I can almost sense and this is maybe my most positive takeaway from the whole game I can almost sense the US being in this position where we're not talking about oh is it is it desks for Freeman like who do you have pushing forward we're thinking about is it desks or Freeman or any of these other guys that I mentioned all of a sudden you have like a number of different choices that are pretty good rather than one choice that's kind of good and the other choices are not really very good we have a lot of options and potchina has to make difficult choices when it comes is lineup and can actually tailor that lineup depending on the game and Ellis and Hall is a good example of this as well Ellis might not be an optimal fit again some teams and Hall might be a better fit and Balagans the best fit probably regardless but still you're closer to having stylistic choices rather than just talent choices to make if you're potchina and I'm not really sure that that's been a situation that I even could have envisioned for the US since I started doing this job which granted is not that long and it's not as long as either one of you guys but still I think this is like inching closer towards uncharted territory for the US with this generation of players and it's it's it's a pretty fun place to be as someone who watches a lot of this team you you mentioned the attackers can I double down on your point about the quality of depth by naming just 10 central and defensive midfielders that potchina can choose from in the cycle with some confidence Tyler Adams western mechanic I like those guys Malik Toman he can play in those spots we've seen it now Geo Reina Sebastian Burhalter Eunice Musa Aiden Morris Tanner Tessman Audrey Mammati could Jean-Luc Abousio work back into it with like more defensive structure around him but like that's your tenth guy now at this point is where you're asking those questions rather than like trying to say well he's starting in Sarion captaining a team so we have to call him in which is where we were three years ago right so yeah a lot of progress this next generation makes things a lot easier and I think that some some more veteran players which just say players in the mid-20s and later their development has come along pretty nicely I would say over the last couple of years Joe I think you answered it earlier but I want to ask you both before we go seems it consensus is that center back number one problem number one area of potential vulnerability goalkeeper maybe just getting it like an established settled who we think is the number one and who we trust to be that number one what would be the third area of concern for you all what's the position that you most want to see somebody step up and kind of if not cement their place or write their name in ink at the very least give us much more to talk about Joe it's not like maybe that was the the right side of attack for you I think I think it is yeah I think it is I mean it's not it's not central midfield and Jeff's gone through a lot of that with with that list I don't think it's it's either full back spot right now I don't think it's certainly not striker I mean I think that that's position is very well set for the US right now and I don't think it's really the half space attackers either I think they're good options to play on the right side good relative to the US right I think there's good options to play on the right side but I don't really know who that's going to be so maybe that's the area that I'm most just most curious about I mean I think goalkeeper and center back are both pretty close to five alarm fires right now for the US I mean those positions are just are hurting in a real way and it's going to be some time I think before there's a real comfort about either one of those spots even if cocaine and Pierre hit and hit hard it's going to take time for them to really show that for the US but I think that that right wide right in possession player is the one that I have just the least clarity on like if patch was going to drop a lineup today for a big game and everybody everybody healthy in the pool the best way I everybody I don't really know who that play would be so I guess that's my answer Jeff do you do you have a different one in mind back up defense in midfielder because I don't want Tyler Adams to have to play 90 minutes every game I'm really worried about that because I even list these these players in like Archimie Medi I think we're finding pretty quick is much more of a possession for tentative midfielder right we're not sure to be a ball winner right and that's good and we need that and this program has really needed that for some time but then you know Eunice Musa isn't that guy West McKenny hasn't been best as that guy Tanner Tessman doesn't look natural as that guy he's more of a water carrying eight you know we don't really have an alternative in that role and that's that's what got Christian rolled on on the World Cup roster right and it was a very earned and deserved call up making a mistake about it I'm saying this in the safe space of the MLS update episode so I can just say that Christian rolled on her into his place in the World Cup roster that's nice that's freeing but I do think that over time they will need someone kids if you're listening I know all of you on tiktok want you're dribbling highlights I know you want your your tecker is your chances created your goals boy you should learn the art of being a midfielder hard man because I think you could make a lot of money and a lot of teams need guys if that player profile so sharpen those studs next time you get out in the field and don't tell your parents he did it um we just need more of that and I don't know if we've necessarily seen an obvious Brooklyn Reigns isn't that guy either um you know another player who debuts that we hadn't mentioned yet in this game I just don't know who the alternative to Tyler Adams and I have learned over the years as someone covering the US and did I mention I support board myth when Adams can't go the team gets worse period unless you have a player who is willing to do similar responsibilities of ballhawking in the midfield and you know midfield stability and possession and jawing at opponents which is yes a skill that actually does kind of help once in a while so until we have someone else like that I will still say that's a top three I do agree with Joe goalkeeper and center back or like one in 1a here on that list but that's probably my cute suggestion for number three yeah uh center back for me and I look forward to neopier winning like one header and the internet just exploded with like oh no one in the pool could win a header like that no one in the pool can be as tall as him and as dominant as him I think even like a fairly obvious pass completed it's going to be treated as like I don't know if anybody else can pull strings like that because he's good but also I think such as our level of desperation for usable center backs that make us feel optimism instead of like I guess so that should work right we'll see how it goes so uh I'm excited to talk about neopier scoring a hat trick and keeping a clean sheet this evening against chile when we talk about it later on this evening I'm excited to talk about him we're shutting down mexico again when we do the live watch along for that one on Saturday but for now Jeff Reuter thank you for loving some born with and some us mnt on this year episode thanks for having me and giving me the space for both and joe laureate lovely to speak with you as always I'm glad you have not been fired by lafc thanks man me too me too listeners I'm glad you all have not been fired by lafc unless mark to santo says listening in which case commiserations mark for now thank you all so much for listening and supporting the show