July 11, 2024 • 28 mins
After watching the Men's Basketball Olympic Team in their first scrimmage game against Canada, Colin believes this team is even more talented than the famed 1992 "Dream Team". He defends Caitlin Clark from criticisms about turning the ball over by pointing out her production and her improvement thus far this season. He also talks to Fox Sports Soccer Analyst Alexi Lalas about the firing of manager Gregg Berhalter and where U.S. soccer goes from here before co-hosting the 2026 World Cup
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
All Right, here we go. It is a Thursday lockloaded,
ready to roll. It's the Hurt wherever you may be,
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day today.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
We got a lot.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Jordan Schultz and I went out for dinner last night,
sharing insider secrets. Can't give all of those away. USA
Canada basketball Greg Berholters out of work. The men's national
soccer team. Always blame the coach, number the players, he
got the act. Jalen Johnson to the Bears top of
Next Hour. Things are good, ugly to start the game
(01:01):
against Canada last night, fell behind eleven to one. They're
going to.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Figure out how to play with step We're gonna get
Anthony Edward's starting at some point.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Called probably on Probably so Canada got off to a
good start, and Canada is better than any team that
the nineteen ninety two Dream Team faced. They're better. The
basketball is so much better now than it's ever been.
I mean, the game is incredible. Jason Tatum did not
start last night. He's better than Scottie Pippin Offensively, it's
(01:31):
not particularly close. It's a global sport. Everybody can shoot,
everybody can handle the ball. I mean, I'm watching Wimby.
He's not on our team, but what that kid can do.
Chet Holmgrid at seven to two can do, it's incredible.
Nine two Dream Team Larry Bird was shot. He retired
ten days after the Olympics. You had multiple guys on
that team, multiple who could not handle the ball and
(01:52):
who couldn't shoot. Anthony Davis on this team's a much
better player than Patrick Ewing, Give me a break. Tatum's
much better Scottie Pippen. Lebron right now is better than
Magic was to me at thirty two or thirty three
years old. Our young guys are Aunt and Halliburton. Their
young guy was Christian Latner. Give me a break. This
team is old men aging very gracefully. Katy Lebron and
(02:17):
steph everybody shoots, everybody can handle the ball. I mean,
good God. Joe Lmbid average six assists this year for
the Sixers, six assists. He's a center. The nineteen ninety
two Dream Team was amazing, and a lot of people
get to my age. They get gray hair and they
(02:38):
love looking in the rear view mirror and they just
romanticize everything. It's like if you want to wake up
and listen to Stairway to Heaven from led Zeppelin. It
was awesome and it takes you back to a different time,
but it takes two and a half minutes to get
into the lyrics. Jimmy Page is on a riff and
that was basketball back then down to the center, pounded
(03:02):
on the floor, very little ball movement. It was a
very position oriented game. You could do certain things as
a forward, you could do certain things as a center.
Players can do anything in everything. Now Wemby is seven
to four handles it behind the back, passing, shot blocking
(03:22):
three pointers. The world is different now and it's not
a bad thing. Two things can be possibly true at
the same time. The nineteen ninety two team beating Tunisia
by sixty was amazing and a thing of beauty. But
this team's bench has starters on that team, Scotty Pippen,
I covered him in Portland. Not close to Jason Tatum,
(03:45):
Patrick Ewing's not nearly as good as Anthony Davis, Christian
Lahner on that team. Ant off the bench on this team.
What are we talking about here? The flexibility? The bigs
now can handle the ball and shoot back. Then centers
had a range of about twelve feet. You dumped it
to him, they'd pound the ball. That slowed everything up.
That stuff doesn't last. You start looking at Dwight Howard's career,
(04:08):
I mean, he's the line of demarcation. Dwight Howard, prodigy
in high school, walks into the NBA about halfway in
his career. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't back to
the basket, couldn't do anything. That's what a lot of
the bigs, almost all of the Bigs were. Today's game
is motion and angles and free flowing and speed, and
(04:30):
everybody can handle the ball. I mean, the Celtics won
a title with an offense called five out. Everybody, including
Al Horford, could sit in the corner and hit a three.
Five out. You couldn't play that game, espnded thirty for
thirties on the Knickson Pacers. The series had one pure shooter,
Reggie Miller. The Knicks had nine guys in the roster
(04:52):
that couldn't hit an eighteen footer. They were tough guys,
they were fun guys. They were physical. Even John Starks
wasn't a natural shooter. He was there shooting guard. Yeah,
I mean he was the guy in the perimeter you
would trust. I wouldn't trust it. So Michael Jordan's the
best player to most of you of all time. That's fine.
I think Lebron does more and better. Lebron's a much
better version than Magic. And that's fine. And it's gonna
(05:12):
take this team a long time to figure out you know,
it's gonna take him a while to figure out Steph Curry.
First four and a half minutes, they had a point.
They got to figure out Steph Curry's style. But just
look at the bench on this team so far. Look
at the flexibility. It's positionless basketball. It's a thing of beauty.
The game is global now. Guys come into this league
(05:34):
from overseas. They are ready to play. They've played against
twenty year old guys and they're seventeen years old. Here's
Steve Kerr on the flexibility, the dexterity of this roster.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Can't go wrong picking a starting lineup, you know, with
this group. So I think I told you guys the
other day, I'm gonna do something different the next two games.
We're gonna just look at a few different combinations before
we settle on anything. But we wanted to establish Joelle
early in the game. Knowing Canada didn't have a lot
(06:08):
of size. We wanted to play Bam and Anthony Davis
together with the second group and see what that looked like.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Listen, anytime a team of business, anything has multiple ways
to beat you, multiple lineups, completely flexible, the depth, the roster,
the ball handling, you know, the shooting. It's not close.
It's just a free flowing game. You can love Michael
Larry Bird was shot. I think this team I don't
(06:38):
know how that team would defend him that plotting style.
And I love Barkley and I love I love the
old players. Two things gonna be true. But go listen
to Stairway to Heaven. You were absolutely sure it was
the greatest song ever. If you waken Bake, maybe it
still sticks, but for most of us get to the lyrics.
(06:59):
All right, So I think we're staring at the wrong
thing with Kitlin Clark. So Caitlyn Clark, and we all
know this is that when you're a college player and
then you come into the pros, the game's much faster
and it's more physical, and so there's ohay's bumps. But
I tend to just look at your production. So Caitlin
Clark's production is incredible. She has now done four straight
(07:22):
double double games points and assists fifteen points, twelve assists
thirteen eleven, nineteen thirteen, twenty nine, thirteen, last night incredible.
She reminds me of Andrew Luck. Same city, doesn't have
a lot of support. He comes in with terrible old lines,
has to win by a shootout. At the time, breaks
the rookie passing record forty four hundred yards, twenty eight
(07:44):
total touchdowns, goes eleven and five, And all anybody wants
to talk about is there are a lot of interceptions. Yes,
college to the pro the game is faster, the corners
are better, but forty four hundred yards, you're looking at
the wrong stuff with Andrew Luck. Reduction with a terrible
old line, forty four hundred yards, twenty eight total touchdowns,
(08:07):
all at the time rookie records. Anybody wanted to talk
about that. The picks, Yeah, eighteen picks. Yeah, he's not
a veteran quarterback. Dude was a production machine with virtually
no Pro bowlers. And that's Kitlyn Clark's turnover talk. All
I've heard, Oh the turnovers with Kitlyn Clark. A. She's
(08:28):
got the ball in her hands a lot. B she
is a rookie, right, the game is faster, and you
know who also has a lot of turnovers? Players that
play fast and loose. Lebron leads the NBA all time
in turnovers. Steph Curry has a lot of turnovers. Luca
(08:50):
has a lot of turnovers. Like, I've never banged on
quarterbacks who throw picks if they're productive, Peyton Manning, John
l Dan Marino, Brett Favre Go back to Joe Namath
through a lot of picks. Tom Brady had picked sixes
in the Super Bowl and one. Turnovers happen if you're
(09:13):
a quarterback that plays with courage. My biggest knock on
Aaron Rodgers has been if he throws an early pick,
he backs off and plays say football, Brady Peyton, Manning, Lway, Mahomes,
do not let it rip, baby, play fast and loose.
You gotta have a short memory in the NFL, and
you've got to have a short memory in basketball. If
you play fast, Steph Curry can have back to back
(09:35):
awful turnovers. He's going faster the next time down the floor,
and that's what makes him Steph Curry. So I think
with Caitlin Clark, and if you look at her numbers
in the last ten games, she's not only good, she's
getting better. She's catching up to the speed. She's getting
much better, much more quickly. So if it's it's just
(09:56):
it's one of those things. I will support quarterbacks who
are high le productive and throw some picks. I'm not
gonna support Daniel Jones who throws picks, but I will
support Trevor Lawrence with some of his turnovers. He can
be very, very productive. Josh Allen came into this league.
He was a little wild, but he was wildly productive.
(10:18):
Joe Burrow, Matt Stafford, they throw interceptions, they're great like
Mahomes is like historically unique. You get the production without
the picks. He's the best quarterback ever after Tom Brady,
who gave you the production with no picks. That's why
those are the goats. Joe Montana now is a different time,
but Joe didn't give you a lot of picks. That's
(10:39):
what separates great from you know, top two or three guys.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Ever.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
But I'm okay with Farv and Burrow and Stafford, and
I'm okay with Caitlin Clark's turnovers. She's good, she's productive.
Double doubles are right now. In fact, I looked it
up this morning. Caitlin Clark her production. She is sex
get in the WNBA and assists per game. By the way,
not like she's got a lot of finishers on that team.
(11:06):
So she's second in the league and a team without
a lot of finishers, she's third in total threes made.
When everybody in the league knows guard Caitlin Clark. If
you're playing Indiana, it's not like she's got all star
teammates who are taking off some of that. So you
can turn the telescope. You're staring at the wrong stuff
with Andrew Luck for years, you're staring at the wrong stuff.
The turnovers don't bother me, and those will come down
(11:27):
over time to catch up to the speed of the game.
Interceptions over the course of time. Trevor Lawrence won't throw
his many. Caleb Williams for Chicago this year. My guest says,
he's got some turnovers, you're too fewer. Year three. I'll
find the light comes on, the game slows down, then
he'll be fine, all right. Rachel Nichols, USA, Canada. You know,
(11:49):
I just I didn't grow up in a traditional family.
I mean, we weren't hippies living in tents in the backyard,
but I didn't grow up in this highly traditional family,
so I don't tend to embrace you know stuff. In
the seventies and eighties and nineties, there were great Walter
Payton's the best running back I've ever seen. I would
defend it forever. That is the best running back, power, speed,
(12:11):
everything I've ever seen. Better than Barry, better than McCaffrey,
better than Derrick Henry, better than Adrian Peterson. There are
some things. Ted Williams hitting a baseball, Bob Gibson throwing
a baseball. I'm not saying guys, Kareem abdul Jabbar, you
got to be kidding me. I mean the guy literally,
Bill Walton is a college basketball player would be great today.
It was great then the late great Bill Walton. But
(12:32):
a lot of this stuff is nonsense. You're grabbing on
this to Larry Bird was shot your the older Magic's
not the older Lebron. Your bench got Christian Laytner on it.
It's a whole different ballgame today.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You're now entering the Noble Zone sponsored by Credible Great rates.
None of the bull. There's a Hard Knocks has the
Giants this year HBO available to stream on Max. These shows,
in my opinion, are kind of played out because we
have so much access on our phones now that you
get so much behind the scenes stuff. But there are
(13:14):
glimpses on these shows, like Hard Knocks. You'll get about
every episode or every couple episodes. Uh, you're gonna get
a little moment, and sometimes the moment is a GM
or a coach playing to the cameras they know the
cameras are on. Joe Shane of the Giants did that
a couple of times defending Daniel Jones, he's playing to
the camera. It's nonsense. And then you get other moments
(13:37):
where after a while, like at the NFL Combine, the
general manager sort of You know, if you put a
mic on me and I walked around LA for an
hour and a half, I'd probably at some point forget
I have a mic on. Now, if I was in
my office knowing there's a camera on, I would never
forget that. I'd see it, I'd know it. I'd watch
the guy set it up. But sometimes you put a
(13:57):
mic on these guys, they wander around and they just
forget the damn MIC's on. And at the combine, the
Giants GM goes and talks to the Patriots who had
the number three pick. Giants had a six Elliott Wolf,
and it's pretty clear that the Giants wanted to draft
the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
I'm just gonna put down there and just say, hey,
before you do anything at three, just make sure you
let us know, just plan the scene. If you are
going to move the pick, don't do it without at
least giving us a call. And you know where lesser buddle.
We're interested if you guys are going to do anything
at three, like move out at all. Again, I don't
you tell me your plan or anything, but if you
have any you know, being clean, just.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Just call me.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Just call me if you're going to do anything now. Reportedly,
Jordan reported this at the time that the Giants made
an offer to the Patriots, including another number one pick,
not only swapping the three in the six, but the
following year's number one pick. So they wanted a quarterback.
They wanted to go get Drake May, and New England said,
we can go either way here, but we're going to
keep him because we we got Jacoby Brissett. So it's listen.
(15:03):
Sports fans always think if you don't pick the team
that you're against him. We're not against the New York Giants.
We just don't think Daniel Jones is the guy. I
talked about this with Caitlin Clark. Wildly productive, but she's
got some turnovers. Very Andrew Luck, I'm okay with that
with Daniel Jones. In fifty nine starts, I got sixty
(15:23):
two touchdowns, that's it, and forty picks. It's not the
picks that drive me crazy. In a passer rating of
eighty five, Justin Herbert, who has almost the same number
of starts, has double the touchdown passes one hundred and
fourteen and he's got forty two picks. I can live
with that, but it's the production. Justin Herbert gives you
(15:44):
better completion, better pass rate. Ain't gonna give you one
hundred and fourteen touchdown passes and run. For some it's
not the picks, because when you have the wrong coach
or a bat old line and with the Chargers, you're
gonna have picks. With Daniel Jones, you don't get the upside,
but get all the downside. A little bit of my
theme today. I can live with mistakes. Nobody's perfect. You
(16:06):
see who's running for president both sides. That's the position
of president of the United States, not great choices. I
can live with mistakes. I can live with picks. I
can live in basketball with turnovers. But you gotta give
me an upside to it. If you're gonna be a
rock star and trash the whtel room, you gotta be
guns and Roses and sell out the show at the
Rose Bowl and give me one hundred and ten thousand people.
(16:27):
If I'm the promoter, go ahead, trash the hotel room,
trash the van that gets you to the Rose Bull.
You gotta sell out the Rose bul and so it's
pretty clear. It's pretty clear the Giants GM and the
coach wanted to draft another quarterback.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern Non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Paully Fools gohere with Tony Foosco. Yeah, as everybody knows,
we're the hosts of the award winning Polly and Tony
Foosco Show.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
Instead of telling you how great we are, he is
how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
What what are you doing? Were dirupting our promo? Yeah, you
wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally of context.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Let me put this into context. Shut up.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
Anyway, just listening to the Pauli and Tony Fusco Show
on iHeartRadio. Apple podcasts oherever you get your podcasts, Yee.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Here we go. It's our three flyly and by It's
the Hurt Wherever you may be, however you may be
listening thanks for making us part of your day. So
Greg Berholzer, who I've supported, got fired after a disappointing
performance at COPA as the men's coach United States men's
national team. We fire our coaches, We blame our coaches.
(17:54):
Won sixty nine percent of his games, best winning percentage
ever for somebody that's coached these twenty games. And people say, hey,
but our players are so much better they're playing over
in Europe. Yes they are, but are they in their
athletic trunk who Lissic has just entered his trime. We're
still really young. We were one of the youngest World
Cup teams that got into the round of sixteen draw
(18:17):
with England and then just overwhelmed by the Netherlands. But
the fact that this team played poorly in Copa now,
I argued earlier Jordan Copa. Our talent now is more European.
We like to play faster and wider, and Copa's fields
are narrower and shorter like in the NFL and college football.
(18:40):
Hash marks in different places, Olympic hockey rings, NHL rings,
difference in size. Copa was not built for us. Not
an excuse, it's a reason now when we got a
red card against Panama and played a man down. That
didn't help. And I do think there's an argument to
be made that this team did not create enough high
(19:02):
level scoring opportunities relative to our skill. But I think
some of that is the game in which we played
a man down. You tend to play just more defensively, right.
You look for opportunities, but you're not going to be
aggressive playing a man down after the red card. And
I really, and this is not an excuse, I like
(19:24):
our skill. But if I was talking about this in
my pod yesterday, if you look at baseball, football basketball,
the championship teams, the Celtics are a great example, have
a majority of their best players, Derek White, Tatum, and
Brown in their prime. Porzingis late prime, but prime. If
you go to the NFL, you stots, Why say the
San Francisco forty nine ers, be careful a lot of
(19:46):
dudes if they're out of their prime. Now you're asking
a lot, are you in your prime? When the Rams won,
Stafford prime, Aaron Donald late prime, Cooper Cup prime, Von
Miller late prime, that's how you win. This team has
a a bunch of guys who are just not quite yet.
Polisic has entered his prime early. He's got our seven
(20:06):
years of it. But we're not great yet. We have
a potential in two years to be really special. I like,
I think this team at the World Cup can make
a real impact. Joining us live Alexi Lawless on the
firing of Greg Berholter. So is this a fair criticism that?
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Wow, Colin you are you are a glutton for punishment?
My friend, you've been around. I was listening to your
pod yet last yesterday, and you also talked about the well,
how should we say it? The elitism and the snobbery
and the gatekeeping that American soccer does, and how dare
you go and defend Greg Berholt. They're going to come
for you and your family? My goodness? Wow oh wow.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So I'll start with a criticism, is that, considering our
skill level where our best players are in Europe many flourishing,
that we want a more aggressive style and that we
didn't create a lot of successive offense, dynamic offensive opportunities
that jumped off the matches. For me, we're not quite
(21:14):
as dynamic as I want. Is that a fair criticism?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I mean, and you mentioned the expectations given this group,
and you're absolutely right to point out the fact that
we took a very young group back to the World Cup,
which by the way, happened on Greg Burholter's watch. But
the promise that Greg Burholter and this team have kind
of made with us is that we are going to
see things that haven't been done before and that has
not come to fruition. And maybe in Greg Burholter's mind
(21:41):
that was going to culminate in twenty twenty six, but ultimately,
in the games that he has won, he can't point
to one where we are beating and bettering the elites
of the world. And that's ultimately what this was about.
So I understand you know where you're coming from relative
to the criticism that Burholter has taken. But ultimately it's
(22:03):
about winning and so all the other stuff that we
talk about, and you talk about this in sports all
the time, it's about winning. And I have no doubt
that had that red card not come and the US
had gone through and beaten Panama or hied Panama, that
eventually they would have gone through into the knockout rounds
and Greg Burchlter would still be the coach. But they
didn't and we can say this is the blame. And
(22:24):
we can't fire the entire team, obviously, but we can
fire the coach. And I think most importantly right now
is that twenty twenty six is too important. It's the
most important summer in American soccer history and we cannot
afford to waste it. And I think right now Greg
Burholter is divisive and we need to be united. We
need to be together. Whether it's his fault or not,
(22:45):
to be quite honest with you, is irrelevant. We need
somebody there. I want somebody that is bigger than life.
I want somebody that I can believe in and that
makes us believe in the coach and this team going
forward into twenty twenty six, and that was not happening
right now, so I think they had to make the change.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
So I had said this at the last World Cup,
although I thought just getting the draw with England and
getting out of the group stage in itself was fairly
remarkable considering the youth of this team. They were I
think second youngest team or one of the youngest teams. Yep,
that excuse won't stick, but there is something that's missing
(23:22):
and I don't want to throw out any cliches, but
there does appear to be a lack of grit. I
thought in the last World Cup they needed an Alexi
Lawless or a Clint Dempsey, a borderline inappropriately physical kind
of just a guy that's almost annoying, not always perfectly
Clint Dempsey co coach of All Clinton could be a
(23:44):
lot for Bruce Arena, and I think they miss it.
And as I watched this team, even if they're more
talented and more European in style, it does feel like,
what is it that we can't create a kind of
chip on the shoulder grittiness that I see with these
brilliant Argentinian teams or these teams that have the skill overseas,
(24:05):
but they also bring a toughness. Is do I sound
like an American football dope or is that something that
used so No.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
You don't sound like a dope. And I think it's
almost a human condition, right because you know, for example,
when you know when somebody you know in business is successful,
sometimes they will grow and they will change in the
way that they act, in the way that they are affected,
in the way that they dress, in the way that
they live their life, and sometimes in doing so, they
(24:34):
will lose ultimately what made them successful in the first place.
And I think in our desire to become more refined,
our desire to evolve as a soccer playing nation and
as a national team, it has made us do things
that we haven't done in the past and attempt to
play in ways that we haven't done in the past.
And that's commendable. But what it has done also has
made us lose some of the stuff that has made
(24:55):
us you know, maybe not uniquely American, but certainly American
over the years. And you talk about some that that
ruthlessness and that aggression that is absolutely on display right
now in Copa America and some from from some very
good teams. If you look at the Uruguays and the Colombians, yes,
yes they have the skill, and yes they have the
the the even the romance at times in terms of
(25:16):
how they play, but there is also an incredible dog
and there is also incredible fierce and if we if
we lose that, then I do think that's a problem.
And so marrying those two with a more evolved approach
to play, but also with you know, a like I said,
a dog and a and a and a and a
grit where all the words, all the cliches that you said,
(25:36):
where you know, almost like the you know, obscenity from
the Supreme Court. I know it when I see it, right,
And you know what, when you see it in all
sports including soccer, give me.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I see the names bandied about Liverpool and you get
and I think to myself, well, that's a pretty good gig.
Are we are we overly optimistic and hyperbolic in our
pursuit of the next coach? Is there a perfect style
or manager for us when we go? You know, listen,
I love the idea that swing big. Are we realistic
(26:10):
on our potential choices?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I think we are, I mean, as we're as we're
you know, as we're doing this. News is just broken
that evidently Jurgen Klopp, who a lot of people had
talked about and that certainly is swinging big, maybe as
big as you can get other than Pep Guardiola, you know,
has said he wants time away and he's you know,
has said thank you, but no thank you when it
comes to the US, and there's plenty of other other
names out there that are big, that are going to
(26:34):
cost a lot of money. Doesn't necessarily mean that they
are going to be successful. And I think there is
this this feeling that with twenty twenty six and not
wasting the stage and the platform that is twenty twenty six,
you know, go big or go home and do some
things that we haven't been done in the past. And
a lot of times we equate that with money, and
we equate that with notoriety and big name types of things.
(26:54):
It doesn't have to necessarily be a big name, it
doesn't necessarily have to have a lot of money. But
I think what I say Soccer Federation has come out
and said very clearly is that money is it's not
no object. But if there is somebody big that is
going to cost a lot out there that wants to
do it, more importantly, they will find the money. So
that's not holding the US back. But regardless, this has
(27:16):
to be a hire for the next two years. This
has to be somebody that comes in and says, look,
these are the players and either you're gonna coach them
up right, and you have to coach them up individually
and collectively. And if they don't have what you want,
then you got to get rid of them and find
somebody else. But that's gonna be very very hard in
just two years. And to your point, I think a
lot of these players are very very good. They have
plenty of pedigree when it comes to where they are playing,
(27:38):
but they are not living up to their potential. And
so whoever comes in for two years, I don't care
what happens behind the scenes. I don't care about your
Kumbaya dynamic. I don't care about ted talks or anything
like that. But I do care that you are able
to inspire this group and in turn inspire me and
all of the American soccer fans out there to say, yeah,
I'm gonna follow this person, because this person has taking
(27:59):
us to the promised Land as gonna give us the
best chance of doing something big and doing something that
we haven't seen before. Come the summer of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Six, Alexi Lawless, my friend, all right, you brought it.
And by the way, you know me. Sometimes the irritation
I create is a joyful experience, perhaps not for those
who I irritate, but for me, and so I think
we both have that in common.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Sometimes we are shared beautiful irritants, beautiful pests, if you will,
and we enjoy poking and It's okay to poke every
once in a while. Sometimes that's how you get to
the truth, my friend.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Thank you, good see anybody as always fit. The Great
Alexi Lawless
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Foxsportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on
the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
All Right, here we go. It is a Thursday lockloaded,
ready to roll. It's the Hurt wherever you may be,
however you may be listening. Thanks for making us part
of your day today.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
We got a lot.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Jordan Schultz and I went out for dinner last night,
sharing insider secrets. Can't give all of those away. USA
Canada basketball Greg Berholters out of work. The men's national
soccer team. Always blame the coach, number the players, he
got the act. Jalen Johnson to the Bears top of
Next Hour. Things are good, ugly to start the game
(01:01):
against Canada last night, fell behind eleven to one. They're
going to.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Figure out how to play with step We're gonna get
Anthony Edward's starting at some point.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Called probably on Probably so Canada got off to a
good start, and Canada is better than any team that
the nineteen ninety two Dream Team faced. They're better. The
basketball is so much better now than it's ever been.
I mean, the game is incredible. Jason Tatum did not
start last night. He's better than Scottie Pippin Offensively, it's
(01:31):
not particularly close. It's a global sport. Everybody can shoot,
everybody can handle the ball. I mean, I'm watching Wimby.
He's not on our team, but what that kid can do.
Chet Holmgrid at seven to two can do, it's incredible.
Nine two Dream Team Larry Bird was shot. He retired
ten days after the Olympics. You had multiple guys on
that team, multiple who could not handle the ball and
(01:52):
who couldn't shoot. Anthony Davis on this team's a much
better player than Patrick Ewing, Give me a break. Tatum's
much better Scottie Pippen. Lebron right now is better than
Magic was to me at thirty two or thirty three
years old. Our young guys are Aunt and Halliburton. Their
young guy was Christian Latner. Give me a break. This
team is old men aging very gracefully. Katy Lebron and
(02:17):
steph everybody shoots, everybody can handle the ball. I mean,
good God. Joe Lmbid average six assists this year for
the Sixers, six assists. He's a center. The nineteen ninety
two Dream Team was amazing, and a lot of people
get to my age. They get gray hair and they
(02:38):
love looking in the rear view mirror and they just
romanticize everything. It's like if you want to wake up
and listen to Stairway to Heaven from led Zeppelin. It
was awesome and it takes you back to a different time,
but it takes two and a half minutes to get
into the lyrics. Jimmy Page is on a riff and
that was basketball back then down to the center, pounded
(03:02):
on the floor, very little ball movement. It was a
very position oriented game. You could do certain things as
a forward, you could do certain things as a center.
Players can do anything in everything. Now Wemby is seven
to four handles it behind the back, passing, shot blocking
(03:22):
three pointers. The world is different now and it's not
a bad thing. Two things can be possibly true at
the same time. The nineteen ninety two team beating Tunisia
by sixty was amazing and a thing of beauty. But
this team's bench has starters on that team, Scotty Pippen,
I covered him in Portland. Not close to Jason Tatum,
(03:45):
Patrick Ewing's not nearly as good as Anthony Davis, Christian
Lahner on that team. Ant off the bench on this team.
What are we talking about here? The flexibility? The bigs
now can handle the ball and shoot back. Then centers
had a range of about twelve feet. You dumped it
to him, they'd pound the ball. That slowed everything up.
That stuff doesn't last. You start looking at Dwight Howard's career,
(04:08):
I mean, he's the line of demarcation. Dwight Howard, prodigy
in high school, walks into the NBA about halfway in
his career. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't back to
the basket, couldn't do anything. That's what a lot of
the bigs, almost all of the Bigs were. Today's game
is motion and angles and free flowing and speed, and
(04:30):
everybody can handle the ball. I mean, the Celtics won
a title with an offense called five out. Everybody, including
Al Horford, could sit in the corner and hit a three.
Five out. You couldn't play that game, espnded thirty for
thirties on the Knickson Pacers. The series had one pure shooter,
Reggie Miller. The Knicks had nine guys in the roster
(04:52):
that couldn't hit an eighteen footer. They were tough guys,
they were fun guys. They were physical. Even John Starks
wasn't a natural shooter. He was there shooting guard. Yeah,
I mean he was the guy in the perimeter you
would trust. I wouldn't trust it. So Michael Jordan's the
best player to most of you of all time. That's fine.
I think Lebron does more and better. Lebron's a much
better version than Magic. And that's fine. And it's gonna
(05:12):
take this team a long time to figure out you know,
it's gonna take him a while to figure out Steph Curry.
First four and a half minutes, they had a point.
They got to figure out Steph Curry's style. But just
look at the bench on this team so far. Look
at the flexibility. It's positionless basketball. It's a thing of beauty.
The game is global now. Guys come into this league
(05:34):
from overseas. They are ready to play. They've played against
twenty year old guys and they're seventeen years old. Here's
Steve Kerr on the flexibility, the dexterity of this roster.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Can't go wrong picking a starting lineup, you know, with
this group. So I think I told you guys the
other day, I'm gonna do something different the next two games.
We're gonna just look at a few different combinations before
we settle on anything. But we wanted to establish Joelle
early in the game. Knowing Canada didn't have a lot
(06:08):
of size. We wanted to play Bam and Anthony Davis
together with the second group and see what that looked like.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Listen, anytime a team of business, anything has multiple ways
to beat you, multiple lineups, completely flexible, the depth, the roster,
the ball handling, you know, the shooting. It's not close.
It's just a free flowing game. You can love Michael
Larry Bird was shot. I think this team I don't
(06:38):
know how that team would defend him that plotting style.
And I love Barkley and I love I love the
old players. Two things gonna be true. But go listen
to Stairway to Heaven. You were absolutely sure it was
the greatest song ever. If you waken Bake, maybe it
still sticks, but for most of us get to the lyrics.
(06:59):
All right, So I think we're staring at the wrong
thing with Kitlin Clark. So Caitlyn Clark, and we all
know this is that when you're a college player and
then you come into the pros, the game's much faster
and it's more physical, and so there's ohay's bumps. But
I tend to just look at your production. So Caitlin
Clark's production is incredible. She has now done four straight
(07:22):
double double games points and assists fifteen points, twelve assists
thirteen eleven, nineteen thirteen, twenty nine, thirteen, last night incredible.
She reminds me of Andrew Luck. Same city, doesn't have
a lot of support. He comes in with terrible old lines,
has to win by a shootout. At the time, breaks
the rookie passing record forty four hundred yards, twenty eight
(07:44):
total touchdowns, goes eleven and five, And all anybody wants
to talk about is there are a lot of interceptions. Yes,
college to the pro the game is faster, the corners
are better, but forty four hundred yards, you're looking at
the wrong stuff with Andrew Luck. Reduction with a terrible
old line, forty four hundred yards, twenty eight total touchdowns,
(08:07):
all at the time rookie records. Anybody wanted to talk
about that. The picks, Yeah, eighteen picks. Yeah, he's not
a veteran quarterback. Dude was a production machine with virtually
no Pro bowlers. And that's Kitlyn Clark's turnover talk. All
I've heard, Oh the turnovers with Kitlyn Clark. A. She's
(08:28):
got the ball in her hands a lot. B she
is a rookie, right, the game is faster, and you
know who also has a lot of turnovers? Players that
play fast and loose. Lebron leads the NBA all time
in turnovers. Steph Curry has a lot of turnovers. Luca
(08:50):
has a lot of turnovers. Like, I've never banged on
quarterbacks who throw picks if they're productive, Peyton Manning, John
l Dan Marino, Brett Favre Go back to Joe Namath
through a lot of picks. Tom Brady had picked sixes
in the Super Bowl and one. Turnovers happen if you're
(09:13):
a quarterback that plays with courage. My biggest knock on
Aaron Rodgers has been if he throws an early pick,
he backs off and plays say football, Brady Peyton, Manning, Lway, Mahomes,
do not let it rip, baby, play fast and loose.
You gotta have a short memory in the NFL, and
you've got to have a short memory in basketball. If
you play fast, Steph Curry can have back to back
(09:35):
awful turnovers. He's going faster the next time down the floor,
and that's what makes him Steph Curry. So I think
with Caitlin Clark, and if you look at her numbers
in the last ten games, she's not only good, she's
getting better. She's catching up to the speed. She's getting
much better, much more quickly. So if it's it's just
(09:56):
it's one of those things. I will support quarterbacks who
are high le productive and throw some picks. I'm not
gonna support Daniel Jones who throws picks, but I will
support Trevor Lawrence with some of his turnovers. He can
be very, very productive. Josh Allen came into this league.
He was a little wild, but he was wildly productive.
(10:18):
Joe Burrow, Matt Stafford, they throw interceptions, they're great like
Mahomes is like historically unique. You get the production without
the picks. He's the best quarterback ever after Tom Brady,
who gave you the production with no picks. That's why
those are the goats. Joe Montana now is a different time,
but Joe didn't give you a lot of picks. That's
(10:39):
what separates great from you know, top two or three guys.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Ever.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
But I'm okay with Farv and Burrow and Stafford, and
I'm okay with Caitlin Clark's turnovers. She's good, she's productive.
Double doubles are right now. In fact, I looked it
up this morning. Caitlin Clark her production. She is sex
get in the WNBA and assists per game. By the way,
not like she's got a lot of finishers on that team.
(11:06):
So she's second in the league and a team without
a lot of finishers, she's third in total threes made.
When everybody in the league knows guard Caitlin Clark. If
you're playing Indiana, it's not like she's got all star
teammates who are taking off some of that. So you
can turn the telescope. You're staring at the wrong stuff
with Andrew Luck for years, you're staring at the wrong stuff.
The turnovers don't bother me, and those will come down
(11:27):
over time to catch up to the speed of the game.
Interceptions over the course of time. Trevor Lawrence won't throw
his many. Caleb Williams for Chicago this year. My guest says,
he's got some turnovers, you're too fewer. Year three. I'll
find the light comes on, the game slows down, then
he'll be fine, all right. Rachel Nichols, USA, Canada. You know,
(11:49):
I just I didn't grow up in a traditional family.
I mean, we weren't hippies living in tents in the backyard,
but I didn't grow up in this highly traditional family,
so I don't tend to embrace you know stuff. In
the seventies and eighties and nineties, there were great Walter
Payton's the best running back I've ever seen. I would
defend it forever. That is the best running back, power, speed,
(12:11):
everything I've ever seen. Better than Barry, better than McCaffrey,
better than Derrick Henry, better than Adrian Peterson. There are
some things. Ted Williams hitting a baseball, Bob Gibson throwing
a baseball. I'm not saying guys, Kareem abdul Jabbar, you
got to be kidding me. I mean the guy literally,
Bill Walton is a college basketball player would be great today.
It was great then the late great Bill Walton. But
(12:32):
a lot of this stuff is nonsense. You're grabbing on
this to Larry Bird was shot your the older Magic's
not the older Lebron. Your bench got Christian Laytner on it.
It's a whole different ballgame today.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon Easter nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You're now entering the Noble Zone sponsored by Credible Great rates.
None of the bull. There's a Hard Knocks has the
Giants this year HBO available to stream on Max. These shows,
in my opinion, are kind of played out because we
have so much access on our phones now that you
get so much behind the scenes stuff. But there are
(13:14):
glimpses on these shows, like Hard Knocks. You'll get about
every episode or every couple episodes. Uh, you're gonna get
a little moment, and sometimes the moment is a GM
or a coach playing to the cameras they know the
cameras are on. Joe Shane of the Giants did that
a couple of times defending Daniel Jones, he's playing to
the camera. It's nonsense. And then you get other moments
(13:37):
where after a while, like at the NFL Combine, the
general manager sort of You know, if you put a
mic on me and I walked around LA for an
hour and a half, I'd probably at some point forget
I have a mic on. Now, if I was in
my office knowing there's a camera on, I would never
forget that. I'd see it, I'd know it. I'd watch
the guy set it up. But sometimes you put a
(13:57):
mic on these guys, they wander around and they just
forget the damn MIC's on. And at the combine, the
Giants GM goes and talks to the Patriots who had
the number three pick. Giants had a six Elliott Wolf,
and it's pretty clear that the Giants wanted to draft
the quarterback.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
I'm just gonna put down there and just say, hey,
before you do anything at three, just make sure you
let us know, just plan the scene. If you are
going to move the pick, don't do it without at
least giving us a call. And you know where lesser buddle.
We're interested if you guys are going to do anything
at three, like move out at all. Again, I don't
you tell me your plan or anything, but if you
have any you know, being clean, just.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Just call me.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Just call me if you're going to do anything now. Reportedly,
Jordan reported this at the time that the Giants made
an offer to the Patriots, including another number one pick,
not only swapping the three in the six, but the
following year's number one pick. So they wanted a quarterback.
They wanted to go get Drake May, and New England said,
we can go either way here, but we're going to
keep him because we we got Jacoby Brissett. So it's listen.
(15:03):
Sports fans always think if you don't pick the team
that you're against him. We're not against the New York Giants.
We just don't think Daniel Jones is the guy. I
talked about this with Caitlin Clark. Wildly productive, but she's
got some turnovers. Very Andrew Luck, I'm okay with that
with Daniel Jones. In fifty nine starts, I got sixty
(15:23):
two touchdowns, that's it, and forty picks. It's not the
picks that drive me crazy. In a passer rating of
eighty five, Justin Herbert, who has almost the same number
of starts, has double the touchdown passes one hundred and
fourteen and he's got forty two picks. I can live
with that, but it's the production. Justin Herbert gives you
(15:44):
better completion, better pass rate. Ain't gonna give you one
hundred and fourteen touchdown passes and run. For some it's
not the picks, because when you have the wrong coach
or a bat old line and with the Chargers, you're
gonna have picks. With Daniel Jones, you don't get the upside,
but get all the downside. A little bit of my
theme today. I can live with mistakes. Nobody's perfect. You
(16:06):
see who's running for president both sides. That's the position
of president of the United States, not great choices. I
can live with mistakes. I can live with picks. I
can live in basketball with turnovers. But you gotta give
me an upside to it. If you're gonna be a
rock star and trash the whtel room, you gotta be
guns and Roses and sell out the show at the
Rose Bowl and give me one hundred and ten thousand people.
(16:27):
If I'm the promoter, go ahead, trash the hotel room,
trash the van that gets you to the Rose Bull.
You gotta sell out the Rose bul and so it's
pretty clear. It's pretty clear the Giants GM and the
coach wanted to draft another quarterback.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern Non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
Paully Fools gohere with Tony Foosco. Yeah, as everybody knows,
we're the hosts of the award winning Polly and Tony
Foosco Show.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:59):
Instead of telling you how great we are, he is
how Dan Patrick described us when he came on our show.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Quick, knowledgeable and funny, opinionated.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
What what are you doing? Were dirupting our promo? Yeah, you
wasn't talking about you. You took those clips totally of context.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
Oh yeah, well after this promo, I'm gonna take you
out and beat you.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Let me put this into context. Shut up.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
Anyway, just listening to the Pauli and Tony Fusco Show
on iHeartRadio. Apple podcasts oherever you get your podcasts, Yee.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Here we go. It's our three flyly and by It's
the Hurt Wherever you may be, however you may be
listening thanks for making us part of your day. So
Greg Berholzer, who I've supported, got fired after a disappointing
performance at COPA as the men's coach United States men's
national team. We fire our coaches, We blame our coaches.
(17:54):
Won sixty nine percent of his games, best winning percentage
ever for somebody that's coached these twenty games. And people say, hey,
but our players are so much better they're playing over
in Europe. Yes they are, but are they in their
athletic trunk who Lissic has just entered his trime. We're
still really young. We were one of the youngest World
Cup teams that got into the round of sixteen draw
(18:17):
with England and then just overwhelmed by the Netherlands. But
the fact that this team played poorly in Copa now,
I argued earlier Jordan Copa. Our talent now is more European.
We like to play faster and wider, and Copa's fields
are narrower and shorter like in the NFL and college football.
(18:40):
Hash marks in different places, Olympic hockey rings, NHL rings,
difference in size. Copa was not built for us. Not
an excuse, it's a reason now when we got a
red card against Panama and played a man down. That
didn't help. And I do think there's an argument to
be made that this team did not create enough high
(19:02):
level scoring opportunities relative to our skill. But I think
some of that is the game in which we played
a man down. You tend to play just more defensively, right.
You look for opportunities, but you're not going to be
aggressive playing a man down after the red card. And
I really, and this is not an excuse, I like
(19:24):
our skill. But if I was talking about this in
my pod yesterday, if you look at baseball, football basketball,
the championship teams, the Celtics are a great example, have
a majority of their best players, Derek White, Tatum, and
Brown in their prime. Porzingis late prime, but prime. If
you go to the NFL, you stots, Why say the
San Francisco forty nine ers, be careful a lot of
(19:46):
dudes if they're out of their prime. Now you're asking
a lot, are you in your prime? When the Rams won,
Stafford prime, Aaron Donald late prime, Cooper Cup prime, Von
Miller late prime, that's how you win. This team has
a a bunch of guys who are just not quite yet.
Polisic has entered his prime early. He's got our seven
(20:06):
years of it. But we're not great yet. We have
a potential in two years to be really special. I like,
I think this team at the World Cup can make
a real impact. Joining us live Alexi Lawless on the
firing of Greg Berholter. So is this a fair criticism that?
Speaker 3 (20:26):
Wow, Colin you are you are a glutton for punishment?
My friend, you've been around. I was listening to your
pod yet last yesterday, and you also talked about the well,
how should we say it? The elitism and the snobbery
and the gatekeeping that American soccer does, and how dare
you go and defend Greg Berholt. They're going to come
for you and your family? My goodness? Wow oh wow.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So I'll start with a criticism, is that, considering our
skill level where our best players are in Europe many flourishing,
that we want a more aggressive style and that we
didn't create a lot of successive offense, dynamic offensive opportunities
that jumped off the matches. For me, we're not quite
(21:14):
as dynamic as I want. Is that a fair criticism?
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
I mean, and you mentioned the expectations given this group,
and you're absolutely right to point out the fact that
we took a very young group back to the World Cup,
which by the way, happened on Greg Burholter's watch. But
the promise that Greg Burholter and this team have kind
of made with us is that we are going to
see things that haven't been done before and that has
not come to fruition. And maybe in Greg Burholter's mind
(21:41):
that was going to culminate in twenty twenty six, but ultimately,
in the games that he has won, he can't point
to one where we are beating and bettering the elites
of the world. And that's ultimately what this was about.
So I understand you know where you're coming from relative
to the criticism that Burholter has taken. But ultimately it's
(22:03):
about winning and so all the other stuff that we
talk about, and you talk about this in sports all
the time, it's about winning. And I have no doubt
that had that red card not come and the US
had gone through and beaten Panama or hied Panama, that
eventually they would have gone through into the knockout rounds
and Greg Burchlter would still be the coach. But they
didn't and we can say this is the blame. And
(22:24):
we can't fire the entire team, obviously, but we can
fire the coach. And I think most importantly right now
is that twenty twenty six is too important. It's the
most important summer in American soccer history and we cannot
afford to waste it. And I think right now Greg
Burholter is divisive and we need to be united. We
need to be together. Whether it's his fault or not,
(22:45):
to be quite honest with you, is irrelevant. We need
somebody there. I want somebody that is bigger than life.
I want somebody that I can believe in and that
makes us believe in the coach and this team going
forward into twenty twenty six, and that was not happening
right now, so I think they had to make the change.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
So I had said this at the last World Cup,
although I thought just getting the draw with England and
getting out of the group stage in itself was fairly
remarkable considering the youth of this team. They were I
think second youngest team or one of the youngest teams. Yep,
that excuse won't stick, but there is something that's missing
(23:22):
and I don't want to throw out any cliches, but
there does appear to be a lack of grit. I
thought in the last World Cup they needed an Alexi
Lawless or a Clint Dempsey, a borderline inappropriately physical kind
of just a guy that's almost annoying, not always perfectly
Clint Dempsey co coach of All Clinton could be a
(23:44):
lot for Bruce Arena, and I think they miss it.
And as I watched this team, even if they're more
talented and more European in style, it does feel like,
what is it that we can't create a kind of
chip on the shoulder grittiness that I see with these
brilliant Argentinian teams or these teams that have the skill overseas,
(24:05):
but they also bring a toughness. Is do I sound
like an American football dope or is that something that
used so No.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
You don't sound like a dope. And I think it's
almost a human condition, right because you know, for example,
when you know when somebody you know in business is successful,
sometimes they will grow and they will change in the
way that they act, in the way that they are affected,
in the way that they dress, in the way that
they live their life, and sometimes in doing so, they
(24:34):
will lose ultimately what made them successful in the first place.
And I think in our desire to become more refined,
our desire to evolve as a soccer playing nation and
as a national team, it has made us do things
that we haven't done in the past and attempt to
play in ways that we haven't done in the past.
And that's commendable. But what it has done also has
made us lose some of the stuff that has made
(24:55):
us you know, maybe not uniquely American, but certainly American
over the years. And you talk about some that that
ruthlessness and that aggression that is absolutely on display right
now in Copa America and some from from some very
good teams. If you look at the Uruguays and the Colombians, yes,
yes they have the skill, and yes they have the
the the even the romance at times in terms of
(25:16):
how they play, but there is also an incredible dog
and there is also incredible fierce and if we if
we lose that, then I do think that's a problem.
And so marrying those two with a more evolved approach
to play, but also with you know, a like I said,
a dog and a and a and a and a
grit where all the words, all the cliches that you said,
(25:36):
where you know, almost like the you know, obscenity from
the Supreme Court. I know it when I see it, right,
And you know what, when you see it in all
sports including soccer, give me.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
I see the names bandied about Liverpool and you get
and I think to myself, well, that's a pretty good gig.
Are we are we overly optimistic and hyperbolic in our
pursuit of the next coach? Is there a perfect style
or manager for us when we go? You know, listen,
I love the idea that swing big. Are we realistic
(26:10):
on our potential choices?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
I think we are, I mean, as we're as we're
you know, as we're doing this. News is just broken
that evidently Jurgen Klopp, who a lot of people had
talked about and that certainly is swinging big, maybe as
big as you can get other than Pep Guardiola, you know,
has said he wants time away and he's you know,
has said thank you, but no thank you when it
comes to the US, and there's plenty of other other
names out there that are big, that are going to
(26:34):
cost a lot of money. Doesn't necessarily mean that they
are going to be successful. And I think there is
this this feeling that with twenty twenty six and not
wasting the stage and the platform that is twenty twenty six,
you know, go big or go home and do some
things that we haven't been done in the past. And
a lot of times we equate that with money, and
we equate that with notoriety and big name types of things.
(26:54):
It doesn't have to necessarily be a big name, it
doesn't necessarily have to have a lot of money. But
I think what I say Soccer Federation has come out
and said very clearly is that money is it's not
no object. But if there is somebody big that is
going to cost a lot out there that wants to
do it, more importantly, they will find the money. So
that's not holding the US back. But regardless, this has
(27:16):
to be a hire for the next two years. This
has to be somebody that comes in and says, look,
these are the players and either you're gonna coach them
up right, and you have to coach them up individually
and collectively. And if they don't have what you want,
then you got to get rid of them and find
somebody else. But that's gonna be very very hard in
just two years. And to your point, I think a
lot of these players are very very good. They have
plenty of pedigree when it comes to where they are playing,
(27:38):
but they are not living up to their potential. And
so whoever comes in for two years, I don't care
what happens behind the scenes. I don't care about your
Kumbaya dynamic. I don't care about ted talks or anything
like that. But I do care that you are able
to inspire this group and in turn inspire me and
all of the American soccer fans out there to say, yeah,
I'm gonna follow this person, because this person has taking
(27:59):
us to the promised Land as gonna give us the
best chance of doing something big and doing something that
we haven't seen before. Come the summer of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Six, Alexi Lawless, my friend, all right, you brought it.
And by the way, you know me. Sometimes the irritation
I create is a joyful experience, perhaps not for those
who I irritate, but for me, and so I think
we both have that in common.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
Sometimes we are shared beautiful irritants, beautiful pests, if you will,
and we enjoy poking and It's okay to poke every
once in a while. Sometimes that's how you get to
the truth, my friend.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Thank you, good see anybody as always fit. The Great
Alexi Lawless
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Monster: BTK
'Monster: BTK', the newest installment in the 'Monster' franchise, reveals the true story of the Wichita, Kansas serial killer who murdered at least 10 people between 1974 and 1991. Known by the moniker, BTK – Bind Torture Kill, his notoriety was bolstered by the taunting letters he sent to police, and the chilling phone calls he made to media outlets. BTK's identity was finally revealed in 2005 to the shock of his family, his community, and the world. He was the serial killer next door. From Tenderfoot TV & iHeartPodcasts, this is 'Monster: BTK'.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.