June 12, 2026 • 34 mins
Colin sets the stage for the World Cup and Team USA’s first match of the tournament vs Paraguay and what the realistic expectations are for this team.
5-time Grammy nominee Fat Joe joins the show to talk about his experience sitting courtside during the Knicks historic comeback in game 4 and why he will cry tears of joy if New York wins the championship.
Colin also talks to former USA national team manager Bruce Arena about the World Cup, Christian Pulisic and the environment having matches on our home soil.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
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
Fox Sports Radio 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 (00:28):
Tonight's Tonight, the World Cup begins for the United States
men's national team in Los Angeles. Gonna be wild, and
this is different the last World Cup Qatar, we had
three teenagers on the club Tina. We didn't need goals,
(00:54):
we needed a chaperone. This team is still young, but
the average age is twenty six and thirteen of our players,
our best players, have now World Cup experience. This is
a real squad. American soccer fans are always trying to
(01:15):
man splain the game to us mortals, you know, but
all sports are pretty simple. Better talent you win more.
Coaching can help, but it can't take average and make
it very good or exceptional. In the NFL, it's blocking
and tackling in the NBA, it's making shots in baseball,
(01:36):
great pitching beats great hitting. In soccer, you have to
have a star to be exceptional, and you've got to
set him up for success. Corner kicks, penalty kicks, open play.
Christian Polisic is our best player, our most creative playmaker.
(01:57):
Set him up for success, and it all downhill after that.
We've got other top players. Weston McKinney's been around, Serginio
dest Is very good defense on the back ends of concern.
Tyler Adams tough guy, but it will all be getting
in with Christian Polisic. When he scores a goal at
(02:19):
least one, we are twenty one four and two. We
are exceptional. If he has a goal or even an assist,
we again are exceptional. If he does not score, we're
slightly above average. Paraguay is a veteran team. Of their
last eighteen matches ten or shutouts. They're very, very old
(02:42):
compared to us. They're best players young, but he's injured,
so it's you know, listen, soccer fans often feel ignored.
They can get a little, you know, a little defensive,
a little austere when they talk about nues. That's not
what this is about. It's about play. Not plays. That's
all competition, and we run through coaches because I think
(03:04):
it's easier to fire a coach and acknowledge. We may
have personnel shortcomings, but I don't think we have them here.
I don't think we're as good as Spain. I don't
think we're gonna beat England. But you saw us play
Germany seventh best odds to win. You saw us play Senegal,
and we did not have Chris Richards, our best defensive player.
(03:25):
So this sets up very well. This is easily our
most talented squad. Argentina won four years ago led by Messi,
France one eight years ago led by Embape. It will
all come down to keeping Polisic healthy, and I can
assure you tonight in front of eighty thousand plus fans,
seventy thousand plus fans, they're going after him. Paraguay got
(03:48):
some older players, They're a physical team, based on defense,
they'll pack it in. Here's Polisic on the World Cup
and tonight.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Really good team.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
We're able to compete with anyone and where we want
to be a real force in this tournament. I think
that's what we want to show to everyone. I think
we know you know from the inside what we're capable
of as Yeah, now it's about now, it's about showing it.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Christian's the type of guy that he's careful and he
you know, he listens a lot. He doesn't talk a
lot in the beginning, but you really have to get
to know him and really show him that you know
that your intentions are true and good. You know, all
we wanted is to help him develop in his career.
You know, we got him at a very young age,
a lot of pressures on him at a young age,
(04:36):
and what we wanted to do is put him at
ease and really put him in the best possible position
to help the team, because he's an absolute game changer.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
He is he now. He struggled with ac Milan, you know,
he really struggled in his last fifteen plus matches. So
coming back scoring a goal one of the last two
matches is key. They are favored tonight again. I am
ad in Paraguay is very physical. They are perhaps missing
their best offensive piece and one nothing would feel great.
(05:08):
Get out of there with a w in group stage,
all right. Nick Spurs average twenty four million viewers. It
was the most watched game. Game three was the most
watched game of the NBA Finals since the late nineties.
New York plus Wemby plus history. Obviously, the New York
(05:30):
market matters, but we had a Subway series years and
years and years ago got terrible ratings. New York doesn't
carry ratings by itself. Wemby's a huge part of this
because we remember a lot of bigs don't sell shoes
and they don't move the TV needle. Kareem didn't until
he got magic. Jokicic does not. Duncan did not, Yannis didn't.
(05:52):
When Yannis broke into this league was becoming the MVP,
they'd put his games on NBA television playoff games. So
Wemby's all offensive game isn't refined, it's not polished. He
didn't have a go to shot. In my opinion, he
shoots too many threes. I wish he was closer to
the basket. But America, we know this is fascinated with aliens,
that's his nickname. Spielberg's movie debuts this weekend. It's going
(06:14):
to make fifty five million at the box office. And
there is something about Wemby. I have never seen an
athlete who forces other great athletes to make U turns
headed to the basket. It is a totally different team
when he's on the floor. The Knicks shoot forty percent
barely when Wemby's on the floor. They shoot fifty seven
(06:38):
percent when he's not. That is remarkable. Everybody always talks
about influencers. He's the number one influencer right now in sports,
and basketball is a game of instinct. But Wemby has
the ability to make other great players think, alter their direction,
alter their shots. And you know, there is a reason
(07:00):
he is new. He is different. There's a reason the
highest redded Masters ever was Tiger Woods. First. We like
stuff we've never seen before. And again I'm not saying
the New York market doesn't matter. The Nicks are a
great story, but it's not just that there is something
to be said for it. We've never seen anything like it.
I can remember when Lebron James came into this league
(07:22):
in the first four or five years, he was chasing
people down and blocking shots off the backboard, Steph Caitlin
Clark hitting shots. We'd never seen Tiger three point forty
off the tee. There is just something, you know, there's
a lot of tedious in our sports catalog, there's a
lot of monotonous one hundred and sixty two baseball games
(07:43):
per team. This is different. So the NBA doesn't need
Wenby to win this year. They don't need him to
win next year the following year. MJ and Lebron took forever.
It built great drama. God the Cubs took forever. It
just enhanced the story. But it is a perfect balance.
A big brand, a big celebrity, soaked city in New York.
(08:04):
Fat Joe's on Later this hour. Grammy nominated Fat Joe
coming on later this hour, and this new feisty villain Wemby.
Jason tempf says, listen, get used to it. He's got
to play almost every minute in these big games.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
Jason timph that conditioning piece is absolutely massive for his
long term development because, as you can tell, this entire team,
their success in this whole playoff run has been predicated
on whether or not he's on the floor.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
When he steps off, everything falls apart. So the best
thing they can do is scale up his minutes. And
by the way, that's not a Wemby unique thing. That's
every star I can remember in my lifetime. It's like
man Lebron's got to play forty six tonight. Lebron's got
to play forty four TONIGHTE Steph's got to play forty
four tonite. That's just part of the responsibility that comes
with these situations.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
All right back to the World Cup. Time USA and
Paraguay played, there was a little bit of a tussle.
It was a very physical matchup. That is Paraguay's way
to win tonight. It can't be freewheeling, it can't be
open play. They got to pack it in, be really physical.
They're going after Polisic and they have limited offensive capabilities,
(09:20):
so Paraguay. I think Paraguay would be happy getting out
of there one to one and just getting there. That's
not what we're looking at here. We have attackers and
playmakers and creators that they do not, So we got
a little laker feel. We're not great on the defensive end,
but we can shot create as well as anybody. J Mac,
I know you're fired up. You got a little parcel
(09:42):
ownership and a soccer team somewhere in the world Mexico, yep.
Speaker 8 (09:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
And I win yesterday. Yeah yeah, that again, that got
a little feisty. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (09:50):
By the way, South Korea. What a match last night
against Chechtia or Czech Republic. Sorry, South Korea, look good,
South Korea. Mexico Knicks will be awesome.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Comin this weekend we get Morocco Brazil.
Speaker 9 (10:01):
I mean good. The crowd is going to be juiced
up for that one. I'm on Morocco. I bet them
in that one. And then of course today at US USA.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Oh boy, so it's in Los Angeles. There's gonna be
over seventy thousand people there. It's going to be wild scene.
And then after our show today, we got Canada Canada. Yeah,
by the way, you know, Canada has never won a
World Cup game. Now, the first time they went they
got shut out, and then the last World Cup they
(10:32):
scored some goals and but they came away without a win.
So it's a massive, massive moment for Canadian soccer right
after our show today, And yeah, your your eyes light
up when I said Fat Joe the Grammy nominated Fat
Joe's Hot podcast where teammates at the volume. He's got
his stuff on Netflix right now, so we'll talk about
that later in the show.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Naked rain Baby, Fat Too coming up.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Listen, The Big Ten Finally, take a deep bread. College
football is gonna be okay The Texas Tech Story an
update on that.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one, and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 10 (11:15):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 11 (11:19):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from seven
to ten pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
That's right.
Speaker 12 (11:30):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 11 (11:35):
All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube.
Again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out
on YouTube and subscribe.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Well. He's a five time Grammy nominated artist and now
the host of Joe and Jada, a red hot podcast
alongside Jenniicus, American Rapper Media Mocal from the South Bronx.
You'll see celebrities all the time at sporting events, and
I always said Jack Nicholson, really he does love the Lakers.
I mean there are some celebrities that come in No,
(12:08):
no fat Joe. Now he's a Knicks fan, and he
is now joining us from his home, and we appreciate that.
You know, I know you heard this. I gotta play this.
First of all, it's great to see you. I gotta
play this for our audience. This is funny. So Mike
Brown has been around a long time in the NBA.
Here is Mike Brown from the other night. After the win.
Speaker 8 (12:31):
I couldn't see much.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And I say that because, like, Fat Joe's sitting there
with all these chains on, and every time he jumped
up freaking lights with those chains, they.
Speaker 8 (12:43):
Just they blinded me.
Speaker 7 (12:45):
So it's a little hard Fat Joe keep wearing the
chains because you look smooth, but you can't replace this
crown man.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So let me ask you. You've been going to Nick
games forever. Was that the greatest game you've ever been
to in your life?
Speaker 12 (13:00):
As a next than yes, that was the greatest game.
It was emotional roller coaster. We went from going in
there like yeah, we got this, to being down thirty
to trying to cheer up the section, trying to you know,
I had all out out.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
I had a plan.
Speaker 12 (13:20):
My plan was to bring energy and cheer up my
section and be a fan and push my team to win.
And that was really hard that game, and so I'm
cheering up the fans, I'm talking to them, I'm talking
to the bench because I sit right there. I'm going
(13:41):
crazy And it was just.
Speaker 8 (13:45):
So much to take it. I left the stadium.
Speaker 12 (13:48):
I probably left before everybody, Like I couldn't take it.
It was too emotional for me. Like, it's really really emotion.
I'm going to San Antonio if we win, I'm definitely
gonna cry. Oh gole, Like, I don't know how they
explain to see you. I've been a fan since I
was a baby, you know, and to finally win.
Speaker 8 (14:12):
There's no emotion like it. So we I can't wait
to seal the deal.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
You know. It is interesting. I do think basketball is
very unique and that basketball fans because of their proximity
to the players. I mean, I've gone to NBA games
with good seats and players talk to you, players communicate,
players feed off the fans. You know when you look,
let me ask you about the other team. What do
you make when you watch Wemby. You've gone to years,
(14:40):
You've seen Jordan, You've seen Lebron, the Lake because you've
seen all these stars, Carmelo, what do you make of Wemby.
When you take our fans what it's like to sit
courtside and watch Wemby.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Well, Wenby is the future of the league. He's taken
every day in the next couple of years.
Speaker 12 (15:02):
So this is our chance opportunity to beat him now
because he's so young. You know, even Jordan, all the
greatest players, they lost when they were young. Once you
get that feeling of going all the way to the
mountaintop and losing, then you know what you don't want
to feel like anymore. So the future of the league
(15:22):
is Wenby's. One thing I disagree with the refs and
I never do that, and I never do it publicly,
is that they assume that any time Winby goes to
the basket, if he doesn't make the basket, it's an
automatic foul.
Speaker 8 (15:39):
So there's just no.
Speaker 12 (15:40):
Way that Wenby missed the basket without somebody pushing them
or following them. I've watched reps not even look at
the play and assume.
Speaker 8 (15:49):
It was a foul, just blow the whistle.
Speaker 12 (15:52):
And so he got that going for But he's an
amazing talent.
Speaker 8 (15:55):
We never seen that.
Speaker 12 (15:56):
I think he's allien this guy. You know, they put
out the yall your phone things. I think he's got
two DNA alien.
Speaker 10 (16:06):
Let me ask you.
Speaker 12 (16:06):
Ah, like this man six seven six coming down dribbling
beyond his back, shooting from wherever I mean Winby.
Speaker 8 (16:14):
He's a freak of nature.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Jalen. Of all the great players, I would say Bernard King,
I think is the most underrated nick and maybe the
most underrated NBA player of my life. But Jalen Brunson's
very interesting. He's understated, he's not flashy. He's got kind
of a blue collar, tough guy, villanova work ethic. Tell
me about Brunson and his ability to galvanize you. It
(16:40):
feels like to me he's the most loved New York
athlete honestly since Jeter. That's what it feels like to me.
Speaker 12 (16:48):
Yeah, very similar, very you hit it on the head.
Speaker 8 (16:52):
Very similar as Jetah.
Speaker 12 (16:54):
No nonsense, Uh, he ain't got much to say.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
The other day we did media with the podcast, and
he wouldn't. He refused to.
Speaker 12 (17:03):
Answer my question because he knew I was gonna.
Speaker 8 (17:05):
Ask him some bullshit. He knew I wasn't gonna ask him.
He knew I was gonna play with him.
Speaker 12 (17:11):
He said, yan yo, and he walked out the room
and he don't play that he got one mission.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
He's a true leader.
Speaker 12 (17:18):
I've watched him grabbed the team during huddoes and like, yo,
we gotta take this now, we.
Speaker 8 (17:24):
Got to He's a real leader.
Speaker 12 (17:25):
He's a small guy, but as far as leadership, he
is a true leader. And that's the difference between him
and a lot of the players we just mentioned that
were really individual, great players, but.
Speaker 8 (17:42):
Didn't know how to lead a team.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Is you know of all the Burroughs in New York.
You're from the South Bronx, and you got the Jets
and the Giants, and the Yankees and the Mets. There's
all sorts of teams in New York. It always felt
like to me, I said this ten years ago. I've
always argued the Yankees are the most productive and successful,
but I've always felt the Knicks are the most popular.
The whole city's into the next. When you were a
(18:07):
kid growing up, were the Knicks your favorite New York
sports team?
Speaker 12 (18:13):
We would go to the barbershop and watch it on
a little black and white TV and watch them play
against Jordan.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
Whenever I saw Jordan play, he was this small, So whenever.
Speaker 12 (18:25):
I go and I say courtsyde I say a major
prayer and I look up a deck and I said,
thank you God, please.
Speaker 8 (18:34):
I can't believe.
Speaker 12 (18:34):
I mean, like I'm you know, we would get together
like this is what it is, man, This is New
York basketball, man, and we're finally there at the Big Dance.
Speaker 8 (18:46):
And when you see this emotion from fans.
Speaker 12 (18:49):
I saw a San Antonio fan today on one of
on TV and he was like, yo, man, it was
amazing to see the fans' passion for their team and how.
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Much they want to win. This is a guy that
was our enemy on the other side.
Speaker 12 (19:04):
He was like, I mean, you can't describe it when
you're watch And I got friends from LA. I got friends.
I lived in Miami for twenty years. Those are arch rivals.
I argued every single day at the recording studio.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
With twenty guys about the Nixon it.
Speaker 12 (19:19):
And those guys are finally calling me, say, yo, Joe,
not for nothing, man.
Speaker 8 (19:22):
We happy for you, man, We want you to win.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
We happy for you.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
No. I think it's the most likable New York team
that I ever remember. And I always liked the Yankees,
but I find there's a there's an authenticity to the crowd,
the people, the fans. I want to end with this.
You got a new song called Victory Lap five Grammy
nominations for you. You still perform, by the way, give
Victory Laps some love here.
Speaker 12 (19:46):
Yeah, yeah, Victory Lap new single. I felt like summertime
needed the anthem. We got young miamis the hottest young
chicken the game on there, and we got my partner Jadakiss,
So we.
Speaker 8 (19:59):
Pretty much brought up podcast.
Speaker 12 (20:00):
We got a podcast show and Jada on Netflix in music.
So it's the weirdest thing because you know, it's almost
like you're watching.
Speaker 8 (20:09):
The podcast with you hearing the song.
Speaker 12 (20:11):
It's really really hot, produced by Coolan Dre Mike Zombie.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
Is gonna be the anthem for the summer.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Fat Joe, absolute pleasure, keep crushing. Okay, now, just one
more thing. Game five is tomorrow very emotional win five
point underdog. Be honest as a Nick fan. Are you
nervous about tomorrow?
Speaker 8 (20:33):
I'm nervous about every game. I'm nervous about every game. Listen.
Speaker 12 (20:39):
I asked a friend of mine who won the championship.
I said, what does it feel like? He said, it
feels like you ain't win the championship. Kill you win
the championship, and once you win the championship, you're like,
oh my god.
Speaker 8 (20:53):
We won the championship. Other than that, everything's up for grabs.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, it sure is. Hey, thanks for joining our show.
You're a busy person. Your podcast is crushing and thanks
man appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noon Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Well, he's the greatest soccer coach in the history of
our country. Former US national team manager, head coach, sporting director,
now the San Jose Earthquakes. But he won three Gold
Cup titles, five college titles, five MLS titles. He's got
the most wins, took us to two World Cups. Nobody's
ever done that before. He has such great experience, and
he was always tolerant and patient when I asked him
(21:36):
questions as a young aspiring soccer enthusiast, and Bruce Arena
now has been kind enough to join us. I mean, listen,
it is a really People think it's hard to coach
in the NBA or the NFL United States Men's national team.
You got politics, the academy system, You've got you know,
(21:57):
guys are over in Europe, and I want to start
with Polistic because he had a very turbulent, very rocky
start bruce with Mauricio Pochattino, and I kind of defended.
I kind of defended Polistic. I said, Okay, we got
a lot of guys overseas. Now that's where they make
their money. It's it's this is not the NBA, this
(22:17):
is not the NFL. You play college, go to the pros.
Mauricio and Polistic, I think are in a better space.
But it does lead me into the first question. Is
it that valuable? Is it that important that you're always
eye to eye, that you always get along with your
best player? Is it? I mean, soccer is different, it's international.
(22:41):
What do you make about Mauricio and Christian's early turbulence.
Speaker 10 (22:45):
Well, I think it's important that you have a good
relationship with your best player, you know, and you're not
fighting each other all the time.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
And I have a feeling they're doing fine.
Speaker 10 (22:54):
I sent Christian a note actually the other day he's
playing very well right now.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
He hasn't he didn't.
Speaker 10 (23:00):
We have a good closing couple of months with this
team in Milan, but his exhibition games before the World
Cup have been very good and I just told him
enjoy he's in good form.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Enjoy it.
Speaker 10 (23:14):
And I think you know, behind the scenes, my guess
is the manager and the player getting along pretty well.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
When you went into World Cups, obviously health is number
one you want your squad. What was the second most
important thing? Was there a vibe? Was there something that
maybe the average fan doesn't see Beyond health, we all
know you need a healthy team. What else matters going
into the World Cup?
Speaker 10 (23:41):
Well, clearly just the mentality of the group and stepping
on the field and believing you can win. And I
think this is a really special time for the US team.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
I remember in.
Speaker 10 (23:51):
Two thousand and two we opened up with Portugal that
had the World Player of the Year in Lewis Figo,
and they were the third ranked team in the world,
and we went with a lot of confidence and beat him.
And then in twenty twenty six, my team against the
Czech Republic, it was a team that wasn't really together
and didn't have great confidence and we lost the opening game.
I think this game tonight against Paraguay is going to
(24:14):
be a great game for the US team. They're playing
at home, They're in good form, they're healthy, and they
believe they can win. So I think this is going
to be a good night for US soccer.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Now Polistic when they faced the Netherlands and the last
World Cup, it was a very young team. Netherlands was
old and physical, and you kind of have a sense
when you watch teams face the United States, especially in
the last World Cup, it was like take Polisic out
of it, like just force him to get rid of it.
I think we're too talented now to do that. I
think we have too many creative playmakers, or at least
(24:46):
more than just one. Does Polisic have to be great?
Does he have to be a goal scorer for us
to win?
Speaker 10 (24:53):
Well, he has to be a good play he has
to be dangerous, he has to be creative in the attack.
And one weakness I think of this team right now
is they don't have great balance in the attack and
they have been a little bit too dependent on Christian.
But this good plays around them. Balligun's a good player,
The midfield is strong. Hopefully the defense is going to
(25:16):
be solid, and we need good playing the goal. But unfortunately,
whether you like it or not, Christian's the key figure
in the attack and he's got to be on his
game for the US to be successful.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
What is the identity? I want you to go back
to your team that had some success two thousand and two,
and I'm going to ask you, first of all, what
was the identity of that? I think identity matters in sports.
So let's start with a two thousand and two team.
What was your identity going in and was it established
at that World Cup?
Speaker 10 (25:48):
Well, we had some experienced players at the international level
such as Brian McBride and Claudia Arena and Ernie Stewart,
Kobe Jones, etc. Goalkeeping with Freedol was fantastic. The US
team now is a very talented team and very athletic.
(26:08):
That's our DNA, and they're playing a pressing game so
that they're tempting to take the game to their opponents,
which I like, and I think that's what you're going
to see tonight. I think you're going to see a
team that is going to go out and take the
game to Paraguay and that's going to be the DNA,
and we're very athletic. The young player Freeman at right
back is very good. Robinson at left back is good.
(26:30):
The midfield is strong with McKinney and Adams. So I
really believe that our DNA is our athleticism and our aggressiveness,
and hopefully we show that tonight.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
The pressure of playing at home, how does it land
for you? Do you think it's pressure, expectation, it burdens
some or it's just a joyful experience.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I think it's going to be a great experience.
Speaker 10 (26:58):
And you know, I've read to play in Los Angeles
and opening up in two thousand and two, in soul
or in Germany in two thousand and six. If you're
complaining about playing a World Cup.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
At home, you don't belong on the field.
Speaker 10 (27:12):
And I think the home field could be a great
advantage for the US team in group play and further
they advance.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I do worry a little bit. I think our goalkeeping
is fine. I don't think it's not our strength and
it has been historically. But I also think we're more
capable of being an attacking team and not relying maybe
as much on set pieces. Let's talk about Chris Richards
did not play in a couple of the friendlies leading
(27:43):
up to it, coming off an injury. Would you limit
his play? Would you start him. What do you do
when you have a player that hasn't played a lot
is valuable in your weakest potential unit. Do you kind
of go in thinking, listen, guys, we're going to have
some limitations here, or do you just let it play
out well.
Speaker 10 (28:03):
I think he had a pretty pretty complete club season.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
With this team in England, and he's fitted. You know,
he's been out him.
Speaker 10 (28:11):
For say three weeks, four weeks, but I think they've
they've worked him behind the scenes, and if they feel
that he got through training this week in good form
and he's healthy, I think they're going to go with
him because he's critically important in their central defense and
they have an experienced player and a player that can
depend on is important and that'll be very helpful for
(28:34):
our goalkeeping as well. So I think if he's physically fine,
they'll go with him. If they can't get ninety minutes
out of them, then they go with somebody else. But
if he's healthy, I think they'll start him.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Tonight, Bruce Arena for our radio audience the most wins
by a head coach in US men's soccer history. Tonight,
we're favored. Paraguay doesn't offer a terribly dynamic offensive attack.
They've got some experience, they've got some age, and they're
more of an aggressive defensive squad. When you would go
(29:08):
into a World Cup and there's so much energy. Tom
Brady's talked about this in Super Bowls, you don't even
remember the first series, you're so amped up. Did you
manage a little differently in World Cup situations? Knowing I mean,
you're at home the expectations. Did you ever go in
intermission and just say, guys, we're going to make a
pivot here, not just the substitution. Do you manage differently
(29:31):
with heightened expectations in heightened moments?
Speaker 8 (29:36):
Well?
Speaker 10 (29:36):
You can, But you know, I think the manager of
this team is very experienced and he's not laying a
whole lot of pressure on them, in fact, you know,
giving him big speeches and going raw, raw and oil.
He knows his team. He's got a bunch of experienced players.
A couple are in the experience at the international level.
(29:58):
But I think their attitude is going to be to
be very aggressive and take the game to Paraguay, and
I think playing at home in the opening game, I
think they want to go in halftime with the lead.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
They want to really get after Paraguay.
Speaker 10 (30:14):
The worst thing that can happen is they come out
in a passive manner and let Paraguay take the game
to them.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
And I don't think that's going to happen.
Speaker 10 (30:23):
I think you're going to see throughout this World Cup,
regardless of who they're playing, the US team is going
to be very aggressive and we saw that in their
less friendly against Germany. So you have a team with
a lot of experience, guys that have been World Cups before,
and there's no reason to believe that they can't have
a simple attitude is let's.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Get after them. And I think I would.
Speaker 10 (30:44):
Associate the US team with the San Antonio team now
in the NBA. Young guys, aggressive guys, and they're going
to get after it.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Polistics struggled ac Milan. I don't think he scored a goal,
and it could have been his last sixteen or so
seventeen matches. That's that's quite a streak.
Speaker 12 (31:02):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I don't know about his health, but he played. Is
that a confidence thing? Is it a coaching thing? I mean,
droughts happened for even the greatest scorers. When I read that,
you know about a month ago that he'd gone through
that scoring drought. I didn't know what to make of that.
What would you make of it?
Speaker 10 (31:20):
Well, he had a couple of nag and injuries and
and Milan is a very difficult place to play in
and uh, you know, they were a very competitive race
towards the end in Syria, and I think for whatever reason,
he wasn't in good form, and I think a lot
of it was associated to an injury. But he came
(31:42):
into the training camp for the World Cup and physically good.
In his last two exhibition games he's been our best player.
So I think you're going to see the best of
Christian policy tonight.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Finally, Bruce Arena joining us. What are expectations for you
that you would feel like we move the ball forward,
that we would come out of this and you I
mean cause I just looked the other day. If we
got out of the group stage and we end up
with Belgium, Well, Belgium's on a heater, Belgium's got a
(32:15):
higher FIFA ranking, Belgium's really good. So I think when
you get to the knockout stage, everything gets ratcheted up.
What to you, would you feel very positive coming out
of this?
Speaker 8 (32:28):
Well?
Speaker 10 (32:29):
I think obviously the starting point is to get three
points tonight, and they do that, they position themselves to
win the group, and then they get to the round
of thirty two. And if the group point is they're
going to play probably a team in around the thirty
two that they're going to beat, and they're going to
be in around the sixteen, and then around the sixteen
(32:49):
it's anybody's game. I don't know what the potential matchups are,
but there's a possibility that we can get to the
round of eight, which we did in two thousand and two.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
So there's a lot of positives ahead.
Speaker 10 (33:01):
But it's critically important that we win tonight and position
ourselves to win the group, and that'll allow us in
around the thirty two and sixteen to be positioned to
win those games as well. If the US team advances
to the quarterfinals in this World Cup, it's a completely
successful World Cup.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
And I'll be honest, Colin, I don't think.
Speaker 10 (33:21):
They're going to win the World Cup, and I don't
think that would surprise anybody, but a good shown is
very important for the sport in our country. We've made
a lot of progress, but now we need to show
the people in our country that we can be competitive
at the international level, and I think this team is
very capable of doing that.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Bruce Arena, my friend, it's always great to see you.
Congrats on all your success and enjoy your current place
at San Jose Earthquakes. Thank you again, Thank you, Colin.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
All right, really good man, Bruce Arena is give me
a dark horse. How about Netherlands. How about that for
a dark horse. I mean they're Netherlands. They're pretty good.
That's not much of a swing by me.
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
Fox Sports Radio 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 (00:28):
Tonight's Tonight, the World Cup begins for the United States
men's national team in Los Angeles. Gonna be wild, and
this is different the last World Cup Qatar, we had
three teenagers on the club Tina. We didn't need goals,
(00:54):
we needed a chaperone. This team is still young, but
the average age is twenty six and thirteen of our players,
our best players, have now World Cup experience. This is
a real squad. American soccer fans are always trying to
(01:15):
man splain the game to us mortals, you know, but
all sports are pretty simple. Better talent you win more.
Coaching can help, but it can't take average and make
it very good or exceptional. In the NFL, it's blocking
and tackling in the NBA, it's making shots in baseball,
(01:36):
great pitching beats great hitting. In soccer, you have to
have a star to be exceptional, and you've got to
set him up for success. Corner kicks, penalty kicks, open play.
Christian Polisic is our best player, our most creative playmaker.
(01:57):
Set him up for success, and it all downhill after that.
We've got other top players. Weston McKinney's been around, Serginio
dest Is very good defense on the back ends of concern.
Tyler Adams tough guy, but it will all be getting
in with Christian Polisic. When he scores a goal at
(02:19):
least one, we are twenty one four and two. We
are exceptional. If he has a goal or even an assist,
we again are exceptional. If he does not score, we're
slightly above average. Paraguay is a veteran team. Of their
last eighteen matches ten or shutouts. They're very, very old
(02:42):
compared to us. They're best players young, but he's injured,
so it's you know, listen, soccer fans often feel ignored.
They can get a little, you know, a little defensive,
a little austere when they talk about nues. That's not
what this is about. It's about play. Not plays. That's
all competition, and we run through coaches because I think
(03:04):
it's easier to fire a coach and acknowledge. We may
have personnel shortcomings, but I don't think we have them here.
I don't think we're as good as Spain. I don't
think we're gonna beat England. But you saw us play
Germany seventh best odds to win. You saw us play Senegal,
and we did not have Chris Richards, our best defensive player.
(03:25):
So this sets up very well. This is easily our
most talented squad. Argentina won four years ago led by Messi,
France one eight years ago led by Embape. It will
all come down to keeping Polisic healthy, and I can
assure you tonight in front of eighty thousand plus fans,
seventy thousand plus fans, they're going after him. Paraguay got
(03:48):
some older players, They're a physical team, based on defense,
they'll pack it in. Here's Polisic on the World Cup
and tonight.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Really good team.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
We're able to compete with anyone and where we want
to be a real force in this tournament. I think
that's what we want to show to everyone. I think
we know you know from the inside what we're capable
of as Yeah, now it's about now, it's about showing it.
Speaker 5 (04:14):
Christian's the type of guy that he's careful and he
you know, he listens a lot. He doesn't talk a
lot in the beginning, but you really have to get
to know him and really show him that you know
that your intentions are true and good. You know, all
we wanted is to help him develop in his career.
You know, we got him at a very young age,
a lot of pressures on him at a young age,
(04:36):
and what we wanted to do is put him at
ease and really put him in the best possible position
to help the team, because he's an absolute game changer.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
He is he now. He struggled with ac Milan, you know,
he really struggled in his last fifteen plus matches. So
coming back scoring a goal one of the last two
matches is key. They are favored tonight again. I am
ad in Paraguay is very physical. They are perhaps missing
their best offensive piece and one nothing would feel great.
(05:08):
Get out of there with a w in group stage,
all right. Nick Spurs average twenty four million viewers. It
was the most watched game. Game three was the most
watched game of the NBA Finals since the late nineties.
New York plus Wemby plus history. Obviously, the New York
(05:30):
market matters, but we had a Subway series years and
years and years ago got terrible ratings. New York doesn't
carry ratings by itself. Wemby's a huge part of this
because we remember a lot of bigs don't sell shoes
and they don't move the TV needle. Kareem didn't until
he got magic. Jokicic does not. Duncan did not, Yannis didn't.
(05:52):
When Yannis broke into this league was becoming the MVP,
they'd put his games on NBA television playoff games. So
Wemby's all offensive game isn't refined, it's not polished. He
didn't have a go to shot. In my opinion, he
shoots too many threes. I wish he was closer to
the basket. But America, we know this is fascinated with aliens,
that's his nickname. Spielberg's movie debuts this weekend. It's going
(06:14):
to make fifty five million at the box office. And
there is something about Wemby. I have never seen an
athlete who forces other great athletes to make U turns
headed to the basket. It is a totally different team
when he's on the floor. The Knicks shoot forty percent
barely when Wemby's on the floor. They shoot fifty seven
(06:38):
percent when he's not. That is remarkable. Everybody always talks
about influencers. He's the number one influencer right now in sports,
and basketball is a game of instinct. But Wemby has
the ability to make other great players think, alter their direction,
alter their shots. And you know, there is a reason
(07:00):
he is new. He is different. There's a reason the
highest redded Masters ever was Tiger Woods. First. We like
stuff we've never seen before. And again I'm not saying
the New York market doesn't matter. The Nicks are a
great story, but it's not just that there is something
to be said for it. We've never seen anything like it.
I can remember when Lebron James came into this league
(07:22):
in the first four or five years, he was chasing
people down and blocking shots off the backboard, Steph Caitlin
Clark hitting shots. We'd never seen Tiger three point forty
off the tee. There is just something, you know, there's
a lot of tedious in our sports catalog, there's a
lot of monotonous one hundred and sixty two baseball games
(07:43):
per team. This is different. So the NBA doesn't need
Wenby to win this year. They don't need him to
win next year the following year. MJ and Lebron took forever.
It built great drama. God the Cubs took forever. It
just enhanced the story. But it is a perfect balance.
A big brand, a big celebrity, soaked city in New York.
(08:04):
Fat Joe's on Later this hour. Grammy nominated Fat Joe
coming on later this hour, and this new feisty villain Wemby.
Jason tempf says, listen, get used to it. He's got
to play almost every minute in these big games.
Speaker 6 (08:25):
Jason timph that conditioning piece is absolutely massive for his
long term development because, as you can tell, this entire team,
their success in this whole playoff run has been predicated
on whether or not he's on the floor.
Speaker 7 (08:39):
When he steps off, everything falls apart. So the best
thing they can do is scale up his minutes. And
by the way, that's not a Wemby unique thing. That's
every star I can remember in my lifetime. It's like
man Lebron's got to play forty six tonight. Lebron's got
to play forty four TONIGHTE Steph's got to play forty
four tonite. That's just part of the responsibility that comes
with these situations.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
All right back to the World Cup. Time USA and
Paraguay played, there was a little bit of a tussle.
It was a very physical matchup. That is Paraguay's way
to win tonight. It can't be freewheeling, it can't be
open play. They got to pack it in, be really physical.
They're going after Polisic and they have limited offensive capabilities,
(09:20):
so Paraguay. I think Paraguay would be happy getting out
of there one to one and just getting there. That's
not what we're looking at here. We have attackers and
playmakers and creators that they do not, So we got
a little laker feel. We're not great on the defensive end,
but we can shot create as well as anybody. J Mac,
I know you're fired up. You got a little parcel
(09:42):
ownership and a soccer team somewhere in the world Mexico, yep.
Speaker 8 (09:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
And I win yesterday. Yeah yeah, that again, that got
a little feisty. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (09:50):
By the way, South Korea. What a match last night
against Chechtia or Czech Republic. Sorry, South Korea, look good,
South Korea. Mexico Knicks will be awesome.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Comin this weekend we get Morocco Brazil.
Speaker 9 (10:01):
I mean good. The crowd is going to be juiced
up for that one. I'm on Morocco. I bet them
in that one. And then of course today at US USA.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Oh boy, so it's in Los Angeles. There's gonna be
over seventy thousand people there. It's going to be wild scene.
And then after our show today, we got Canada Canada. Yeah,
by the way, you know, Canada has never won a
World Cup game. Now, the first time they went they
got shut out, and then the last World Cup they
(10:32):
scored some goals and but they came away without a win.
So it's a massive, massive moment for Canadian soccer right
after our show today, And yeah, your your eyes light
up when I said Fat Joe the Grammy nominated Fat
Joe's Hot podcast where teammates at the volume. He's got
his stuff on Netflix right now, so we'll talk about
that later in the show.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Naked rain Baby, Fat Too coming up.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Listen, The Big Ten Finally, take a deep bread. College
football is gonna be okay The Texas Tech Story an
update on that.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Eastern nin a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one, and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 10 (11:15):
Hey, it's Rob Parker and Kelvin Washington from The Odd
Couple on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 11 (11:19):
And in addition to hearing us live weeknights from seven
to ten pm Eastern on Fox Sports Radio, we are
excited to announce brand new YouTube channel for the show.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
That's right.
Speaker 12 (11:30):
You can now watch The Odd Couple live on YouTube
every day.
Speaker 11 (11:35):
All you gotta do search Odd Couple FSR on YouTube.
Again YouTube, Just search Odd Couple FSR. Check us out
on YouTube and subscribe.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Well. He's a five time Grammy nominated artist and now
the host of Joe and Jada, a red hot podcast
alongside Jenniicus, American Rapper Media Mocal from the South Bronx.
You'll see celebrities all the time at sporting events, and
I always said Jack Nicholson, really he does love the Lakers.
I mean there are some celebrities that come in No,
(12:08):
no fat Joe. Now he's a Knicks fan, and he
is now joining us from his home, and we appreciate that.
You know, I know you heard this. I gotta play this.
First of all, it's great to see you. I gotta
play this for our audience. This is funny. So Mike
Brown has been around a long time in the NBA.
Here is Mike Brown from the other night. After the win.
Speaker 8 (12:31):
I couldn't see much.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And I say that because, like, Fat Joe's sitting there
with all these chains on, and every time he jumped
up freaking lights with those chains, they.
Speaker 8 (12:43):
Just they blinded me.
Speaker 7 (12:45):
So it's a little hard Fat Joe keep wearing the
chains because you look smooth, but you can't replace this
crown man.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
So let me ask you. You've been going to Nick
games forever. Was that the greatest game you've ever been
to in your life?
Speaker 12 (13:00):
As a next than yes, that was the greatest game.
It was emotional roller coaster. We went from going in
there like yeah, we got this, to being down thirty
to trying to cheer up the section, trying to you know,
I had all out out.
Speaker 8 (13:18):
I had a plan.
Speaker 12 (13:20):
My plan was to bring energy and cheer up my
section and be a fan and push my team to win.
And that was really hard that game, and so I'm
cheering up the fans, I'm talking to them, I'm talking
to the bench because I sit right there. I'm going
(13:41):
crazy And it was just.
Speaker 8 (13:45):
So much to take it. I left the stadium.
Speaker 12 (13:48):
I probably left before everybody, Like I couldn't take it.
It was too emotional for me. Like, it's really really emotion.
I'm going to San Antonio if we win, I'm definitely
gonna cry. Oh gole, Like, I don't know how they
explain to see you. I've been a fan since I
was a baby, you know, and to finally win.
Speaker 8 (14:12):
There's no emotion like it. So we I can't wait
to seal the deal.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
You know. It is interesting. I do think basketball is
very unique and that basketball fans because of their proximity
to the players. I mean, I've gone to NBA games
with good seats and players talk to you, players communicate,
players feed off the fans. You know when you look,
let me ask you about the other team. What do
you make when you watch Wemby. You've gone to years,
(14:40):
You've seen Jordan, You've seen Lebron, the Lake because you've
seen all these stars, Carmelo, what do you make of Wemby.
When you take our fans what it's like to sit
courtside and watch Wemby.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Well, Wenby is the future of the league. He's taken
every day in the next couple of years.
Speaker 12 (15:02):
So this is our chance opportunity to beat him now
because he's so young. You know, even Jordan, all the
greatest players, they lost when they were young. Once you
get that feeling of going all the way to the
mountaintop and losing, then you know what you don't want
to feel like anymore. So the future of the league
(15:22):
is Wenby's. One thing I disagree with the refs and
I never do that, and I never do it publicly,
is that they assume that any time Winby goes to
the basket, if he doesn't make the basket, it's an
automatic foul.
Speaker 8 (15:39):
So there's just no.
Speaker 12 (15:40):
Way that Wenby missed the basket without somebody pushing them
or following them. I've watched reps not even look at
the play and assume.
Speaker 8 (15:49):
It was a foul, just blow the whistle.
Speaker 12 (15:52):
And so he got that going for But he's an
amazing talent.
Speaker 8 (15:55):
We never seen that.
Speaker 12 (15:56):
I think he's allien this guy. You know, they put
out the yall your phone things. I think he's got
two DNA alien.
Speaker 10 (16:06):
Let me ask you.
Speaker 12 (16:06):
Ah, like this man six seven six coming down dribbling
beyond his back, shooting from wherever I mean Winby.
Speaker 8 (16:14):
He's a freak of nature.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Jalen. Of all the great players, I would say Bernard King,
I think is the most underrated nick and maybe the
most underrated NBA player of my life. But Jalen Brunson's
very interesting. He's understated, he's not flashy. He's got kind
of a blue collar, tough guy, villanova work ethic. Tell
me about Brunson and his ability to galvanize you. It
(16:40):
feels like to me he's the most loved New York
athlete honestly since Jeter. That's what it feels like to me.
Speaker 12 (16:48):
Yeah, very similar, very you hit it on the head.
Speaker 8 (16:52):
Very similar as Jetah.
Speaker 12 (16:54):
No nonsense, Uh, he ain't got much to say.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
The other day we did media with the podcast, and
he wouldn't. He refused to.
Speaker 12 (17:03):
Answer my question because he knew I was gonna.
Speaker 8 (17:05):
Ask him some bullshit. He knew I wasn't gonna ask him.
He knew I was gonna play with him.
Speaker 12 (17:11):
He said, yan yo, and he walked out the room
and he don't play that he got one mission.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
He's a true leader.
Speaker 12 (17:18):
I've watched him grabbed the team during huddoes and like, yo,
we gotta take this now, we.
Speaker 8 (17:24):
Got to He's a real leader.
Speaker 12 (17:25):
He's a small guy, but as far as leadership, he
is a true leader. And that's the difference between him
and a lot of the players we just mentioned that
were really individual, great players, but.
Speaker 8 (17:42):
Didn't know how to lead a team.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Is you know of all the Burroughs in New York.
You're from the South Bronx, and you got the Jets
and the Giants, and the Yankees and the Mets. There's
all sorts of teams in New York. It always felt
like to me, I said this ten years ago. I've
always argued the Yankees are the most productive and successful,
but I've always felt the Knicks are the most popular.
The whole city's into the next. When you were a
(18:07):
kid growing up, were the Knicks your favorite New York
sports team?
Speaker 12 (18:13):
We would go to the barbershop and watch it on
a little black and white TV and watch them play
against Jordan.
Speaker 8 (18:21):
Whenever I saw Jordan play, he was this small, So whenever.
Speaker 12 (18:25):
I go and I say courtsyde I say a major
prayer and I look up a deck and I said,
thank you God, please.
Speaker 8 (18:34):
I can't believe.
Speaker 12 (18:34):
I mean, like I'm you know, we would get together
like this is what it is, man, This is New
York basketball, man, and we're finally there at the Big Dance.
Speaker 8 (18:46):
And when you see this emotion from fans.
Speaker 12 (18:49):
I saw a San Antonio fan today on one of
on TV and he was like, yo, man, it was
amazing to see the fans' passion for their team and how.
Speaker 8 (19:00):
Much they want to win. This is a guy that
was our enemy on the other side.
Speaker 12 (19:04):
He was like, I mean, you can't describe it when
you're watch And I got friends from LA. I got friends.
I lived in Miami for twenty years. Those are arch rivals.
I argued every single day at the recording studio.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
With twenty guys about the Nixon it.
Speaker 12 (19:19):
And those guys are finally calling me, say, yo, Joe,
not for nothing, man.
Speaker 8 (19:22):
We happy for you, man, We want you to win.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
We happy for you.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
No. I think it's the most likable New York team
that I ever remember. And I always liked the Yankees,
but I find there's a there's an authenticity to the crowd,
the people, the fans. I want to end with this.
You got a new song called Victory Lap five Grammy
nominations for you. You still perform, by the way, give
Victory Laps some love here.
Speaker 12 (19:46):
Yeah, yeah, Victory Lap new single. I felt like summertime
needed the anthem. We got young miamis the hottest young
chicken the game on there, and we got my partner Jadakiss,
So we.
Speaker 8 (19:59):
Pretty much brought up podcast.
Speaker 12 (20:00):
We got a podcast show and Jada on Netflix in music.
So it's the weirdest thing because you know, it's almost
like you're watching.
Speaker 8 (20:09):
The podcast with you hearing the song.
Speaker 12 (20:11):
It's really really hot, produced by Coolan Dre Mike Zombie.
Speaker 8 (20:15):
Is gonna be the anthem for the summer.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Fat Joe, absolute pleasure, keep crushing. Okay, now, just one
more thing. Game five is tomorrow very emotional win five
point underdog. Be honest as a Nick fan. Are you
nervous about tomorrow?
Speaker 8 (20:33):
I'm nervous about every game. I'm nervous about every game. Listen.
Speaker 12 (20:39):
I asked a friend of mine who won the championship.
I said, what does it feel like? He said, it
feels like you ain't win the championship. Kill you win
the championship, and once you win the championship, you're like,
oh my god.
Speaker 8 (20:53):
We won the championship. Other than that, everything's up for grabs.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Yeah, it sure is. Hey, thanks for joining our show.
You're a busy person. Your podcast is crushing and thanks
man appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and Noon Easter not a Empacific.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Well, he's the greatest soccer coach in the history of
our country. Former US national team manager, head coach, sporting director,
now the San Jose Earthquakes. But he won three Gold
Cup titles, five college titles, five MLS titles. He's got
the most wins, took us to two World Cups. Nobody's
ever done that before. He has such great experience, and
he was always tolerant and patient when I asked him
(21:36):
questions as a young aspiring soccer enthusiast, and Bruce Arena
now has been kind enough to join us. I mean, listen,
it is a really People think it's hard to coach
in the NBA or the NFL United States Men's national team.
You got politics, the academy system, You've got you know,
(21:57):
guys are over in Europe, and I want to start
with Polistic because he had a very turbulent, very rocky
start bruce with Mauricio Pochattino, and I kind of defended.
I kind of defended Polistic. I said, Okay, we got
a lot of guys overseas. Now that's where they make
their money. It's it's this is not the NBA, this
(22:17):
is not the NFL. You play college, go to the pros.
Mauricio and Polistic, I think are in a better space.
But it does lead me into the first question. Is
it that valuable? Is it that important that you're always
eye to eye, that you always get along with your
best player? Is it? I mean, soccer is different, it's international.
(22:41):
What do you make about Mauricio and Christian's early turbulence.
Speaker 10 (22:45):
Well, I think it's important that you have a good
relationship with your best player, you know, and you're not
fighting each other all the time.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
And I have a feeling they're doing fine.
Speaker 10 (22:54):
I sent Christian a note actually the other day he's
playing very well right now.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
He hasn't he didn't.
Speaker 10 (23:00):
We have a good closing couple of months with this
team in Milan, but his exhibition games before the World
Cup have been very good and I just told him
enjoy he's in good form.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Enjoy it.
Speaker 10 (23:14):
And I think you know, behind the scenes, my guess
is the manager and the player getting along pretty well.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
When you went into World Cups, obviously health is number
one you want your squad. What was the second most
important thing? Was there a vibe? Was there something that
maybe the average fan doesn't see Beyond health, we all
know you need a healthy team. What else matters going
into the World Cup?
Speaker 10 (23:41):
Well, clearly just the mentality of the group and stepping
on the field and believing you can win. And I
think this is a really special time for the US team.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
I remember in.
Speaker 10 (23:51):
Two thousand and two we opened up with Portugal that
had the World Player of the Year in Lewis Figo,
and they were the third ranked team in the world,
and we went with a lot of confidence and beat him.
And then in twenty twenty six, my team against the
Czech Republic, it was a team that wasn't really together
and didn't have great confidence and we lost the opening game.
I think this game tonight against Paraguay is going to
(24:14):
be a great game for the US team. They're playing
at home, They're in good form, they're healthy, and they
believe they can win. So I think this is going
to be a good night for US soccer.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Now Polistic when they faced the Netherlands and the last
World Cup, it was a very young team. Netherlands was
old and physical, and you kind of have a sense
when you watch teams face the United States, especially in
the last World Cup, it was like take Polisic out
of it, like just force him to get rid of it.
I think we're too talented now to do that. I
think we have too many creative playmakers, or at least
(24:46):
more than just one. Does Polisic have to be great?
Does he have to be a goal scorer for us
to win?
Speaker 10 (24:53):
Well, he has to be a good play he has
to be dangerous, he has to be creative in the attack.
And one weakness I think of this team right now
is they don't have great balance in the attack and
they have been a little bit too dependent on Christian.
But this good plays around them. Balligun's a good player,
The midfield is strong. Hopefully the defense is going to
(25:16):
be solid, and we need good playing the goal. But unfortunately,
whether you like it or not, Christian's the key figure
in the attack and he's got to be on his
game for the US to be successful.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
What is the identity? I want you to go back
to your team that had some success two thousand and two,
and I'm going to ask you, first of all, what
was the identity of that? I think identity matters in sports.
So let's start with a two thousand and two team.
What was your identity going in and was it established
at that World Cup?
Speaker 10 (25:48):
Well, we had some experienced players at the international level
such as Brian McBride and Claudia Arena and Ernie Stewart,
Kobe Jones, etc. Goalkeeping with Freedol was fantastic. The US
team now is a very talented team and very athletic.
(26:08):
That's our DNA, and they're playing a pressing game so
that they're tempting to take the game to their opponents,
which I like, and I think that's what you're going
to see tonight. I think you're going to see a
team that is going to go out and take the
game to Paraguay and that's going to be the DNA,
and we're very athletic. The young player Freeman at right
back is very good. Robinson at left back is good.
(26:30):
The midfield is strong with McKinney and Adams. So I
really believe that our DNA is our athleticism and our aggressiveness,
and hopefully we show that tonight.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
The pressure of playing at home, how does it land
for you? Do you think it's pressure, expectation, it burdens
some or it's just a joyful experience.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I think it's going to be a great experience.
Speaker 10 (26:58):
And you know, I've read to play in Los Angeles
and opening up in two thousand and two, in soul
or in Germany in two thousand and six. If you're
complaining about playing a World Cup.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
At home, you don't belong on the field.
Speaker 10 (27:12):
And I think the home field could be a great
advantage for the US team in group play and further
they advance.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I do worry a little bit. I think our goalkeeping
is fine. I don't think it's not our strength and
it has been historically. But I also think we're more
capable of being an attacking team and not relying maybe
as much on set pieces. Let's talk about Chris Richards
did not play in a couple of the friendlies leading
(27:43):
up to it, coming off an injury. Would you limit
his play? Would you start him. What do you do
when you have a player that hasn't played a lot
is valuable in your weakest potential unit. Do you kind
of go in thinking, listen, guys, we're going to have
some limitations here, or do you just let it play
out well.
Speaker 10 (28:03):
I think he had a pretty pretty complete club season.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
With this team in England, and he's fitted. You know,
he's been out him.
Speaker 10 (28:11):
For say three weeks, four weeks, but I think they've
they've worked him behind the scenes, and if they feel
that he got through training this week in good form
and he's healthy, I think they're going to go with
him because he's critically important in their central defense and
they have an experienced player and a player that can
depend on is important and that'll be very helpful for
(28:34):
our goalkeeping as well. So I think if he's physically fine,
they'll go with him. If they can't get ninety minutes
out of them, then they go with somebody else. But
if he's healthy, I think they'll start him.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Tonight, Bruce Arena for our radio audience the most wins
by a head coach in US men's soccer history. Tonight,
we're favored. Paraguay doesn't offer a terribly dynamic offensive attack.
They've got some experience, they've got some age, and they're
more of an aggressive defensive squad. When you would go
(29:08):
into a World Cup and there's so much energy. Tom
Brady's talked about this in Super Bowls, you don't even
remember the first series, you're so amped up. Did you
manage a little differently in World Cup situations? Knowing I mean,
you're at home the expectations. Did you ever go in
intermission and just say, guys, we're going to make a
pivot here, not just the substitution. Do you manage differently
(29:31):
with heightened expectations in heightened moments?
Speaker 8 (29:36):
Well?
Speaker 10 (29:36):
You can, But you know, I think the manager of
this team is very experienced and he's not laying a
whole lot of pressure on them, in fact, you know,
giving him big speeches and going raw, raw and oil.
He knows his team. He's got a bunch of experienced players.
A couple are in the experience at the international level.
(29:58):
But I think their attitude is going to be to
be very aggressive and take the game to Paraguay, and
I think playing at home in the opening game, I
think they want to go in halftime with the lead.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
They want to really get after Paraguay.
Speaker 10 (30:14):
The worst thing that can happen is they come out
in a passive manner and let Paraguay take the game
to them.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
And I don't think that's going to happen.
Speaker 10 (30:23):
I think you're going to see throughout this World Cup,
regardless of who they're playing, the US team is going
to be very aggressive and we saw that in their
less friendly against Germany. So you have a team with
a lot of experience, guys that have been World Cups before,
and there's no reason to believe that they can't have
a simple attitude is let's.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Get after them. And I think I would.
Speaker 10 (30:44):
Associate the US team with the San Antonio team now
in the NBA. Young guys, aggressive guys, and they're going
to get after it.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Polistics struggled ac Milan. I don't think he scored a goal,
and it could have been his last sixteen or so
seventeen matches. That's that's quite a streak.
Speaker 12 (31:02):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
I don't know about his health, but he played. Is
that a confidence thing? Is it a coaching thing? I mean,
droughts happened for even the greatest scorers. When I read that,
you know about a month ago that he'd gone through
that scoring drought. I didn't know what to make of that.
What would you make of it?
Speaker 10 (31:20):
Well, he had a couple of nag and injuries and
and Milan is a very difficult place to play in
and uh, you know, they were a very competitive race
towards the end in Syria, and I think for whatever reason,
he wasn't in good form, and I think a lot
of it was associated to an injury. But he came
(31:42):
into the training camp for the World Cup and physically good.
In his last two exhibition games he's been our best player.
So I think you're going to see the best of
Christian policy tonight.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Finally, Bruce Arena joining us. What are expectations for you
that you would feel like we move the ball forward,
that we would come out of this and you I
mean cause I just looked the other day. If we
got out of the group stage and we end up
with Belgium, Well, Belgium's on a heater, Belgium's got a
(32:15):
higher FIFA ranking, Belgium's really good. So I think when
you get to the knockout stage, everything gets ratcheted up.
What to you, would you feel very positive coming out
of this?
Speaker 8 (32:28):
Well?
Speaker 10 (32:29):
I think obviously the starting point is to get three
points tonight, and they do that, they position themselves to
win the group, and then they get to the round
of thirty two. And if the group point is they're
going to play probably a team in around the thirty
two that they're going to beat, and they're going to
be in around the sixteen, and then around the sixteen
(32:49):
it's anybody's game. I don't know what the potential matchups are,
but there's a possibility that we can get to the
round of eight, which we did in two thousand and two.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
So there's a lot of positives ahead.
Speaker 10 (33:01):
But it's critically important that we win tonight and position
ourselves to win the group, and that'll allow us in
around the thirty two and sixteen to be positioned to
win those games as well. If the US team advances
to the quarterfinals in this World Cup, it's a completely
successful World Cup.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
And I'll be honest, Colin, I don't think.
Speaker 10 (33:21):
They're going to win the World Cup, and I don't
think that would surprise anybody, but a good shown is
very important for the sport in our country. We've made
a lot of progress, but now we need to show
the people in our country that we can be competitive
at the international level, and I think this team is
very capable of doing that.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Bruce Arena, my friend, it's always great to see you.
Congrats on all your success and enjoy your current place
at San Jose Earthquakes. Thank you again, Thank you, Colin.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
All right, really good man, Bruce Arena is give me
a dark horse. How about Netherlands. How about that for
a dark horse. I mean they're Netherlands. They're pretty good.
That's not much of a swing by me.
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. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.