March 24, 2026 • 54 mins
Matt Doyle and Tab Ramos break down Christian Pulisic and the importance of him returning to top form, including why building the USMNT attack around his skill set could unlock the team’s full potential. They explore how a core attacking group featuring Folarin Balogun, Weston McKennie, and Pulisic can transform the final third, and dive into the ongoing question surrounding Tim Weah, where is he most effective for the U.S.: as an attacker or in a deeper defensive role?
The conversation then shifts to the global stage, as Tab and Tom rank their Top 5 dark horse contenders for the FIFA World Cup. Including why they both put the U.S. on the their lists. Plus, Tab offers a detailed look at how the U.S. approached scouting during the 2014 World Cup, revealing the level of preparation required to compete at the highest level.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I think the only thing I'm looking at with our
team at the moment. I'm not worried about polistic I'm
not worried about Balligan, I'm not worried about McKinney. I'm
not worried about any of the attacking guys. My only
concern is what happens in the back.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Greeting spokes and welcome back to Inside American Soccer. I'm
Matt Doyle, the armchair analyst, and I'll be filling in
for new dad Tom Boger for a few more weeks.
And I'm honored once again to be joined by my
friend tab Ramos, one of the greatest players in US
men's national team history. Veteran of three World Cups, one
(00:37):
that was really good, one that was great, and then
one that we talked about last time on this show
that we don't have to talk about ninety eight again.
Said let's spin it forward, talk about twenty twenty six.
You won't be at that one, tab as a player,
but you're gonna be watching and we're gonna get an
idea this coming a weekend of what we'll see from
the US.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, no question. Well, first of all, great to be
on with you, once again. It's a good reminder that
you said you'll be here for a few more weeks.
But hopefully you can stay on. You know, maybe when
Tom comes back, it can be the three of us.
I'll think I've.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Been from time to time. I'll annoy Tom. That's good,
good radio. Everybody likes that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
That would be great. And I'm imagining that Tom's son
now is going into high school or something like that.
It seems like Tom's been gone for a little while.
But uh, but yeah, no, I'll tell you it's exciting
times right now because it's it seems like now it
starts to count, right Like we've been going through this
whole process the last couple of years, and in particular,
(01:35):
you know, we brought a new coach and Puschettino and
obviously maybe the greatest coach we could find at the
time worldwide, and that's been excellent, and there's been a
lot of you know, trials and over seventy players coming
to going from the team. But now I think this
is the time to start seeing what we have right
and I think I think it's really exciting. You know,
(01:56):
the World Cup is right around the corner, and I
think it's gonna be a great one.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, it's weird because it's the home World Cup, so
you don't get the ups and downs and the tension
of that qualifying cycle, and it makes it feel so
different than previous iterations. Now, I'm old enough to remember
ninety four, and obviously you had a big part to
play with that ninety four team, but it was different
back then. You guys almost acted like a club team
(02:23):
with the amount of games that you were playing and
how tight the team was. It's just a very different
environment in twenty twenty six compared to what you all
went through in that cycle.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, I imagine that it was so at the time. Obviously,
I was at Betty's in Spain, so I didn't get
to live the pre World Cup hype. If there was
such a thing at the time. We you know myself
and I think it might have been John Harrik's and
maybe Eric went, a couple of guys that had been
ed Roy regularly, a couple of guys that had been
playing overseas. I think we only came in right at
(02:54):
the end, so we missed a lot of what was
going on beforehand.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, nobody has missed much that's gone on with this
US team over the past couple of years, even though
it's been like this weird sort of interregnum between tournaments
that really really matter. But on today's show, we'll dive
into some stuff, the bigger questions that still need to
be answered in these March friendlies. That's why they play
(03:20):
the game at this point obviously, And we'll rank our
top five World Cup dark horse contenders, which is actually
really tough because I'm of the opinion that we've actually
seen more stratification in the international game. I think the
gap between the top seventy eight teams and the rest
of the pack is as large as it's ever been. Plus,
(03:41):
we'll go inside the locker room with Tab for the
ninth excuse me for the twenty fourteen World Cup team
scouting preparation. From the moment the drag comes out, you
know who you're gonna play, and it's up to the
individual teams to figure out, the coaches to go on
the scouts to then present that to the players so
that they're no surprises. Everybody's prepped, all right, top, let's
(04:03):
get into it. US men's national team players over the weekend.
Christian Bollizik finally in the box score again he got
an assist for Milan and ending his drought. Obviously, it
is incredibly important for him to get back into form
down the stretch for his club team, but also it
would be nice to see him put the ball in
the back of the net or at least get an
(04:24):
assist over the course of these two matches for the US.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, and you know, I mean, it's it's great to
see that he got on let's say, on the scoreboard,
right that he was able to contribute on a goal.
But you know, I think what's important is the fact
that he's he's playing well. He looks comfortable physically, he
looks good, and I think that's the most important part.
Sometimes you can have those goal contributions, but if you're
now getting home and you're still helping the team in
(04:50):
other ways, it still means that you're doing a pretty
good job. And I you know, I continue to be
amazed by the fact that he's such an important player
for such a big club and and of course goal
contributions are important, but I see the bigger picture and
I think he's in a good place right.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Now to talk a little bit about the role he's
playing for AC Milan because it's a little different than
I think what we've seen of him with the US.
With the US, he's dropping into midfield more as a playmaker.
With ac Milan, he really is kind of a second forward.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, he plays that secondary role. And I think we've
discussed on this show in the past that that's the
reason why potentially somebody like Weston McKinney can be a
good compliment to him, right, because he can come from
a little further back and provide you know, McKinny can
go to either side coming from behind because he really
(05:42):
covers the whole He can cover the whole field, and
that would allow Christian to have the freedom to sort
of roam behind Baligan, right, and Baligan to stay central
a little bit more so. I you know, obviously, you
know we're all this is like a Monday morning quarterbacking, right,
It's easy to coach someone else's team. But you know,
(06:03):
I've said it all along that I think if we
have a chance in this World Cup, we sort of
have to build a team. And people disagree with this obviously,
but I think we sort of have to build a
team around our best player, and I think our best
players Christian Politic, and the more comfortable we can make him,
the better it will be for the team. Considering that
Christian Polisic has not been great, you know, for the
(06:26):
national team over the last couple of years, so I
think I would be comfortable with us building a little
bit around them.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So how much do you think of it in terms
if you're coaching it right, how much do you think
of it in terms of building it around the best player?
And how much do you think of it in terms
of building around the best partnership. Because the way you
were talking about Weston playing underneath and his ability to
cover ground actually unlocking freedom for Polisic. I don't know
if fans think of it that way, but when I
(06:54):
watch a game, I'm often watching how these two players
are three players because you work into that work together.
And how much does that go into a coach's thinking.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Well, I think a lot, because that goes into the
player's IQ right of how they read the game, and
that's important. And I think when you're looking at Balligan,
Polistic and McKinny, I think you have three players that
have a really high IQ for understanding space within that
let's say a little bit further than the final third, right,
(07:25):
So I do see McKinny filling in the holes that
that that Polistic would be leaving behind. I see Baligan
being a little bit more essential because that's what he's
good at. But all three of them can read off
of each other. That's I like that a little bit.
And by the way, not that Tillman couldn't do the
job in that spot as well. I just like a
(07:46):
little bit more what what McKinny can offer as a
I have to do whatever I have to do. And
by the way, that's what he does with Juventus, right,
He fills in wherever he can, so I see him
as a as a better compliment to Polisic and Balligan.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I think that Weston is a little bit more technical
than Tilman as well, more likely to unlock the game
with a touch, which we've seen for Juventus both in
Syria in Syria excuse me, and internet and continental play.
I think his best position is as that sort of
almost false number ten underneath to forwards who are then
(08:27):
given that freedom to combine and attack without having to
think about making the game. And that's who Christian Polistic
is for ac Milan. So if you think about partnerships
and attack and the ability to sort of tilt the
pitch in a way that benefits are our most dangerous players.
It does seem to all line up also lining up
(08:48):
Tim waya right wing back. That's where he played this
past weekend for Marseille. It's become come his positions have
like he's played all over the field for a couple
of teams now, but he has looked at his best
at right wing back and I would certainly like to
see him get some run for the US in that
(09:09):
position over these next couple of games against Belgium Portugal.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, I think it could be a good idea if
Bogettino is thinking that's where he can play. And I
think in the World Cup, if you look at what
in particular what Paraguay and Australia have to offer, there's
no question that Tim Waya can play that wide role.
I'd be concerned a little bit against Belgium to have
him out there if Doku is going to be there,
(09:34):
because Doku is just purely out and out winger who's
a great dribbler, and Tim's going to need that double
team if he's going to defend that. You know, if
you watch a little bit of the let's say, and
this is how he plays every week Doku by the way,
because I think he's one of the more important players
in the world in terms of like his his level
at this point. You know, Real Madrid double and triple
(09:56):
team him in order to keep them away from the box.
And I think we're gonna have to do that. I think,
if you know, if if we play with three center backs,
I think Tim could potentially do the job as long
as he delays and waits for help, because there's no
question that by himself it would be he would be
difficult to Doka would be difficult to handle.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Way is listed as a forward the US rosters. Should
we read anything at all into that? Or is that
just accounting doesn't matter at all?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I mean, I think you can't help but read into it,
right because you know, in the end, when you look
at a roster, you still have Scali there and you
still have Freeman there, So those are your really your
outside backs or or you know, or wing backs, So
you have to read into it. I would like to
see one of the other two guys play that position
and not Tim Wei, and I would like to look
(10:50):
at Tims as more of a secondary striker rather than
that wide role for our team.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
The other two guys have talking about Joe Scalley, who
I think is in this camp fighting for a job,
like one of the last names of the camp. Got
this invite I think in part because Serginiodst picked up
an injury. Now he is expected to be healthy before
the end of the club season for PSV, but it's
worth noting. And then the other one is Alex Freeman.
(11:17):
He's played about forty minutes for Via Real since making
that move, hopefully a little bit more on his plate
in the weeks and months to come close to a
lock for me. But nobody's written in penn. Maricio Pochettino
has made that clear and we've seen it with the
way Johnny Cardoso has been in and out of camps.
(11:39):
He plays for one of the biggest clubs in the
world in Athletico Madrid. He has gotten his chances with
the US, he has not taken them. He has not
played well in his I think he has twenty two
caps for the US now and I can't remember a
single one where I was like, he was really, really good,
And that's why he's on the fringes on this roster
despite playing for such a great club. Now he played
(12:02):
pretty well against Real Madrid over the weekend. This is
his chance to have like what are what do we
need to see? What do we want to see from
Johnny given that Tyler Adams is absent?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Well, I mean I think you you know, all of
the things you said, You're absolutely right. I think I
think the issue here is we because you said this
as well, we haven't seen this with the national team,
and out of the twenty two games that we've watched
that he's played, we only remember, likely the mistake he
made against Turkey, which, by the way, anybody can make
(12:36):
right anytime. But when you have that as the only
play that that fans can remember after two games, it's
really not a good place to be. I think we
need to turn the page. He's likely in the best
moment he's been in his career right now. He's playing
important games for one of the top clubs in the world,
and I hope that it translates to our national team.
(12:58):
You know, in the end, he's not a flashy player.
He's a support player, and because of that, I think
if we can, if we can get him the playing time,
and he gets through these two games Belgium and Portugal
really without making mistakes and just supporting people in front
of him, ball recovery, spreading balls around, just doing all
the simple things, right. I think he plays himself into
(13:21):
the picture and potentially into the starting eleven at one point.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
One of the things that Athletic is good at is
compressing the field, and their defensive midfielders don't actually cover
as much ground as you see some from some of
the other top teams in the world, and that's that's
by design. So they put the game Simioni really puts
the game right in front of them and says destroy here,
(13:47):
win the ball here, play forwards here the US it's
a little bit more expansive in that position. And you know,
Tap was talking about Doku a few minutes ago. Doka
gets an isolation over on that wing. The defensive midfielder
has to rotate over and cover that. You cannot let
Doku come inside and go direct at goal. That then
(14:08):
he beats the wing back. He compromises a set like
that is the rotation that Johnny Cartoso or Christian Rodan
or Aiden Morse, whoever is playing as the six, that
is the thing that they have to be aware of.
Against Belgium, it's going to be different against Portugal. Portugal
has guys who will set up as that number ten
(14:29):
or kind of a free eight in zone fourteen, and
it becomes at times almost more of a one v
one thing for the defensive midfielders.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Tap. Yeah, you know, every team is different and you
have to prepare differently for every every one of them.
You know. You know, like I said before, Doku just
happens to be a very hot player at the moment
in good form, so you have to have to prepare
for that. And by the way, you know, we we
could likely play Belgium in the World Cup and that
could happen again. So I think it's a great it's
(14:58):
great preparation for us to see where we are. And
in terms of having the midfielder rotating there, yeah, I mean,
that's that's gonna have to happen. And whether that's that's
gonna be Cardozo or someone else that has that assignment
to go there, you're likely going to need at least
two players. And I think if Waya plays in that spot,
or even if Alex Freeman plays in that spot, or
(15:19):
Scaley plays in that spot, They're still going to have
to give Doku room until they get that coverage to
be able to challenge the ball. Once you have help,
you can't challenge the ball before. So yeah, these are
little tactical things that I think obviously Boschettino is gonna
get right because he knows a lot more than I do,
so I'm sure he's gonna get that right. And but yeah,
(15:41):
every team is different and you just have to prepare,
that's all.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, Is there one of these teams? Because the games
are really close, right, the games are Saturday and then Tuesday,
so we're expecting a lot of rotation in the squad,
even within the context of a couple of friendlies. Is
there one of these two teams that you would rather
see Johnny get his runout against his if we assume
(16:07):
sixty minutes in one game and then thirty the next,
is there one of these two that you would rather
see him get the sixty in?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Well, I mean that that's you know, that's that's a
tough call because if you if you look at the
Portugal team and now you're looking at Nevis and Bettina
in the middle of the field with likely Bruno Fernandez
there too. Man, if all three of those guys are
playing at one time, you know you're gonna be doing
a lot of defending because they just don't lose the ball, right,
(16:35):
And so do we want to see them in that
environment or do we want to see him maybe against
Belgium that likely doesn't have as strong of his censor
midfield and we can potentially have the ball a little
bit more. I would rather see him against Belgium where
he has to maybe run that coverage all the way
to the sideline, see how he makes that effort. But
at the same time, maybe he can have a little
(16:57):
bit more of the ball and we can see him
on the ball a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, either way, it's gonna be a really good test
for Johnny, for Christian Roldan, for Ian Morris. And then
we also have the two guys who we think of
as the number eights in the pool, which are Tanner Tessman,
who I think both of us have in our first
choice eleven for the US national team. And then's a
batsm Burholter who's played really well, who does cover a
(17:22):
ton of ground for Vancouver, maybe doesn't cover it as
quickly as some of the top players in the world.
But he's got an engine so and he's he's shown
I think the fight that Muricio Pochettino likes. We're gonna
find out a lot about these guys over the next
one hundred and eighty minutes. I'm looking forward to it.
We found out that Roman Celentano goalkeeper for FC Cincinnati
(17:44):
and was on this roster. He no longer is. He
has picked up a knock, some muscle tightness, maybe from
picking the ball out of his own net. It's been
a tough times for since he over the start of
the season. He's been replaced by Patrick Schulte, who's he's
been in camps before. Columbus haven't been great to start
the season. It really hasn't been Shulty's fault. Do we
(18:06):
have any concerns about that at all? Or is that
just like, okay, the goalkeepers check.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I think it's more the goalkeeper's check and I and
I did and I did hear Bob Bradley mentioned the
importance of a third goalkeeper as if you know, someone
gets hurt and then you have to use your third
goalkeeper at some point, and he made a couple of
good points about that. Yet I the third goalkeeper would
not concern me at this point. We have I think,
(18:33):
if anything, I think Marico Bochettino's showing his cards here.
He's got a top five and out of those five,
three will go right and and by the way, the
top two will likely be Freeze and Turner. So now
it's is it going to be Brady? Is it gonna
be Shalty? Is it gonna be Salentano as the extra goalkeeper?
And I think that's that's as much as I'd like
to talk about goalkeepers.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, it's all about the lives. We can talk a
little bit more about striker Ricardo Peppy back healthy again,
back in the transfer window, transferred market news again because
it looked like his move to Fulham was done, uh
and then suddenly it wasn't done. Like, first of all,
(19:19):
what's going on? Man? In? Second of all, is this
something that US national team fans should be concerned like?
Because on off, big move, career defining like that could
affect the guy on the field, not just off.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
I have to, as let's say, as a fan, I'm
a little bit concerned about this one because you know,
now the numbers that we saw, well, I think we
saw latest number was forty million, right transfer to Fulham.
You know, now you're waiting until the summer. With forty million,
there's gonna be a lot of players this summer that
will have a good World Cup that likely Fulham can
(19:54):
be looking at. And if and if Peppy is going
to be most of the time on the bench for us,
he's not going to show as much as other players.
And now you start to think, you know, the numbers
got so high that for that number, you're gonna have
a lot of options if you're Fulham. And so I'm
seeing this as a little bit of a disappointment and
(20:15):
in a step backwards.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, so think about it on the field right like, like,
is this something that you worry? Like if you're coaching
Ricardo Peppy right now, how do you approach him and
make sure that his head is in the game, that
his head is not thinking about that forty million and
that move to Fulham.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, so now we can go a little bit deeper
about what happened, right, So apparently according to Ernie Stewart
and what I read, I didn't speak with Ernie, but
for what I read was, you know, Fulham wanted some
sort of guarantee if if Peppy were to get hurt
between now and the World Cup, and then they would
be able to take their money back, right, which, of
course if you're sounding a player, you don't want to
do that, if you're a PSV because if you're doing that,
(21:01):
you're preventing yourself from buying your next forward, Like you
have to start thinking forward now, you have to plan
in to the future, so you can't do that. And
so if you're Peppy at this point, of course you're disappointed,
but you also know that there's a good reason for that.
It wasn't that the club didn't want to sell you,
and it wasn't that the other club didn't want to
have you, And so I understand what you're saying. It
(21:22):
does have a little bit of an effect. It is
likely he would be making a lot more money right
if he moved, But I think he has to have
confidence in himself that he's going to get another transfer
later on, because at this point, I don't think it's
either club's fault, to be honest, I think they're both.
They both have a right. First of all, Fulham to say, hey,
I'm going to spend forty million. I want to make
sure I bring a healthy player and PSB to say, well,
(21:45):
I can't guarantee that. And because of that, if you don't,
if we don't get the money guaranteed, I can't go
out in the market and get the substitute for pepe.
So I think both clubs are doing the right thing.
Unfortunately it doesn't work for Peppee, but I think you
should be okay.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Was Ernie Stewart this tough negotiator when when you guys
are on the team together, because he seems like who
state like, I would not want to play cards against
this man? It's wild, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
I always felt that Ernie was very professional, you know,
and the way you see him now as the same
way he was as a player. He understood the game,
you know, he was he was one of those players
that you could potentially see be a coach down the
road because he really read the game well and was
very serious about it as as most Dutch people are,
(22:33):
right they you know. But but yeah, he was a
He's a very smart player.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
A smart executive as well, no doubt about that. PSV
has done really good work in the transfer market over
the past few years. Hopefully they'll do some more good
work this summer with Ricardo Pappy. Hopefully he plays well
in these games coming up for the US earned himself
a bigger role, maybe even a bigger paycheck for PSV.
(23:00):
We will see about that for us. It's time for
a break. We'll be right back with our top five
World Cup dark Horse Contenders. Please rate, review, and subscribe
to Inside American Soccer with Tom Buger and tab Ramos
wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, welcome back to Inside
(23:27):
American Soccer. Tab I kind of tipped my hand earlier
in the show when I said that I think there's
a larger gap between the top seven eight teams in
the world and like the chasing pack, than there ever
has been, which is to say, for this segment, which
is our top five World Cup dark Horse Contenders, I
really really struggled to come up with anyone who I
(23:48):
could see actually winning this thing who's not considered one
of the favorites. But you're the one who suggested this bit.
You're the one who suggested this time five. So I'm
I'm passing to you. Man. Take us through your list.
You actually, in true Tabramo's fashion, you listed six for
(24:11):
your top five and I respect that about you. So
take us through. Who do you have at number five?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Yes, So let me say first that when I suggested,
I did it without thinking, as as a lot of
the things I do so which is not a great trait.
But but and of course, whenever we put a list
of whatever the number is, I'm always going to add
to that list. And so I also have honorable mention,
right because I didn't put I didn't put Columbia or
(24:38):
Morocco on this list. And and I'm gonna say this,
the reason I didn't do that is because there's a
little bit of a higher expectation for those teams and because,
like you, exactly what you're saying, I actually don't see
a dark horse winning this World Cup either. I sort
of selected. I selected teams that I think can surprise
and can't go a lot further or than we could expect.
(25:03):
So that's sort of how I picked my list. So
as as a fifth place, I had a combination of
Paraguay and Turkey. And this is the reason. By the way,
Turkey hasn't qualified yet as of this moment. They have
to get through it and they may not, by the way,
But the reason I'm saying this is because they're in
US's group, and in that group, I think if you're
(25:24):
a Paraguay or Turkey, you have to be thinking that
you also have a chance to come in first place. Obviously,
that's how you look at it. The pathway coming out
of first place in this group could really set you
up in a situation where you could find yourself in
a quarterfinal matchup. And because of that, I don't think
that pre World Cup we are thinking of Paraguay or
(25:48):
Turkey as a quarterfinalist at all. And because of that,
I think that these would be dark horses to actually
make noise in the World Cup if they can win
that group. So that's why came from Turkey.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Of course, is in the in the intercomt or excuse me,
in the European uay of playoff, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo the
other ones. The US will play one of those four teams.
Turkey is huge, huge favorites to come out of that
and they have a lot of talent to have, but
they traditionally kind of underperform that talent. Other than two
(26:24):
thousand and two, for whatever reason, they haven't been able
to put it together. US Benz though, should be tuning
into those games, should be watching Turkey. Because this is
a team, as you said, we are likely to play
in this tournament. We have already played your number four
team in a friendly last October. That's Ecuador. Tab tell
(26:44):
us through what you've take us through what you've seen
from that team.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Yeah, well, I mean, I think again dark horse because Ecuador,
I'm not even sure if they've ever gotten out of
the first round, and if they have, maybe they've won
one game. It's not a team that we're used to
seeing at the World Cup. But I tell you what,
when you look at their roster, and in particular they're
they're they're defenders for Ecuador. You know if you if
they say you're gonna win tournaments by playing good defense,
(27:10):
they have the players at the highest possible level you
can have on defense. When you look at Incapia back there,
you're looking at at William Patcho playing for PSG, who
obviously not only is a great defender, but he's also
excellent coming out of the back. You have Caceedo as
the number six who can win everything, and then you
(27:31):
still have like an older guy like Enter Valencia up
top who can get you goals. And I think when
you know when you can defend well and up top
you have a poacher like Valencia who can win games.
Be careful with Ecuador because if they get out of
their group, they can make some noise. And that's the
reason I put him there.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
We saw that against the US in that right. Now,
granted neither team was at full strength, but like there
were a lot of good players on both sides of
that field. Ecuador play hard and they like they're a
fundamentally sound team that doesn't give you anything easy, and
that has traditionally been a path to the quarterfinals or
(28:09):
maybe beyond right because you look at that ability to
unbalance a game with Pacho in particular, carrying the ball
into an opposer like that gives every team trouble. At
the club level. Now, there's a difference in terms of
attackers between what Ecuador have and what PSG you have,
So it was spinning that type of ball progression off
(28:31):
the back line into something at the international level maybe
a little bit different. But they're a very dangerous team.
And I like that pick, and I think everybody's gonna
like the pick that you guys, that you have at
number three, because we all watch the African comp nations
and there's only one champion tab and it's Senegal.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
That's right, and by the way, well deserved because they
were the better team in the final. And obviously we
know about the championship getting taken away and all the
issues that happen when they walk off the field, all
of the things. But I think we have to look
at what happens when they have their eleven on the field.
I have to say this is this is maybe the
deepest African team that I've ever seen. You know, I'd
(29:11):
have to go back to maybe Nigeria's ninety eighteen potentially
for me to think of an African team that I
think had just so much talent at the highest level.
And obviously, you know Mani will be there, and Dan
and Nicholas Jackson up front. You know, you have three
guys that can win a game anytime, and the rest
(29:31):
of the team is stacked starters and substitutes. Goalkeeper Mendy
obviously he's a good goalkeeper as well. So this is
certainly a team that and they're in a difficult group,
but if they can get out of the group at
second or third and still make a lot of noise
in this World Cup.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
And it's interesting from an American perspective because we have
been so good over the years about integrating dual nationals,
including yourself, Uruguayanguayan, American, and that's what we see from
this Senegal team because so many of these guys were
born and raised in France to Senegalese parents, and honestly,
(30:15):
we've seen what France has become over the past twenty
five years. They're a juggernaut. They produce more top talent
than I think anybody in the world other than maybe Spain,
and a lot of those guys who are not quite
good enough for the French team that has made the
last two World Cup finals and won one of them,
they're finding their way into this Senegal side and they
(30:40):
are overwhelming at times.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
They are they are and I think really impressive. You know,
what they did at the Africans Nations Cup was impressive
and I think they can have the same sort of
run at this World Cup.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Your number two teams surprised me, but then I thought
about it a little bit, and I thought about the
talent that they had and it kind of made sense.
Norway with perhaps the best, well the best striker in
the World I'll say that early island, but also more
talent down into the midfield and along that back line
than I think people realize.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Yeah, this is this is really a complete team. So
of course you have Holland uh and of course you
have Soreloth by the way, who can score, you know,
on his own. You have oder guard who can run
the show. But you have a number of players in
midfield and in the back who are good players. And
all you have to do is look at their qualification.
I mean they they breezed through qualifying, they beat everyone uh,
(31:36):
and they qualified easily for the World Cup. And I
think the results that people will remember is that they
beat Italy both home and away. But this is this
is a legit team that again they're in that same
group with Senegal and France, so they could get out
of that group as a second or third and still
make noise at the World Cup, because I think they're
good enough for that.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I think the France Norway game might be one
of the best games to watch because there is a
little bit of a rivalry between him Bape and and
aland I think both guys have a point to prove
whenever they end up playing each other, and right now,
the balls kind of on Bape's foot. If you look
(32:19):
what he's done the past two World Cups and what
Real Madrid have consistently done against Manchester City, I think
it would be I think early aland early Alan would
enjoy it greatly if they got one over on France
in this one. Odeguard though, is a special player. He is.
He is a kid who I remember when he was
fifteen or sixteen, he broke through into the first team
(32:42):
up in Norway and then he made that move to
Real Madrid. Didn't quite work out for him there, but
he takes an otherwise unwatchable Arsenal team and makes them
watchable with the way he plays the game.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, he really helps the rest of the team move.
He's the one that can next all the pieces of
that are Arsenal team. You know. Sometimes obviously Edsay is
chosen ahead of them. They don't normally play both together
at the same time. But I think he's different, much
different player than that's say. He's more of a distributor,
distributor constructor, you know, he can find that those three balls,
(33:18):
he can He's really he's really a player that makes
that Arsenal team better, and I think in this World
Cup he will help this team make some noise.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
And then your number one pick, I shouldn't have been surprised.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
No, well, the number one pick, and listen, I'm not.
I'm not just jumping on the bandwagon. The number one
team for me is the US because we are in
that group. You know, I selected uh, you know, Paraguay
and in Turkey coming out of this group because if
they could come in first place, and they're thinking about that,
they could have a good run. I think the US
will be in first place, and I think the US
(33:54):
will likely have a good run. Now, of course it's
our expectation that our team will make it to the
round sixteen at the very least, but I do think
that it's not It wouldn't be a huge surprise if
our team ends up in the quarterfinals, are potentially a
great run into the semifinals. And I think that's why
I'm picking the US team out of all those teams
that I name, including Paraguay and Turkey. I think our
(34:18):
team is the more complete team of all of those.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Complete team, good balance. What needs to happen between now
and then for you to have the confidence that actually
they're going to be able to handle this, and they're
going to be able to take it all the way
to the summit. Is it as simple as Christian Polistic
and Clobe Baligan get hot, stay hot, and it sort
(34:45):
of rolls forward from there.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
I think the only thing I'm looking at with our
team at the moment, I'm not worried about Polistic, I'm
not worried about Baligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. I'm
not worried about any of the attacking guys. My only
concern is what happens in the back. What are three
central defenders are going to be? If there's three, and
if there's two, I'd be careful with that because I'm
(35:08):
not comfortable at this point to say that with two
central defenders we can make a run at this World Cup.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, Yeah, I think I agree with that. I actually
had I made my own list. I had the US
at five, specifically because I'm concerned about that back line,
and right now, none of the center backs are making
a compelling case that they're the right guy to partner
Chris Richards. And that includes partners on either sides, Guys
(35:38):
who we've been waiting for them to break out. Haven't
managed to break out, but they're still on my list.
I went with a different African team. I went with Egypt.
I know they didn't win African combinations, but I just
really liked the way that they played. It is going
to be tough. We all know the season that Masala
has had, and we all know that they don't necess
(36:00):
sssarily have the type of top end talent that Morocco
and Senegal have. But I just I think that they
have a way of playing that sort of maximizes the
entire squad, and then you just need Mosala to have
and Marmouche to have the type of tournament that we've
seen from stars of that caliber in the past. My
number three team is Japan, not I think unbalanced, the
(36:24):
greatest Japanese squad that we've seen, but I watched that
win that they had over Brazil a couple of months ago,
and to have any time a team beats Brazil, even
in a friendly, it ends up being a pretty compelling
piece of data that they're really really good.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
I'm just going to comment on on on Japan right now.
I totally agree with you. I felt bad not even
mentioning them in the honorable mentioned part of my list
that wasn't supposed to be on. But with players like
Kubo and Endo and Kamada and they have, they have
the talent to make a run. I think a little
(37:02):
bit of a concern for me is the fact that
Endo is injured and not sure if he'd be back,
and I think that would be a huge loss for
them because he really he holds all of that together.
But there's no question this is a talented team. And
by the way, I'd be happy to see him make
a run because they play great soccer. They're really fun
to watch.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
They are. And the other thing about them, we talk
about the US last time, through being young and sometimes
like Egypt I just mentioned, maybe a little bit old
in certain places. If you look at that Japanese roster,
everybody is aged twenty four through thirty, right, everybody is
like right in their prime, and it feels like if
(37:44):
they are going to make a run, this would be
the right time for them. Switzerland has a group that's
a little bit older in certain parts and a little
bit younger in certain parts. But every time I've watched
them play over the past year to a half or so,
they've just looked like a really well constructed team to me,
(38:06):
and I don't think they have any super high level
match winners. And you know, the central defense can be
a little bit if the if a kanji is not
really locked in, but they like if it's felt like
they're on the verge for a long long time. And
then you look what they did in World Cup qualification,
like they breezed through it and here they are, and
(38:29):
you know, maybe they're ready to go. And by the way,
they absolutely killed both the US and Mexico last June
in the you know friendlies, but still like they were
just a level or three above.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree with any of that.
I just I considered switching on a little bit, like
I see Columbia, which which is, you know, another one
of those teams that really wouldn't surprise me as much
as they make, you know, if they would make a run,
I still don't see them with a potential to win
the World Cup. And because of that, I think if
(39:03):
I were to see a Switzerland run to let's say,
the quarterfinals, it wouldn't necessarily surprise me. I think they
have that type of talent. They're also usual customers at
the World Cup. They know what it is about, they
know what they're playing for, and so yeah, I think
it's a good call. The only reason I didn't pick
them is because I sort of expect for them to
(39:25):
do well, So not much of a dark course for me.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Yeah. And then my number one on the list was
your team Senegal. I think we both believe that this
team is capable of a quarterfinal or a semi final run.
But neither of us really believe that any of these
teams are going to beat the big boys. Probably gonna
be friends, Spain, maybe Brazil, maybe Argentina. Again, we shall
(39:50):
see in the coming months who hoists the World Cup
twenty twenty six trophy for us. It's time for one
more break. Next up, we'll discuss the results we want
to see from the US team versus Belgium and Portugal,
neither of whom could be considered dark horses in this one.
By the way, thanks for listening to Inside American Soccer.
Please rate, review, and subscribe. Welcome back to Inside American Soccer.
(40:24):
We got games with the US versus Belgium and Portugal
coming up. It looks like tab, It looks like Cristiano
Ronaldo will not be playing for Portugal during this set
of friendlies, and so heading into the weekend, how much
do these results matter to you? Do you care more
about the results or do you care more about the
(40:46):
process and performance.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
I think it's a little bit of both. I think
you want to get results because you want to go
into the World Cup with the confidence knowing that you
can win the games. But at the same time, you know,
I think the coach is looking at different combinations. I
you know, when I look at the twenty seven players
that were selected this time, is likely that about twenty
four of them will be at the World Cup. And
(41:10):
because of that, I think this is a World Cup trial.
And when the players get on the field, they know
that for some of them, this is their last chance
and and for most of them it's the last chance
to prove that they want to be on the starting eleven,
and so that that has a huge weight on the players.
And you're also playing great teams. You're playing two teams
(41:31):
that could you know, make a run of this World Cup,
and so because of that, I think you got to
look at both, and you got to look at see
when the substitutions are made. You know, you start with
your starting team, do you change a whole team going
into second half? Like all of those things come into
play in these friendly games.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
What's more important to you then, is it to see
how the guys at the top of the roster, or
that we perceive to be the top of the roster.
We know that Mauricio Pochettino would take issue with me
framing it that way, but to see how they play
together or to sort out who's in spots twenty through
twenty six on the roster heading into June and heading
(42:12):
into the World Cup itself.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
So I'll have to answer that as me and not
as what I think Marizio Bocchettino is doing. And if
it were me, my last concern is what happens between
number twenty and number twenty six. At this point, what
I'm worried about is my starting eleven because it's likely
that you know, the players who aren't here because of injury,
(42:35):
they may not be here in the summer either because
of injury, and there may be other ones you had,
And so at this point, you know, only a couple
months remove from the World Cup and playing maybe the
best competition that we've played in years. I'd want to
see my starting eleven and see how I can max
that out and see what output we have against good squads,
(42:56):
and then see how I can correct what I don't
like and reinforce the things that I like against good teams.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
You talked about the defensive side of the ball for
the US, and I think I mentioned it as well,
finding the right partner for Chris Richards or partners really,
because we both think that the US are going to
continue that sort of hybrid four to three back system.
What else do you want to see clarity on the
(43:28):
defensive midfield depth chart? I assume clarity, you know, left
wing back, because Jedi Robinson is back and he did
play sixty minutes this past weekend for Fulham, so he's
just about fit again, even though I don't think he's
yet looked like the pre injury version of Jedi.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Yeah, that's what I would like to see. I would
like to leave this camp after having played Belgium and
Portugal with a very clear idea in terms of what
my starting the leving is going to be, and if
I have to make one or two changes because of
injury or because now Tyler Adams is back and I
can slot him into that spot. Then those are small changes,
(44:06):
but I would want to see as a coach, I
would want to see my starting eleven. I want to
know what that looks like after this camp.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Yeah, so I think the spots that are up for
grabs are on that back line primarily. But then there's
also a little bit of like, okay, how do we
use Weston? Do we use Weston deeper as a number
eight or do we use him as that number ten.
He's played both spots for Juventus obviously, for the US
(44:36):
he's played primarily as a number eight in the past,
and Tad We've had multiple guests on over the past
couple of months saying, okay, give me your give me
your US best eleven. We've seen Weston lined up anywhere
and everywhere in all of these Where do you have
him now heading into camp? And do you want to
(44:57):
see him play both spots over the course of these
two games?
Speaker 1 (45:02):
So I would see him as that attacking midfielder. So
if you're if you're gonna have let's say Baaligan with
a free a freer Polisic running behind, I would see
as McKenny the next player to add to the attack.
So I see him in that position with in an
(45:22):
ideal scenario, Adams and Testament behind them. That's where I
would see McKinny at this point. Now if you're saying,
you know, maybe we can see them in the other position,
because you know, Adams may not be there, and the
best way to fix that for US may not be
by bringing in a Christian Rodin or or Johnny Cardoso
or sebastianball Hurt told maybe the best way to do
(45:43):
that is by just, you know, pushing a better player
back so that you can add another good player, which
would be like a Tilment for example, and a little
bit more of an attacking role. Then you can do that,
and I'm sure that Pushatino would likely play them in
both positions.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Yeah, it's gonna be some stuff for him to figure out,
for Mauricio Pochettina to figure out. He's done a really
good job of it since September, since half time of
that game against South Korea. Obviously, it was the worst
half the US I think had played other than maybe
against Switzerland under Mauricio Pochettino. That first half or then
(46:19):
the second half was excellent and it's been excellent since
then for the US trying to spin that ahead into
these two friendlies against two very very strong teams in
Belgium and Portugal. Too strong for them to have been
mentioned in the previous segment on World Cup Dark Part
since though obviously if either of them manages to win
(46:40):
this thing, it would be their first World Cup title. Todd,
you have been inside the locker room for the US,
both as a player and a coach, and one of
the things that sort of maybe the fan base doesn't
have an appreciation of them is what goes in to
(47:00):
scouting your opposition because once the you know, once the
draw is made, well, the US knows two of their
three opponents now will know by this time next week,
will know the third. It'll likely be Turkey. You scouted
for I think it was a twenty fourteen World Cup.
Take us through what that process was like and how
(47:21):
you get this information to these athletes in a way
that is digestible for them.
Speaker 1 (47:28):
Yeah, So this is really interesting actually, because you know,
I think a lot of people will not know like
all of the different aspects of being a national team.
You know, sometimes you know, I think, and it's normal
by the way, as a regular fan, you're going to
be looking at the national team and you look, you
see it as, Okay, we're gonna call twenty guys this
camp with twenty five players, and these eleven are gonna play,
(47:50):
and then we select the best ones later on. But
when you look at the national team, you look, you know,
the national team is it's sort of a corporation in itself,
and there are so many any different parts to it, right,
and whether that's the high performance department, the medical department,
you know, obviously pr and all of those other things
that don't necessarily connect to the first team. Now you
(48:11):
have a scouting department, and that scouting department, I think
is the part that I'd like to focus on a
little bit because that part itself, it's almost like it's
a company of its own, so you know. And and
by the way, this is not how old teams may
do it, and this is not how Mauricio Pochettino and
his staff maybe doing it. I can only speak for
how Jurgen did it back in twenty fourteen. And if
(48:33):
Jurgen did in twenty fourteen, it's very likely that this
is sort of a German way to do it. Which
is which is likely that some of the top, you know,
national teams in the world do it this way. So
the way Jurgen did it was we waited for the
for the draw to come out, and once the draw
came out, we already had a plan for sort of
a central scouting area and we had groups of two
(48:57):
people per team that would be scattered, let's say, immediately
throughout the world to actually follow our teams. Right. So,
for example, in that World Cup, we had uh we
were playing Germany, we were playing Ghana, and we were
playing Portugal. And so for example, myself and Javier Perez
(49:18):
who later coached Toronto and was assistant coach at Toronto.
I think he's in Atlanta now it's like Academy director
or something. But anyway, Javier and I had Germany and
so we had to follow Germany wherever Germany played and
their friendlies. You go there, you sort of immerse yourself.
It's not just watching video of Germany. You actually go
to the games. You're at the stadium, you're reading the
(49:39):
reports that are coming out, you're reading the local press
about what they're saying, and you're trying to find every
single detail, every single advantage about what every single player said,
what every coach said, whatever you assistant coach said on
a certain interview, and you try to pull you try
to gather all of that information together from all your
separate groups of scouts. So I was in the Germany group,
(50:03):
then you then we had a Ghana group, then we
had a Portugal group. And then once you get right
before the World Cup, as you're getting together, you compile
all of this information and you put it together into
a let's say, twelve to fourteen minute presentation that you
have to make the players because you have to. You
have to remember, players after twelve fourteen minutes, they don't
pay attention anymore. So that's regardless of what how high
(50:26):
the level or whatever else. You're lucky if you get
twelve to fourteen minutes. So you have to compile all
this information of months of travel, reading foreign press, you know,
all of these things that you put together in order
to have one little scouting report that's about the team.
So and once you get to Brazil. Now you get
to Brazil. It was my job, for example, in the
twenty fourteen team to present each one. So I presented
(50:49):
Germany of course, because I followed them, but I also
had to present Ghana to the players on a report
that another group had done, And I also had to
present Portugal to the team because those groups of st
immediately after we got to Brazil, they scattered to watch
what our potential second round opponents would be. So they're
already working. They finished every port, they're already working on
(51:10):
the next team. So it's it's just part of the
full machine of what the national team is like.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
Tap, I have bad news that twenty fourteen Germany team
had no weaknesses at all? Right, Is that what your
scout came up with? Is that what you After watching
him for a few games, they're like, oh man, we're
in trouble.
Speaker 1 (51:28):
My My scouting report took about thirty seconds. I told
the guys, good luck. No, we were actually, you know,
if you think about it, we were actually very fortunate
because obviously, you know, I was doing the Germany's scouting
report in front of Jurgen Klintchman, who obviously no one
knows Germany better than him, and in front of Bertie Voges,
who of course won the World Cup as a player
(51:49):
and as a coach, so no one knows more than him.
About Germany. So I was I have to say, if
all the presentations that I made in front of the teams,
my Germany presentation at the two thousand and four Team
World Cup was by far the most nervous I've been.
Speaker 2 (52:03):
So during these scouting presentations, how much of it are
you just distilling down facts about the team that you're
going up against versus how you think the team going
up against matches up with what the US has to offer.
Are you just like trying to keep it as bare
minimum as possible, or you're trying to sort of extrapolate
(52:26):
here's where we can go at them, Here's where they
might be vulnerable.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Yeah, So that's a great question. Because of the limited
time that you have in front of the players, what
you do as you prepare for the World Cup. Within
the rooms that you have, let's say your training room,
meeting rooms, you already have pictures of let's say the
opponents players and their tendencies, so that players, let's say
Matt you're a right back and you wanted to see
(52:51):
what the left winger for Germany was doing, we already
have all that detailed in the training room, where you
could just go up and read about it for example, right,
And then of course you have all the clips that
you can watch on video and all those other things
that we also send to you. So there's a there's
a bunch of information that players are getting at different times.
And and to answer your question, the part where you
(53:14):
sit in front of the room is more specific as
to the tactics of how they play as a team
and where you can hurt them and where they could
potentially hurt you.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
Yeah, give them the overview there and then find ways
to work specifics into the scout at various times, maybe
on the on the training pitch, or maybe in the
locker room, and hopefully in a way that gets the
US one round further. I've ever got. That's all I'm
asking for. One round further then we've gone in recent
(53:45):
modern World Cup history. I think we'd all be satisfied
with the semi final performance this summer to have, of course,
we are going to have to go through a couple
of friendlies first. That's what's on the schedule for the
coming week for the US, and that means we're gonna
have a special edition of Inside American Soccer coming up
(54:06):
in between these two games, and then a quick one.
After these two games, Tab and I will be on
the ones and twos trying to figure out what we
just saw on what it means for the World Cup
squad this coming summer. I'm excited the games are starting
to really really matter. That we're I think less than
eighty days away from the World Cup kickoff. It's gonna
(54:27):
be a fun time and hopefully historic one for the US.
Thank you Taving being here as always, and thank you
all for listening to Inside American Soccer. Please rate, review,
and subscribe. We'll be back on Sunday for our reaction
to that Belgium match. And we also have another new
show coming up after Portugal next week, and we will
see you with that
I think the only thing I'm looking at with our
team at the moment. I'm not worried about polistic I'm
not worried about Balligan, I'm not worried about McKinney. I'm
not worried about any of the attacking guys. My only
concern is what happens in the back.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Greeting spokes and welcome back to Inside American Soccer. I'm
Matt Doyle, the armchair analyst, and I'll be filling in
for new dad Tom Boger for a few more weeks.
And I'm honored once again to be joined by my
friend tab Ramos, one of the greatest players in US
men's national team history. Veteran of three World Cups, one
(00:37):
that was really good, one that was great, and then
one that we talked about last time on this show
that we don't have to talk about ninety eight again.
Said let's spin it forward, talk about twenty twenty six.
You won't be at that one, tab as a player,
but you're gonna be watching and we're gonna get an
idea this coming a weekend of what we'll see from
the US.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, no question. Well, first of all, great to be
on with you, once again. It's a good reminder that
you said you'll be here for a few more weeks.
But hopefully you can stay on. You know, maybe when
Tom comes back, it can be the three of us.
I'll think I've.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Been from time to time. I'll annoy Tom. That's good,
good radio. Everybody likes that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
That would be great. And I'm imagining that Tom's son
now is going into high school or something like that.
It seems like Tom's been gone for a little while.
But uh, but yeah, no, I'll tell you it's exciting
times right now because it's it seems like now it
starts to count, right Like we've been going through this
whole process the last couple of years, and in particular,
(01:35):
you know, we brought a new coach and Puschettino and
obviously maybe the greatest coach we could find at the
time worldwide, and that's been excellent, and there's been a
lot of you know, trials and over seventy players coming
to going from the team. But now I think this
is the time to start seeing what we have right
and I think I think it's really exciting. You know,
(01:56):
the World Cup is right around the corner, and I
think it's gonna be a great one.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, it's weird because it's the home World Cup, so
you don't get the ups and downs and the tension
of that qualifying cycle, and it makes it feel so
different than previous iterations. Now, I'm old enough to remember
ninety four, and obviously you had a big part to
play with that ninety four team, but it was different
back then. You guys almost acted like a club team
(02:23):
with the amount of games that you were playing and
how tight the team was. It's just a very different
environment in twenty twenty six compared to what you all
went through in that cycle.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, I imagine that it was so at the time. Obviously,
I was at Betty's in Spain, so I didn't get
to live the pre World Cup hype. If there was
such a thing at the time. We you know myself
and I think it might have been John Harrik's and
maybe Eric went, a couple of guys that had been
ed Roy regularly, a couple of guys that had been
playing overseas. I think we only came in right at
(02:54):
the end, so we missed a lot of what was
going on beforehand.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, nobody has missed much that's gone on with this
US team over the past couple of years, even though
it's been like this weird sort of interregnum between tournaments
that really really matter. But on today's show, we'll dive
into some stuff, the bigger questions that still need to
be answered in these March friendlies. That's why they play
(03:20):
the game at this point obviously, And we'll rank our
top five World Cup dark horse contenders, which is actually
really tough because I'm of the opinion that we've actually
seen more stratification in the international game. I think the
gap between the top seventy eight teams and the rest
of the pack is as large as it's ever been. Plus,
(03:41):
we'll go inside the locker room with Tab for the
ninth excuse me for the twenty fourteen World Cup team
scouting preparation. From the moment the drag comes out, you
know who you're gonna play, and it's up to the
individual teams to figure out, the coaches to go on
the scouts to then present that to the players so
that they're no surprises. Everybody's prepped, all right, top, let's
(04:03):
get into it. US men's national team players over the weekend.
Christian Bollizik finally in the box score again he got
an assist for Milan and ending his drought. Obviously, it
is incredibly important for him to get back into form
down the stretch for his club team, but also it
would be nice to see him put the ball in
the back of the net or at least get an
(04:24):
assist over the course of these two matches for the US.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Yeah, and you know, I mean, it's it's great to
see that he got on let's say, on the scoreboard,
right that he was able to contribute on a goal.
But you know, I think what's important is the fact
that he's he's playing well. He looks comfortable physically, he
looks good, and I think that's the most important part.
Sometimes you can have those goal contributions, but if you're
now getting home and you're still helping the team in
(04:50):
other ways, it still means that you're doing a pretty
good job. And I you know, I continue to be
amazed by the fact that he's such an important player
for such a big club and and of course goal
contributions are important, but I see the bigger picture and
I think he's in a good place right.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Now to talk a little bit about the role he's
playing for AC Milan because it's a little different than
I think what we've seen of him with the US.
With the US, he's dropping into midfield more as a playmaker.
With ac Milan, he really is kind of a second forward.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, he plays that secondary role. And I think we've
discussed on this show in the past that that's the
reason why potentially somebody like Weston McKinney can be a
good compliment to him, right, because he can come from
a little further back and provide you know, McKinny can
go to either side coming from behind because he really
(05:42):
covers the whole He can cover the whole field, and
that would allow Christian to have the freedom to sort
of roam behind Baligan, right, and Baligan to stay central
a little bit more so. I you know, obviously, you
know we're all this is like a Monday morning quarterbacking, right,
It's easy to coach someone else's team. But you know,
(06:03):
I've said it all along that I think if we
have a chance in this World Cup, we sort of
have to build a team. And people disagree with this obviously,
but I think we sort of have to build a
team around our best player, and I think our best
players Christian Politic, and the more comfortable we can make him,
the better it will be for the team. Considering that
Christian Polisic has not been great, you know, for the
(06:26):
national team over the last couple of years, so I
think I would be comfortable with us building a little
bit around them.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So how much do you think of it in terms
if you're coaching it right, how much do you think
of it in terms of building it around the best player?
And how much do you think of it in terms
of building around the best partnership. Because the way you
were talking about Weston playing underneath and his ability to
cover ground actually unlocking freedom for Polisic. I don't know
if fans think of it that way, but when I
(06:54):
watch a game, I'm often watching how these two players
are three players because you work into that work together.
And how much does that go into a coach's thinking.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Well, I think a lot, because that goes into the
player's IQ right of how they read the game, and
that's important. And I think when you're looking at Balligan,
Polistic and McKinny, I think you have three players that
have a really high IQ for understanding space within that
let's say a little bit further than the final third, right,
(07:25):
So I do see McKinny filling in the holes that
that that Polistic would be leaving behind. I see Baligan
being a little bit more essential because that's what he's
good at. But all three of them can read off
of each other. That's I like that a little bit.
And by the way, not that Tillman couldn't do the
job in that spot as well. I just like a
(07:46):
little bit more what what McKinny can offer as a
I have to do whatever I have to do. And
by the way, that's what he does with Juventus, right,
He fills in wherever he can, so I see him
as a as a better compliment to Polisic and Balligan.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I think that Weston is a little bit more technical
than Tilman as well, more likely to unlock the game
with a touch, which we've seen for Juventus both in
Syria in Syria excuse me, and internet and continental play.
I think his best position is as that sort of
almost false number ten underneath to forwards who are then
(08:27):
given that freedom to combine and attack without having to
think about making the game. And that's who Christian Polistic
is for ac Milan. So if you think about partnerships
and attack and the ability to sort of tilt the
pitch in a way that benefits are our most dangerous players.
It does seem to all line up also lining up
(08:48):
Tim waya right wing back. That's where he played this
past weekend for Marseille. It's become come his positions have
like he's played all over the field for a couple
of teams now, but he has looked at his best
at right wing back and I would certainly like to
see him get some run for the US in that
(09:09):
position over these next couple of games against Belgium Portugal.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, I think it could be a good idea if
Bogettino is thinking that's where he can play. And I
think in the World Cup, if you look at what
in particular what Paraguay and Australia have to offer, there's
no question that Tim Waya can play that wide role.
I'd be concerned a little bit against Belgium to have
him out there if Doku is going to be there,
(09:34):
because Doku is just purely out and out winger who's
a great dribbler, and Tim's going to need that double
team if he's going to defend that. You know, if
you watch a little bit of the let's say, and
this is how he plays every week Doku by the way,
because I think he's one of the more important players
in the world in terms of like his his level
at this point. You know, Real Madrid double and triple
(09:56):
team him in order to keep them away from the box.
And I think we're gonna have to do that. I think,
if you know, if if we play with three center backs,
I think Tim could potentially do the job as long
as he delays and waits for help, because there's no
question that by himself it would be he would be
difficult to Doka would be difficult to handle.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Way is listed as a forward the US rosters. Should
we read anything at all into that? Or is that
just accounting doesn't matter at all?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I mean, I think you can't help but read into it,
right because you know, in the end, when you look
at a roster, you still have Scali there and you
still have Freeman there, So those are your really your
outside backs or or you know, or wing backs, So
you have to read into it. I would like to
see one of the other two guys play that position
and not Tim Wei, and I would like to look
(10:50):
at Tims as more of a secondary striker rather than
that wide role for our team.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
The other two guys have talking about Joe Scalley, who
I think is in this camp fighting for a job,
like one of the last names of the camp. Got
this invite I think in part because Serginiodst picked up
an injury. Now he is expected to be healthy before
the end of the club season for PSV, but it's
worth noting. And then the other one is Alex Freeman.
(11:17):
He's played about forty minutes for Via Real since making
that move, hopefully a little bit more on his plate
in the weeks and months to come close to a
lock for me. But nobody's written in penn. Maricio Pochettino
has made that clear and we've seen it with the
way Johnny Cardoso has been in and out of camps.
(11:39):
He plays for one of the biggest clubs in the
world in Athletico Madrid. He has gotten his chances with
the US, he has not taken them. He has not
played well in his I think he has twenty two
caps for the US now and I can't remember a
single one where I was like, he was really, really good,
And that's why he's on the fringes on this roster
despite playing for such a great club. Now he played
(12:02):
pretty well against Real Madrid over the weekend. This is
his chance to have like what are what do we
need to see? What do we want to see from
Johnny given that Tyler Adams is absent?
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Well, I mean I think you you know, all of
the things you said, You're absolutely right. I think I
think the issue here is we because you said this
as well, we haven't seen this with the national team,
and out of the twenty two games that we've watched
that he's played, we only remember, likely the mistake he
made against Turkey, which, by the way, anybody can make
(12:36):
right anytime. But when you have that as the only
play that that fans can remember after two games, it's
really not a good place to be. I think we
need to turn the page. He's likely in the best
moment he's been in his career right now. He's playing
important games for one of the top clubs in the world,
and I hope that it translates to our national team.
(12:58):
You know, in the end, he's not a flashy player.
He's a support player, and because of that, I think
if we can, if we can get him the playing time,
and he gets through these two games Belgium and Portugal
really without making mistakes and just supporting people in front
of him, ball recovery, spreading balls around, just doing all
the simple things, right. I think he plays himself into
(13:21):
the picture and potentially into the starting eleven at one point.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
One of the things that Athletic is good at is
compressing the field, and their defensive midfielders don't actually cover
as much ground as you see some from some of
the other top teams in the world, and that's that's
by design. So they put the game Simioni really puts
the game right in front of them and says destroy here,
(13:47):
win the ball here, play forwards here the US it's
a little bit more expansive in that position. And you know,
Tap was talking about Doku a few minutes ago. Doka
gets an isolation over on that wing. The defensive midfielder
has to rotate over and cover that. You cannot let
Doku come inside and go direct at goal. That then
(14:08):
he beats the wing back. He compromises a set like
that is the rotation that Johnny Cartoso or Christian Rodan
or Aiden Morse, whoever is playing as the six, that
is the thing that they have to be aware of.
Against Belgium, it's going to be different against Portugal. Portugal
has guys who will set up as that number ten
(14:29):
or kind of a free eight in zone fourteen, and
it becomes at times almost more of a one v
one thing for the defensive midfielders.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Tap. Yeah, you know, every team is different and you
have to prepare differently for every every one of them.
You know. You know, like I said before, Doku just
happens to be a very hot player at the moment
in good form, so you have to have to prepare
for that. And by the way, you know, we we
could likely play Belgium in the World Cup and that
could happen again. So I think it's a great it's
(14:58):
great preparation for us to see where we are. And
in terms of having the midfielder rotating there, yeah, I mean,
that's that's gonna have to happen. And whether that's that's
gonna be Cardozo or someone else that has that assignment
to go there, you're likely going to need at least
two players. And I think if Waya plays in that spot,
or even if Alex Freeman plays in that spot, or
(15:19):
Scaley plays in that spot, They're still going to have
to give Doku room until they get that coverage to
be able to challenge the ball. Once you have help,
you can't challenge the ball before. So yeah, these are
little tactical things that I think obviously Boschettino is gonna
get right because he knows a lot more than I do,
so I'm sure he's gonna get that right. And but yeah,
(15:41):
every team is different and you just have to prepare,
that's all.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, Is there one of these teams? Because the games
are really close, right, the games are Saturday and then Tuesday,
so we're expecting a lot of rotation in the squad,
even within the context of a couple of friendlies. Is
there one of these two teams that you would rather
see Johnny get his runout against his if we assume
(16:07):
sixty minutes in one game and then thirty the next,
is there one of these two that you would rather
see him get the sixty in?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Well, I mean that that's you know, that's that's a
tough call because if you if you look at the
Portugal team and now you're looking at Nevis and Bettina
in the middle of the field with likely Bruno Fernandez
there too. Man, if all three of those guys are
playing at one time, you know you're gonna be doing
a lot of defending because they just don't lose the ball, right,
(16:35):
And so do we want to see them in that
environment or do we want to see him maybe against
Belgium that likely doesn't have as strong of his censor
midfield and we can potentially have the ball a little
bit more. I would rather see him against Belgium where
he has to maybe run that coverage all the way
to the sideline, see how he makes that effort. But
at the same time, maybe he can have a little
(16:57):
bit more of the ball and we can see him
on the ball a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, either way, it's gonna be a really good test
for Johnny, for Christian Roldan, for Ian Morris. And then
we also have the two guys who we think of
as the number eights in the pool, which are Tanner Tessman,
who I think both of us have in our first
choice eleven for the US national team. And then's a
batsm Burholter who's played really well, who does cover a
(17:22):
ton of ground for Vancouver, maybe doesn't cover it as
quickly as some of the top players in the world.
But he's got an engine so and he's he's shown
I think the fight that Muricio Pochettino likes. We're gonna
find out a lot about these guys over the next
one hundred and eighty minutes. I'm looking forward to it.
We found out that Roman Celentano goalkeeper for FC Cincinnati
(17:44):
and was on this roster. He no longer is. He
has picked up a knock, some muscle tightness, maybe from
picking the ball out of his own net. It's been
a tough times for since he over the start of
the season. He's been replaced by Patrick Schulte, who's he's
been in camps before. Columbus haven't been great to start
the season. It really hasn't been Shulty's fault. Do we
(18:06):
have any concerns about that at all? Or is that
just like, okay, the goalkeepers check.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
I think it's more the goalkeeper's check and I and
I did and I did hear Bob Bradley mentioned the
importance of a third goalkeeper as if you know, someone
gets hurt and then you have to use your third
goalkeeper at some point, and he made a couple of
good points about that. Yet I the third goalkeeper would
not concern me at this point. We have I think,
(18:33):
if anything, I think Marico Bochettino's showing his cards here.
He's got a top five and out of those five,
three will go right and and by the way, the
top two will likely be Freeze and Turner. So now
it's is it going to be Brady? Is it gonna
be Shalty? Is it gonna be Salentano as the extra goalkeeper?
And I think that's that's as much as I'd like
to talk about goalkeepers.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah, it's all about the lives. We can talk a
little bit more about striker Ricardo Peppy back healthy again,
back in the transfer window, transferred market news again because
it looked like his move to Fulham was done, uh
and then suddenly it wasn't done. Like, first of all,
(19:19):
what's going on? Man? In? Second of all, is this
something that US national team fans should be concerned like?
Because on off, big move, career defining like that could
affect the guy on the field, not just off.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
I have to, as let's say, as a fan, I'm
a little bit concerned about this one because you know,
now the numbers that we saw, well, I think we
saw latest number was forty million, right transfer to Fulham.
You know, now you're waiting until the summer. With forty million,
there's gonna be a lot of players this summer that
will have a good World Cup that likely Fulham can
(19:54):
be looking at. And if and if Peppy is going
to be most of the time on the bench for us,
he's not going to show as much as other players.
And now you start to think, you know, the numbers
got so high that for that number, you're gonna have
a lot of options if you're Fulham. And so I'm
seeing this as a little bit of a disappointment and
(20:15):
in a step backwards.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, so think about it on the field right like, like,
is this something that you worry? Like if you're coaching
Ricardo Peppy right now, how do you approach him and
make sure that his head is in the game, that
his head is not thinking about that forty million and
that move to Fulham.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, so now we can go a little bit deeper
about what happened, right, So apparently according to Ernie Stewart
and what I read, I didn't speak with Ernie, but
for what I read was, you know, Fulham wanted some
sort of guarantee if if Peppy were to get hurt
between now and the World Cup, and then they would
be able to take their money back, right, which, of
course if you're sounding a player, you don't want to
do that, if you're a PSV because if you're doing that,
(21:01):
you're preventing yourself from buying your next forward, Like you
have to start thinking forward now, you have to plan
in to the future, so you can't do that. And
so if you're Peppy at this point, of course you're disappointed,
but you also know that there's a good reason for that.
It wasn't that the club didn't want to sell you,
and it wasn't that the other club didn't want to
have you, And so I understand what you're saying. It
(21:22):
does have a little bit of an effect. It is
likely he would be making a lot more money right
if he moved, But I think he has to have
confidence in himself that he's going to get another transfer
later on, because at this point, I don't think it's
either club's fault, to be honest, I think they're both.
They both have a right. First of all, Fulham to say, hey,
I'm going to spend forty million. I want to make
sure I bring a healthy player and PSB to say, well,
(21:45):
I can't guarantee that. And because of that, if you don't,
if we don't get the money guaranteed, I can't go
out in the market and get the substitute for pepe.
So I think both clubs are doing the right thing.
Unfortunately it doesn't work for Peppee, but I think you
should be okay.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Was Ernie Stewart this tough negotiator when when you guys
are on the team together, because he seems like who
state like, I would not want to play cards against
this man? It's wild, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
I always felt that Ernie was very professional, you know,
and the way you see him now as the same
way he was as a player. He understood the game,
you know, he was he was one of those players
that you could potentially see be a coach down the
road because he really read the game well and was
very serious about it as as most Dutch people are,
(22:33):
right they you know. But but yeah, he was a
He's a very smart player.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
A smart executive as well, no doubt about that. PSV
has done really good work in the transfer market over
the past few years. Hopefully they'll do some more good
work this summer with Ricardo Pappy. Hopefully he plays well
in these games coming up for the US earned himself
a bigger role, maybe even a bigger paycheck for PSV.
(23:00):
We will see about that for us. It's time for
a break. We'll be right back with our top five
World Cup dark Horse Contenders. Please rate, review, and subscribe
to Inside American Soccer with Tom Buger and tab Ramos
wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, welcome back to Inside
(23:27):
American Soccer. Tab I kind of tipped my hand earlier
in the show when I said that I think there's
a larger gap between the top seven eight teams in
the world and like the chasing pack, than there ever
has been, which is to say, for this segment, which
is our top five World Cup dark Horse Contenders, I
really really struggled to come up with anyone who I
(23:48):
could see actually winning this thing who's not considered one
of the favorites. But you're the one who suggested this bit.
You're the one who suggested this time five. So I'm
I'm passing to you. Man. Take us through your list.
You actually, in true Tabramo's fashion, you listed six for
(24:11):
your top five and I respect that about you. So
take us through. Who do you have at number five?
Speaker 1 (24:15):
Yes, So let me say first that when I suggested,
I did it without thinking, as as a lot of
the things I do so which is not a great trait.
But but and of course, whenever we put a list
of whatever the number is, I'm always going to add
to that list. And so I also have honorable mention,
right because I didn't put I didn't put Columbia or
(24:38):
Morocco on this list. And and I'm gonna say this,
the reason I didn't do that is because there's a
little bit of a higher expectation for those teams and because,
like you, exactly what you're saying, I actually don't see
a dark horse winning this World Cup either. I sort
of selected. I selected teams that I think can surprise
and can't go a lot further or than we could expect.
(25:03):
So that's sort of how I picked my list. So
as as a fifth place, I had a combination of
Paraguay and Turkey. And this is the reason. By the way,
Turkey hasn't qualified yet as of this moment. They have
to get through it and they may not, by the way,
But the reason I'm saying this is because they're in
US's group, and in that group, I think if you're
(25:24):
a Paraguay or Turkey, you have to be thinking that
you also have a chance to come in first place. Obviously,
that's how you look at it. The pathway coming out
of first place in this group could really set you
up in a situation where you could find yourself in
a quarterfinal matchup. And because of that, I don't think
that pre World Cup we are thinking of Paraguay or
(25:48):
Turkey as a quarterfinalist at all. And because of that,
I think that these would be dark horses to actually
make noise in the World Cup if they can win
that group. So that's why came from Turkey.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
Of course, is in the in the intercomt or excuse me,
in the European uay of playoff, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo the
other ones. The US will play one of those four teams.
Turkey is huge, huge favorites to come out of that
and they have a lot of talent to have, but
they traditionally kind of underperform that talent. Other than two
(26:24):
thousand and two, for whatever reason, they haven't been able
to put it together. US Benz though, should be tuning
into those games, should be watching Turkey. Because this is
a team, as you said, we are likely to play
in this tournament. We have already played your number four
team in a friendly last October. That's Ecuador. Tab tell
(26:44):
us through what you've take us through what you've seen
from that team.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Yeah, well, I mean, I think again dark horse because Ecuador,
I'm not even sure if they've ever gotten out of
the first round, and if they have, maybe they've won
one game. It's not a team that we're used to
seeing at the World Cup. But I tell you what,
when you look at their roster, and in particular they're
they're they're defenders for Ecuador. You know if you if
they say you're gonna win tournaments by playing good defense,
(27:10):
they have the players at the highest possible level you
can have on defense. When you look at Incapia back there,
you're looking at at William Patcho playing for PSG, who
obviously not only is a great defender, but he's also
excellent coming out of the back. You have Caceedo as
the number six who can win everything, and then you
(27:31):
still have like an older guy like Enter Valencia up
top who can get you goals. And I think when
you know when you can defend well and up top
you have a poacher like Valencia who can win games.
Be careful with Ecuador because if they get out of
their group, they can make some noise. And that's the
reason I put him there.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
We saw that against the US in that right. Now,
granted neither team was at full strength, but like there
were a lot of good players on both sides of
that field. Ecuador play hard and they like they're a
fundamentally sound team that doesn't give you anything easy, and
that has traditionally been a path to the quarterfinals or
(28:09):
maybe beyond right because you look at that ability to
unbalance a game with Pacho in particular, carrying the ball
into an opposer like that gives every team trouble. At
the club level. Now, there's a difference in terms of
attackers between what Ecuador have and what PSG you have,
So it was spinning that type of ball progression off
(28:31):
the back line into something at the international level maybe
a little bit different. But they're a very dangerous team.
And I like that pick, and I think everybody's gonna
like the pick that you guys, that you have at
number three, because we all watch the African comp nations
and there's only one champion tab and it's Senegal.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
That's right, and by the way, well deserved because they
were the better team in the final. And obviously we
know about the championship getting taken away and all the
issues that happen when they walk off the field, all
of the things. But I think we have to look
at what happens when they have their eleven on the field.
I have to say this is this is maybe the
deepest African team that I've ever seen. You know, I'd
(29:11):
have to go back to maybe Nigeria's ninety eighteen potentially
for me to think of an African team that I
think had just so much talent at the highest level.
And obviously, you know Mani will be there, and Dan
and Nicholas Jackson up front. You know, you have three
guys that can win a game anytime, and the rest
(29:31):
of the team is stacked starters and substitutes. Goalkeeper Mendy
obviously he's a good goalkeeper as well. So this is
certainly a team that and they're in a difficult group,
but if they can get out of the group at
second or third and still make a lot of noise
in this World Cup.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
And it's interesting from an American perspective because we have
been so good over the years about integrating dual nationals,
including yourself, Uruguayanguayan, American, and that's what we see from
this Senegal team because so many of these guys were
born and raised in France to Senegalese parents, and honestly,
(30:15):
we've seen what France has become over the past twenty
five years. They're a juggernaut. They produce more top talent
than I think anybody in the world other than maybe Spain,
and a lot of those guys who are not quite
good enough for the French team that has made the
last two World Cup finals and won one of them,
they're finding their way into this Senegal side and they
(30:40):
are overwhelming at times.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
They are they are and I think really impressive. You know,
what they did at the Africans Nations Cup was impressive
and I think they can have the same sort of
run at this World Cup.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Your number two teams surprised me, but then I thought
about it a little bit, and I thought about the
talent that they had and it kind of made sense.
Norway with perhaps the best, well the best striker in
the World I'll say that early island, but also more
talent down into the midfield and along that back line
than I think people realize.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Yeah, this is this is really a complete team. So
of course you have Holland uh and of course you
have Soreloth by the way, who can score, you know,
on his own. You have oder guard who can run
the show. But you have a number of players in
midfield and in the back who are good players. And
all you have to do is look at their qualification.
I mean they they breezed through qualifying, they beat everyone uh,
(31:36):
and they qualified easily for the World Cup. And I
think the results that people will remember is that they
beat Italy both home and away. But this is this
is a legit team that again they're in that same
group with Senegal and France, so they could get out
of that group as a second or third and still
make noise at the World Cup, because I think they're
good enough for that.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, I think the France Norway game might be one
of the best games to watch because there is a
little bit of a rivalry between him Bape and and
aland I think both guys have a point to prove
whenever they end up playing each other, and right now,
the balls kind of on Bape's foot. If you look
(32:19):
what he's done the past two World Cups and what
Real Madrid have consistently done against Manchester City, I think
it would be I think early aland early Alan would
enjoy it greatly if they got one over on France
in this one. Odeguard though, is a special player. He is.
He is a kid who I remember when he was
fifteen or sixteen, he broke through into the first team
(32:42):
up in Norway and then he made that move to
Real Madrid. Didn't quite work out for him there, but
he takes an otherwise unwatchable Arsenal team and makes them
watchable with the way he plays the game.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, he really helps the rest of the team move.
He's the one that can next all the pieces of
that are Arsenal team. You know. Sometimes obviously Edsay is
chosen ahead of them. They don't normally play both together
at the same time. But I think he's different, much
different player than that's say. He's more of a distributor,
distributor constructor, you know, he can find that those three balls,
(33:18):
he can He's really he's really a player that makes
that Arsenal team better, and I think in this World
Cup he will help this team make some noise.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
And then your number one pick, I shouldn't have been surprised.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
No, well, the number one pick, and listen, I'm not.
I'm not just jumping on the bandwagon. The number one
team for me is the US because we are in
that group. You know, I selected uh, you know, Paraguay
and in Turkey coming out of this group because if
they could come in first place, and they're thinking about that,
they could have a good run. I think the US
will be in first place, and I think the US
(33:54):
will likely have a good run. Now, of course it's
our expectation that our team will make it to the
round sixteen at the very least, but I do think
that it's not It wouldn't be a huge surprise if
our team ends up in the quarterfinals, are potentially a
great run into the semifinals. And I think that's why
I'm picking the US team out of all those teams
that I name, including Paraguay and Turkey. I think our
(34:18):
team is the more complete team of all of those.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Complete team, good balance. What needs to happen between now
and then for you to have the confidence that actually
they're going to be able to handle this, and they're
going to be able to take it all the way
to the summit. Is it as simple as Christian Polistic
and Clobe Baligan get hot, stay hot, and it sort
(34:45):
of rolls forward from there.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
I think the only thing I'm looking at with our
team at the moment, I'm not worried about Polistic, I'm
not worried about Baligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. I'm
not worried about any of the attacking guys. My only
concern is what happens in the back. What are three
central defenders are going to be? If there's three, and
if there's two, I'd be careful with that because I'm
(35:08):
not comfortable at this point to say that with two
central defenders we can make a run at this World Cup.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, Yeah, I think I agree with that. I actually
had I made my own list. I had the US
at five, specifically because I'm concerned about that back line,
and right now, none of the center backs are making
a compelling case that they're the right guy to partner
Chris Richards. And that includes partners on either sides, Guys
(35:38):
who we've been waiting for them to break out. Haven't
managed to break out, but they're still on my list.
I went with a different African team. I went with Egypt.
I know they didn't win African combinations, but I just
really liked the way that they played. It is going
to be tough. We all know the season that Masala
has had, and we all know that they don't necess
(36:00):
sssarily have the type of top end talent that Morocco
and Senegal have. But I just I think that they
have a way of playing that sort of maximizes the
entire squad, and then you just need Mosala to have
and Marmouche to have the type of tournament that we've
seen from stars of that caliber in the past. My
number three team is Japan, not I think unbalanced, the
(36:24):
greatest Japanese squad that we've seen, but I watched that
win that they had over Brazil a couple of months ago,
and to have any time a team beats Brazil, even
in a friendly, it ends up being a pretty compelling
piece of data that they're really really good.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
I'm just going to comment on on on Japan right now.
I totally agree with you. I felt bad not even
mentioning them in the honorable mentioned part of my list
that wasn't supposed to be on. But with players like
Kubo and Endo and Kamada and they have, they have
the talent to make a run. I think a little
(37:02):
bit of a concern for me is the fact that
Endo is injured and not sure if he'd be back,
and I think that would be a huge loss for
them because he really he holds all of that together.
But there's no question this is a talented team. And
by the way, I'd be happy to see him make
a run because they play great soccer. They're really fun
to watch.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
They are. And the other thing about them, we talk
about the US last time, through being young and sometimes
like Egypt I just mentioned, maybe a little bit old
in certain places. If you look at that Japanese roster,
everybody is aged twenty four through thirty, right, everybody is
like right in their prime, and it feels like if
(37:44):
they are going to make a run, this would be
the right time for them. Switzerland has a group that's
a little bit older in certain parts and a little
bit younger in certain parts. But every time I've watched
them play over the past year to a half or so,
they've just looked like a really well constructed team to me,
(38:06):
and I don't think they have any super high level
match winners. And you know, the central defense can be
a little bit if the if a kanji is not
really locked in, but they like if it's felt like
they're on the verge for a long long time. And
then you look what they did in World Cup qualification,
like they breezed through it and here they are, and
(38:29):
you know, maybe they're ready to go. And by the way,
they absolutely killed both the US and Mexico last June
in the you know friendlies, but still like they were
just a level or three above.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Yeah, I mean, I don't disagree with any of that.
I just I considered switching on a little bit, like
I see Columbia, which which is, you know, another one
of those teams that really wouldn't surprise me as much
as they make, you know, if they would make a run,
I still don't see them with a potential to win
the World Cup. And because of that, I think if
(39:03):
I were to see a Switzerland run to let's say,
the quarterfinals, it wouldn't necessarily surprise me. I think they
have that type of talent. They're also usual customers at
the World Cup. They know what it is about, they
know what they're playing for, and so yeah, I think
it's a good call. The only reason I didn't pick
them is because I sort of expect for them to
(39:25):
do well, So not much of a dark course for me.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Yeah. And then my number one on the list was
your team Senegal. I think we both believe that this
team is capable of a quarterfinal or a semi final run.
But neither of us really believe that any of these
teams are going to beat the big boys. Probably gonna
be friends, Spain, maybe Brazil, maybe Argentina. Again, we shall
(39:50):
see in the coming months who hoists the World Cup
twenty twenty six trophy for us. It's time for one
more break. Next up, we'll discuss the results we want
to see from the US team versus Belgium and Portugal,
neither of whom could be considered dark horses in this one.
By the way, thanks for listening to Inside American Soccer.
Please rate, review, and subscribe. Welcome back to Inside American Soccer.
(40:24):
We got games with the US versus Belgium and Portugal
coming up. It looks like tab, It looks like Cristiano
Ronaldo will not be playing for Portugal during this set
of friendlies, and so heading into the weekend, how much
do these results matter to you? Do you care more
about the results or do you care more about the
(40:46):
process and performance.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
I think it's a little bit of both. I think
you want to get results because you want to go
into the World Cup with the confidence knowing that you
can win the games. But at the same time, you know,
I think the coach is looking at different combinations. I
you know, when I look at the twenty seven players
that were selected this time, is likely that about twenty
four of them will be at the World Cup. And
(41:10):
because of that, I think this is a World Cup trial.
And when the players get on the field, they know
that for some of them, this is their last chance
and and for most of them it's the last chance
to prove that they want to be on the starting eleven,
and so that that has a huge weight on the players.
And you're also playing great teams. You're playing two teams
(41:31):
that could you know, make a run of this World Cup,
and so because of that, I think you got to
look at both, and you got to look at see
when the substitutions are made. You know, you start with
your starting team, do you change a whole team going
into second half? Like all of those things come into
play in these friendly games.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
What's more important to you then, is it to see
how the guys at the top of the roster, or
that we perceive to be the top of the roster.
We know that Mauricio Pochettino would take issue with me
framing it that way, but to see how they play
together or to sort out who's in spots twenty through
twenty six on the roster heading into June and heading
(42:12):
into the World Cup itself.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
So I'll have to answer that as me and not
as what I think Marizio Bocchettino is doing. And if
it were me, my last concern is what happens between
number twenty and number twenty six. At this point, what
I'm worried about is my starting eleven because it's likely
that you know, the players who aren't here because of injury,
(42:35):
they may not be here in the summer either because
of injury, and there may be other ones you had,
And so at this point, you know, only a couple
months remove from the World Cup and playing maybe the
best competition that we've played in years. I'd want to
see my starting eleven and see how I can max
that out and see what output we have against good squads,
(42:56):
and then see how I can correct what I don't
like and reinforce the things that I like against good teams.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
You talked about the defensive side of the ball for
the US, and I think I mentioned it as well,
finding the right partner for Chris Richards or partners really,
because we both think that the US are going to
continue that sort of hybrid four to three back system.
What else do you want to see clarity on the
(43:28):
defensive midfield depth chart? I assume clarity, you know, left
wing back, because Jedi Robinson is back and he did
play sixty minutes this past weekend for Fulham, so he's
just about fit again, even though I don't think he's
yet looked like the pre injury version of Jedi.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Yeah, that's what I would like to see. I would
like to leave this camp after having played Belgium and
Portugal with a very clear idea in terms of what
my starting the leving is going to be, and if
I have to make one or two changes because of
injury or because now Tyler Adams is back and I
can slot him into that spot. Then those are small changes,
(44:06):
but I would want to see as a coach, I
would want to see my starting eleven. I want to
know what that looks like after this camp.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Yeah, so I think the spots that are up for
grabs are on that back line primarily. But then there's
also a little bit of like, okay, how do we
use Weston? Do we use Weston deeper as a number
eight or do we use him as that number ten.
He's played both spots for Juventus obviously, for the US
(44:36):
he's played primarily as a number eight in the past,
and Tad We've had multiple guests on over the past
couple of months saying, okay, give me your give me
your US best eleven. We've seen Weston lined up anywhere
and everywhere in all of these Where do you have
him now heading into camp? And do you want to
(44:57):
see him play both spots over the course of these
two games?
Speaker 1 (45:02):
So I would see him as that attacking midfielder. So
if you're if you're gonna have let's say Baaligan with
a free a freer Polisic running behind, I would see
as McKenny the next player to add to the attack.
So I see him in that position with in an
(45:22):
ideal scenario, Adams and Testament behind them. That's where I
would see McKinny at this point. Now if you're saying,
you know, maybe we can see them in the other position,
because you know, Adams may not be there, and the
best way to fix that for US may not be
by bringing in a Christian Rodin or or Johnny Cardoso
or sebastianball Hurt told maybe the best way to do
(45:43):
that is by just, you know, pushing a better player
back so that you can add another good player, which
would be like a Tilment for example, and a little
bit more of an attacking role. Then you can do that,
and I'm sure that Pushatino would likely play them in
both positions.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Yeah, it's gonna be some stuff for him to figure out,
for Mauricio Pochettina to figure out. He's done a really
good job of it since September, since half time of
that game against South Korea. Obviously, it was the worst
half the US I think had played other than maybe
against Switzerland under Mauricio Pochettino. That first half or then
(46:19):
the second half was excellent and it's been excellent since
then for the US trying to spin that ahead into
these two friendlies against two very very strong teams in
Belgium and Portugal. Too strong for them to have been
mentioned in the previous segment on World Cup Dark Part
since though obviously if either of them manages to win
(46:40):
this thing, it would be their first World Cup title. Todd,
you have been inside the locker room for the US,
both as a player and a coach, and one of
the things that sort of maybe the fan base doesn't
have an appreciation of them is what goes in to
(47:00):
scouting your opposition because once the you know, once the
draw is made, well, the US knows two of their
three opponents now will know by this time next week,
will know the third. It'll likely be Turkey. You scouted
for I think it was a twenty fourteen World Cup.
Take us through what that process was like and how
(47:21):
you get this information to these athletes in a way
that is digestible for them.
Speaker 1 (47:28):
Yeah, So this is really interesting actually, because you know,
I think a lot of people will not know like
all of the different aspects of being a national team.
You know, sometimes you know, I think, and it's normal
by the way, as a regular fan, you're going to
be looking at the national team and you look, you
see it as, Okay, we're gonna call twenty guys this
camp with twenty five players, and these eleven are gonna play,
(47:50):
and then we select the best ones later on. But
when you look at the national team, you look, you know,
the national team is it's sort of a corporation in itself,
and there are so many any different parts to it, right,
and whether that's the high performance department, the medical department,
you know, obviously pr and all of those other things
that don't necessarily connect to the first team. Now you
(48:11):
have a scouting department, and that scouting department, I think
is the part that I'd like to focus on a
little bit because that part itself, it's almost like it's
a company of its own, so you know. And and
by the way, this is not how old teams may
do it, and this is not how Mauricio Pochettino and
his staff maybe doing it. I can only speak for
how Jurgen did it back in twenty fourteen. And if
(48:33):
Jurgen did in twenty fourteen, it's very likely that this
is sort of a German way to do it. Which
is which is likely that some of the top, you know,
national teams in the world do it this way. So
the way Jurgen did it was we waited for the
for the draw to come out, and once the draw
came out, we already had a plan for sort of
a central scouting area and we had groups of two
(48:57):
people per team that would be scattered, let's say, immediately
throughout the world to actually follow our teams. Right. So,
for example, in that World Cup, we had uh we
were playing Germany, we were playing Ghana, and we were
playing Portugal. And so for example, myself and Javier Perez
(49:18):
who later coached Toronto and was assistant coach at Toronto.
I think he's in Atlanta now it's like Academy director
or something. But anyway, Javier and I had Germany and
so we had to follow Germany wherever Germany played and
their friendlies. You go there, you sort of immerse yourself.
It's not just watching video of Germany. You actually go
to the games. You're at the stadium, you're reading the
(49:39):
reports that are coming out, you're reading the local press
about what they're saying, and you're trying to find every
single detail, every single advantage about what every single player said,
what every coach said, whatever you assistant coach said on
a certain interview, and you try to pull you try
to gather all of that information together from all your
separate groups of scouts. So I was in the Germany group,
(50:03):
then you then we had a Ghana group, then we
had a Portugal group. And then once you get right
before the World Cup, as you're getting together, you compile
all of this information and you put it together into
a let's say, twelve to fourteen minute presentation that you
have to make the players because you have to. You
have to remember, players after twelve fourteen minutes, they don't
pay attention anymore. So that's regardless of what how high
(50:26):
the level or whatever else. You're lucky if you get
twelve to fourteen minutes. So you have to compile all
this information of months of travel, reading foreign press, you know,
all of these things that you put together in order
to have one little scouting report that's about the team.
So and once you get to Brazil. Now you get
to Brazil. It was my job, for example, in the
twenty fourteen team to present each one. So I presented
(50:49):
Germany of course, because I followed them, but I also
had to present Ghana to the players on a report
that another group had done, And I also had to
present Portugal to the team because those groups of st
immediately after we got to Brazil, they scattered to watch
what our potential second round opponents would be. So they're
already working. They finished every port, they're already working on
(51:10):
the next team. So it's it's just part of the
full machine of what the national team is like.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
Tap, I have bad news that twenty fourteen Germany team
had no weaknesses at all? Right, Is that what your
scout came up with? Is that what you After watching
him for a few games, they're like, oh man, we're
in trouble.
Speaker 1 (51:28):
My My scouting report took about thirty seconds. I told
the guys, good luck. No, we were actually, you know,
if you think about it, we were actually very fortunate
because obviously, you know, I was doing the Germany's scouting
report in front of Jurgen Klintchman, who obviously no one
knows Germany better than him, and in front of Bertie Voges,
who of course won the World Cup as a player
(51:49):
and as a coach, so no one knows more than him.
About Germany. So I was I have to say, if
all the presentations that I made in front of the teams,
my Germany presentation at the two thousand and four Team
World Cup was by far the most nervous I've been.
Speaker 2 (52:03):
So during these scouting presentations, how much of it are
you just distilling down facts about the team that you're
going up against versus how you think the team going
up against matches up with what the US has to offer.
Are you just like trying to keep it as bare
minimum as possible, or you're trying to sort of extrapolate
(52:26):
here's where we can go at them, Here's where they
might be vulnerable.
Speaker 1 (52:29):
Yeah, So that's a great question. Because of the limited
time that you have in front of the players, what
you do as you prepare for the World Cup. Within
the rooms that you have, let's say your training room,
meeting rooms, you already have pictures of let's say the
opponents players and their tendencies, so that players, let's say
Matt you're a right back and you wanted to see
(52:51):
what the left winger for Germany was doing, we already
have all that detailed in the training room, where you
could just go up and read about it for example, right,
And then of course you have all the clips that
you can watch on video and all those other things
that we also send to you. So there's a there's
a bunch of information that players are getting at different times.
And and to answer your question, the part where you
(53:14):
sit in front of the room is more specific as
to the tactics of how they play as a team
and where you can hurt them and where they could
potentially hurt you.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
Yeah, give them the overview there and then find ways
to work specifics into the scout at various times, maybe
on the on the training pitch, or maybe in the
locker room, and hopefully in a way that gets the
US one round further. I've ever got. That's all I'm
asking for. One round further then we've gone in recent
(53:45):
modern World Cup history. I think we'd all be satisfied
with the semi final performance this summer to have, of course,
we are going to have to go through a couple
of friendlies first. That's what's on the schedule for the
coming week for the US, and that means we're gonna
have a special edition of Inside American Soccer coming up
(54:06):
in between these two games, and then a quick one.
After these two games, Tab and I will be on
the ones and twos trying to figure out what we
just saw on what it means for the World Cup
squad this coming summer. I'm excited the games are starting
to really really matter. That we're I think less than
eighty days away from the World Cup kickoff. It's gonna
(54:27):
be a fun time and hopefully historic one for the US.
Thank you Taving being here as always, and thank you
all for listening to Inside American Soccer. Please rate, review,
and subscribe. We'll be back on Sunday for our reaction
to that Belgium match. And we also have another new
show coming up after Portugal next week, and we will
see you with that
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