June 6, 2026 • 40 mins
Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos react to the USMNT’s 2–1 loss to Germany in its final tune-up before the FIFA World Cup kicks off on Friday.
The guys break down the attacking partnership between Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun, while also evaluating the midfield chemistry of Malik Tillman, Weston McKennie, and Tyler Adams.
Tom provides the latest reporting on Chris Richards’ ankle injury, his expected timeline for return, and how his status could affect the U.S. lineup heading into the tournament.
Plus, Tab reflects on whether the USMNT has truly progressed since the team's run at the 2022 World Cup, and why some of the same issues remain four years later. To close the show, Tom and Tab reveal their projected Starting XIs for the United States’ World Cup opener against Paraguay.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This has nothing to do with kicking. He just kicked
the German. He kicked the German because he wants to play.
That's why.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
What's going on. Everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Welcome to Inside American Soccer. I am US men's national
team insider Tom Boger, and I'm joined by one of
the greatest players in US soccer history, a venteror of
three World Cups. So my good friend tap Ramos Tab.
I'm in Chicago. The United States have played their last
friendly before the World Cup. The next time this team
takes the field, it will be the World Cup opening
match against Paraguay. We've talked through this for months and
(00:31):
months and months. Paraguay was always the north star the
World Cup in general. But that's the first game, and Tab,
we're gonna break down this two to one loss to Germany.
But man, we're here the next time they hit the field,
it's a World Cup.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
We're finally here. You know, how many people have you
heard over the last few years talk about, Hey, the
World Cup is here, this is gonna happen. We're hoping this,
We're hoping. You know, the game is gonna blow up.
You know, all of these things, and some of it
came from obviously seeing all the changes that came here
after World Cup ninety four, And because of that, I'm
wearing one of my World Cup ninety four tops today
(01:06):
that the people on iHeartRadio unfortunately can't see. But I'm
wearing my top. You know, you can see how big
it is because everything was big back then. So I'm
wearing that in memory because I know that after today
we kind of have to put the past away. It's
time let's put everything away, and I'm really I'm really
excited about moving forward and seeing what we can do.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
A quick sidebar.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I thought it was nice that US Soccer honored the
nineteen ninety fourteen before the game today, But I got
to tell you, I don't think you can call it
a nineteen ninety four reunion if tab ramosn't told me
all aren't there. So I just needed to push back
about that immediately.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, you know, it was nice for all the guys
to get back together. You know, for me, I had
you know, I had my youngest daughter's prom last night,
so it wasn't something I was gonna miss. And you know,
life takes you know, just like I haven't been to
a high school reunion. Ever, I missed this World Cup
ninety four reunion, so sorry about that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, hopefully you guys can have a nice phone call
or something, or we'll see we'll see where where Harksy
is later in the night and maybe he'll give you
a ring. But we're here to talk about the last
pre World Cup tune up. The United States lose to
wonder Germany. There was some bad moments, particularly the opening
three minutes, but I thought that there was a lot
of good moments too. It was a nuanced performance. It's
(02:22):
one of those where we can't come on here and
like kill the team for being bad or have a
lot to critique. But it's not as if they beat
Germany again. There's good and bad and we're gonna dive
into it all. But I wanted to set the table.
This is the fifth game against European opponents under Maricha
Pochatino for the national team. Zero wins, zero draws, five losses.
(02:43):
That's not just a Pochatino issue. This is now eleven
games in a row against European opposition in which the
United States have failed to win in FIFA windows, nine losses,
two draws, So that's obviously Burhalter and Pochatino, and I
don't know if one of the interim coaches had one
of those games in the middle. They have not beat
a European team since Northern Ireland, who are not anywhere
(03:04):
near the same level as Germany or even Turkey or
Switzerland or Belgium or Portugal of some of the recent ones.
They did beat Bosi and Herzegovina in December one year,
which is outside of a FIVA window, which means that
was not really Bosie and Hurtsgovina, it was just whoever
was in their off seasons.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So this is a bit of an issue though.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Coming out of this game, Tap, I don't feel like
really bad, Like I actually feel encouraged, and I think
part of that is still the goodwill from the win
against Senegal.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
But Tab, what did you make of this performance today?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I mean, you know, that's a good setup to this
because I, like you feel pretty optimistic about what I
saw today in general. You know, I think, of course
there were some mistakes. There were some you know, some
in particular tactical movements that we can talk about, but
in general, I felt like today I saw a US
team play, you know, I saw the US team get
(03:57):
out there. We went after Germany for the first I
would say forty five minutes. I think we were the
better team overall. I think it's hard to argue that.
Of course, Germany had some good moments too, And it's
difficult to play teams like Germany because you know, we
depend so much on our press. If our press fails,
we are in big trouble. And we notice that today
(04:18):
and that's what, you know, that's sort of who we've been.
And Germany is smart enough to find the other side
quickly and get out. But for the times they didn't
get out, we did punish them and we created quite
a few opportunities. So overall, for me, I felt like
today I watched a US team that I've been watching
for a long time, and I was I was happy
with that.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I think that that is a mark of improvement because
there's been so much discussion, debate about what's the team's identity, what, well,
you know, what do they want to do? Is this
the typical American spirit that we associate with some of
these teams, And I think, particularly over the last two matches,
a stark difference from March. We've seen that but so
again on on Saturday at a sold out Soldier field,
(04:58):
Germany goes up in the second minute, literally their first
attack of the game. They get a free kick outside
the box, they cross it in and Kai Hoverts just
scored in a Champions League final, unmarked alone header from
six yards out, and you start to worry. Tab it
might be a long, long day but the United States.
Maybe it wasn't immediate, but before long they were the
better team by the end of the first half, and
(05:19):
then Anthony Robinson has an absolute galazo full volley after
a clearance on a corner kick from outside the box.
I don't know if I've ever seen him strike a
ball that sweet.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
What a goal that was.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
And it goes one one a halftime, and in the
fifty seventh minute Leroy Zone scores the eventual game winner
for Germany. A few minutes later is when all the
subs came in. So the game really lost its intense
that he really lost its flow. So again Germany to
won some good and some bad. What did you think about?
You alluded to tactical thoughts, tactical sasms. What was on
your mind there when you were alluding to that?
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Well, a couple of things. Obviously. First of all, you know,
if we look a little bit at the pairing of
Bawligan and Polistic right when when we watched the last game,
you know, we were really encouraged by the fact that
because Peppi dropped into the holes, Polisic could be forward, more,
could be in the box more. Since Baligan doesn't really
(06:10):
do that, Chris and Polisic was forced to go and
find the ball himself. And by the way, he did
a great job doing it because the first goal, the
first goal comes from him coming into our side of
the field to collect the ball, get down the sideline,
he forced the corner and from the corner comes our goal, right,
So I think that was a lot of that was
(06:31):
created by him. So I was happy with that part.
But the second part, and this is the part where
I think it alarms me a little bit, but it
doesn't surprise me because we've been talking about us finally
putting a team together at some point we were talking
about this six eight months down the road. I have
difficulty figuring out how we defended in midfield. So for example,
(06:55):
we had because we were almost we were almost in
a four to four to two right almost in a
four four two where desk was in the middle, but
then Tillman had to make that effort. At a couple
of different times, I saw Tillman make like forty yard
sprint efforts to get into a hole either in between
Adams and McKenny or on the side of one of them,
(07:18):
And I'm not sure if that's a little bit confusing
for both. I'm not sure if that's the kind of
the effort that that Pochettino needs from Tillman. But I
think it was a long way to go for him
to get there, you know, And at times we had
Tyler Adams go all the way to the sideline to press,
and at times we had McKenny go all the way
to the right side on the sideline to press, which
(07:39):
was most of the time, so there was a lot
of There was a lot of you go or I go.
Sometimes it was Polisic all the way wide pressing, so
there was a lot of that. And you know, and
I know you're gonna obviously you're gonna say how you
feel about what I just said, but I'd like to
go back to four years ago and where we finished
in the last World Cup to address this specifically.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Do you want to go to go to that Noway?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, okay, so this is I'll start with this and
maybe it's a little a little bit of fun. But
if I were to ask you, okay, so we just
finished in twenty twenty two, we finished the World Cup
in Qatar by losing to the Netherlands in the second round,
if if I were to ask you, okay, like a
(08:24):
lot of people thought, well, maybe it's time to move on.
Maybe it's time time to bring a coach that brings
something different to the table. And I can maybe I
can answer that first and then ask you what you thought.
But if somebody just so I don't put you on
the spot, if then this I'm gonna ask you some question.
But somebody was gonna ask me after the twenty twenty
two World Cup, I would have said, okay, great, we
(08:45):
have a bunch of you know, young players who are
all willing to make a great effort like we saw today,
who are all willing to press in an organized way.
Because when you looked at a Burrholz team and you know,
and obviously there's a lot of people on one side
or the other of the way. Burholter coach but when
you looked at the Burholter team, it pressed organized always.
(09:08):
You always knew what was coming out, whether it was
Moosa stepping up, or it was Tom Bradham stepping up,
or it was McKinney stepping up. It was always very
organized and the way that happened. And so if somebody
were going to ask me the question that I asked you,
whereas where where do we need to improve? I would
have said at the time, Okay, we do a great
job pressing, we do a great job transitioning forward after
(09:30):
we win the ball, but our transition defense is just
not great. I just feel like when we lose the ball,
there's going to be danger against us. You know. The
other thing I would have said was, you know, when
we build out of the back is very robotic, it's
very mechanical, very it's very much patterns. So we're doing
(09:51):
patterns constantly. Okay, that's where we work. So there's what
we need improvement. So now let me before you end,
so let me fast forward to today's game. When I
look at today's game, I see a team that press well,
they went with everybody. I still don't feel any better
about our transition defense. I don't because I feel like
it didn't take Germany more than two or three passes
(10:12):
to actually be in our box and be dangerous, so
we're kind of and on attack. I actually feel less
confident that I can tell you how we attack because
I'm not really sure how we built out of the back.
So I agree, Listen, this is obviously just looking at
it from a coaching from my coaching eyes, this is
(10:32):
what I'm seeing. I'm seeing we don't really have a
way out of the back that I'm seeing clearly, which
I did see in twenty twenty two. And so did
we have we come along in the last four years
from the last game against Holland to today.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
That is yeah, And yeah, we'll focus on today because
I want to have this overarching conversation a bit deeper
later too. But that that is very interesting. I think
that we have less patterns, so it's less robotic in
some ways, which I also critiqued at times. But then
there's the drawbacks here where it, like you said, it's
(11:11):
you go or I go, or he goes, and it's
a lot of maybe more freelancing or more feel of
the game in terms of transition defense. It's a cop
out to say that like Tyler Adams, that that's the system,
that's the tactic. It's just Tyler go bet Tyler right.
So today it was more Malik Tillman holding with him
because it was it was like you said, it was
(11:33):
very fluid, So it would be maybe Malik's went more
forward or Weston dropped in. I think on paper they
would have listed Western McKinney next to next to Adams,
but I think Tilman was the one that was further
back more often. And I did appreciate some of his efforts,
but particularly the second goal was his fault for me
or maybe that's maybe that's a little bit too critical,
(11:53):
but the build up they they end up scoring on
the seed that sequence starts from a thrown, but the
sequence that gave them that thrown. He was very very
slow to react to runners, spot danger and know which
space is to fill, and he was a little bit
slow in coming out to challenge, and I think Adams
(12:14):
was as well. I'm not pitting that all. I'm leake Timman,
but that is the risk when you're playing somebody like
leaked Timan who was an attack minded player, somebody who
it was funny Mariso Potinos referenced Milik Tilman playing as
a holding midfielder in the Champions League for PSV or
playing some league games there, and he was like, you know,
he can do it, He's done it, and like he
referenced him. So that's also why I think that Pochetino
(12:36):
views Sam is more the deeper guy, but the irony
there is. Malik Tilman made no doubt about his feelings
about that. When that the PSV games Pochettino was speaking
of Tillman was asked around that time, He's like, I
hate playing his position. I want to play further forward,
but I would do a job for a team, all
the professional stuff. But it was funny that Pochettino was like,
(12:56):
see he did it today, just like he did for them,
and then like if you ask Tilman two years ago,
he's like, no, I hate this, I don't want to
play this way. And I think that's a that's a
big issue in terms of the defensive transition talking about
the attacking side of it.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So before you move on to the attacking let me
just make one more point on that. I think Malie
Tilman was trying to play off of seeing what McKenny
was doing because McKenny was also leaving. McKenny was leaving
the middle, he wasn't staying and so he was trying
to compensate. So he had a I thought, Tilman, I
give him a lot of credit today because he had
a really, really tough job.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah, And I think that's a good way to look
at it, because maybe watching it live, watching the press box,
I was a little bit critical.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I thought he was fine.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I thought he was good, but it was particularly maybe
his legs were fading and your point about I think
his work rate was really strong, and maybe I overlooked
that a little bit. But also he got injured in
the winter, and from the March window until the last
Bundesliga game he did not start. He made one start
for buyer Lebracusing. So maybe this is a symptom of
(14:00):
oh my god, I haven't played fifty five minutes. Like again,
they scored in the fifty seventh minute or whatever, and
it felt like it slowed down a little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
But in the attack I thought Polistic was very good.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Today he's not gonna He didn't have a goal and
he's not credited with any assists. I don't think he's
credited with many chances created, which again if you're just
looking at like raw numerical statistics, you'd say, eh, I
thought he was very very good. Today's tab one thing.
His movement was really really good off the ball. There
was a few times where he was making decisive and
(14:32):
dangerous and pressure inducing runs where there was like a
one with Malik Tilm and one with Tim reem At
that like if they had saw at a split second earlier,
he had a chance to either get in behind or
getting a dangerous spot. So that's not his fault that
the past didn't come. I think he he took on
the pressure of okay, we're under like Germany's really good,
(14:53):
give me the ball, all solve it, give me the
ball we get In transition, he was decisive. He was
taking players on Jonathan to first Germany. I think he
was good. He made his life very difficult. Baligan had
a lot of struggles with Todd though he was run
occupying him a lot. When Pulsick was in transition. That
was when this team was at their best, and he
(15:13):
was responsible for the creating the corner that led to
the anti Robinson goal. To again, he's not gonna get
an assist for that and I forget if he even
took the corner or not, but that doesn't happen without Polistic.
So I was very very encouraged for him by him
on the back of that Cenegal game. A goal and assist,
a man of the match performance. This is the best
two games stretch Pulisic has had in a national team
(15:33):
shirt since at least twenty twenty four, if not twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I agree. I think Christian Polistic had a good game,
and this kind of makes me think a little bit
about his press conference after the last game. Right, he
scored the goal and immediately he said to the fans, hey,
you know, hopefully now everybody can be quiet about me scoring.
It's not about scoring goals. It's really not about scoring goals.
I think, if anything, goals can hide the sometimes you
(16:00):
don't play well, right, because if you don't play well
but you score, everybody's like, well, you know, you scored goals,
that's good enough. But I think when you play the
way when Christian Polistic plays the way he played today,
he doesn't need to score goals. He just need to
provide to the team. And I think today he was
key to the team. Although we didn't win the game,
I think that's all the team needs from him.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
And like he, I go back and forth here because
I am encouraged by the team. But then I don't
want to be like, hey, raise the banner because we
played decently and we played well in a loss in
a friendly to Germany, right, all those things, but Pulistic
playing the way he did, it didn't feel like we
had no chance at matching Germany's firepower, And like, I
think that that feeling is important because he is how
(16:45):
the attack is going to go. I think Balgan's obviously
very important because of his goal scoring, or if it's
Ricardi Peppy, or if it's McKinney, or if it's whoever, right,
Polistic is the most important piece of driving where that goes.
And again today, if you just look at the numbers,
you'd be underwhelmed. But again, watching the game, you know
for sure that it was very good and very strong,
(17:05):
and this is a game that was very tight. Germany
had won, who knows what it would have looked like.
And I thought it was very intense in the first half,
and then the stoppage time in the second half, which
we'll get to. It a bit, but who knows what
would have happened over ninety minutes at a World Cup game, right,
And I think that to walk away very very encouraged,
particularly beyond him. Anthony Robinson looked vintage, and we know
(17:29):
how good he is. This is the best he's looked
in a national team shirt since his injury. He scores
that incredible goal. I thought that he did a lot
of other stuff really well. He was taking on his defender,
getting to the byline, trying to get crosses in chances creating.
He was an outlet positively down that left flank. He
did leave with he cramping. He left with cramps. He
(17:51):
wasn't supposed to be substituted. When the subs were happening.
He went down holding it like stretching himself out. Pochatino
after the game said it's just cramps. The medical ta
told me it's just scramps. And then he goes, I
hope it's just scramps, and he started laughing of like,
you know, I really it better not be something worse,
because they pretty much said they can't say with one
hundred percent certainty it was just scramps. But that is
(18:12):
the feeling. Anthony spoke after the game as well, which
is usually a good sign that if he had a
serious injury he wouldn't be talking. He said, he's fine
all that stuff. Tyleer Adams called him one of the
best left back to the Premier League, and Tyler goes,
I don't say that lightly.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So this was a really good day for Anthony Robinson.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, without a doubt. Obviously the goal, you know what
else can we say about it? It's an outstanding always
is I mean, hopefully not for him, but it's usually
a once in a lifetime. I mean, he he couldn't
have hit the ball any harder because you think about it,
the ball almost went right into the middle of the
goal and the goalkeeper didn't even have enough time to
raise his hands. That's how hard he hit the ball, right,
(18:52):
Because if they would have gone in the corner, you
can say, well the keeper couldn't reach it. No, in
this case, the keeper couldn't even get his hands up
to touch it. The time he got his hands up,
the ball was in the back of the net. So yeah,
that was great. But more importantly, like you said, I
think it was that he contributed in many other ways today,
defensively against sane on that side, and I think an
(19:12):
attack as well, So it was it was all around
a good performance for him.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
One more key health up date Chris Richards. He was
unavailable to play in this game with that ankle injury.
But the positive news is on Friday he took part
in individual training with the team for the first time
since camp open, so that was an important step. Richards
keeps telling He's said this the whole time. I am fine,
I am going to be able to play. Pochettino let
(19:38):
his like frustration slip a little bit in the press
conference of like, you know, we aren't really happy with
the information that we've gotten because he was picked to
the bench for the Conference League final, so we thought
that meant he was available and ready to play, and
he couldn't train when he got here, so Pochattino wasn't.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Thrilled by that.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
My pushback would be call Chris Richards. He's he's famously
made a point to say, I don't talk to my
players outside of camps.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Send the club camp.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, call his agent, right, and again, maybe maybe they
did any good the benefit of doubt, but it was,
you know, are you just relying on the information that
Palace put him on the bench, because Pallace I would
have done the same thing about even if he had
no chance of playing. Put on your boots, walk around
in warm ups, let them think that you might be available.
But anyway, he hopefully he'll be I don't know if
he'll be able to start for Paraguay, but this week
(20:32):
was at least an encouraging sign insofar as he was
able to train individually. The media gets to see the
first fifteen minutes of training. He looked normal, but again
it's light jogging, it's it's little technical drills, it's rondos,
but he hadn't done that yet, so that's a good sign.
And again, if you can't start against Paraguay, I'd have
pretty good confidence that he could start against Australia. But
(20:52):
we saw I think early in the game. In particular,
we really are missing Chris Richards in this team because
he is the defensive anchor and also he's somebody with
his passing range that can help with those sequences out
of the back.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
No question, I mean you you you start to think about,
you know, if had Richard's been in the game, if
Matt Freeze comes after that cross, or if he doesn't
or if Chris Richards goes after it. These are the
little things that you build when you're building a team, right,
You're building the guy, you know, in particular the goalkeeper
with the center back saying always know what what what
(21:27):
the next play is going to be, and uh, you
know that's one of those things. Today, you know, Miles
Robinson gets thrown into the middle of the three and
I don't think he had played the middle of three
for too much. And so I.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Thought Mark mackenzie was going to say I was surprised
by that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Right, And I think maybe that's a little bit of
a surprise, and that's a little bit of maybe that
has to do with being in the first few minutes
and the you know, into the game and and sort
of adapting to everything that's around you in a new position.
So yeah, but certainly, uh, maybe I would say if
Chris Richards is in there, that likely would have been
a little different.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, And I don't want to pick too much on
Miles Robinson, but I do think he was He could
have done better for sure on the first and the
second goal. I don't think he was bad on today,
But it's just a difference when Chris Richards is the
gold standard of this center back pool, and you have
to wonder what it might have been with him in there.
(22:25):
When the subs came into this game. I was a
little disappointed that the intensity dropped. I know, it's difficult
to come into a game and keep the intensity raised
and because there's so many stoppages or so many guys
coming in and out and you're trying to get a
feel for the game. But I think today was the
clearest indicator of who po Chatino views as his first choice.
(22:46):
Eleven can know Chris Richards, that's the obvious caveat. But
I kind of think what we saw in the first
fifty five to sixty minutes is who's going to start
against Paraguay as long as everybody's fit.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Again, with Richard's being.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
In there, so you would think that that would be
enough of impetus for a lot of players buzzing around,
a lot of players just trying to do stuff, a
lot of players saying, Okay, I might not be the
starting group right now. Let me see if I could
change his mind over the next few days. And I
didn't see much of that. I don't think Gioranna was
particularly good bustin bashion brawls were in good moments, Brandon
Aaron sentd some good moments, but nobody really moved the needle.
(23:18):
Tim Wye is somebody who is in what appears to
be now somebody who would be coming off the bench,
and I think he'll still be a valuable part of
this group. He's somebody that if I think he'll appear
in every game, whether he starts or not.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I think he appears in every game.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
But in second half stoppage time, Tim why I got
kicked once or twice and then probably that and probably
maybe a little frustration that he's not part of the
starting group. Tap I think that he said, I don't
I don't care what's happening. The next time I come
near somebody on Germany, I'm kicking the shit out of him.
And he got his money's worth and almost ignited a
bit of a fight with a slide tackle that I
(23:50):
think was fair. Yes, he came in hard, it was
not dirty, it was not excessive, it was not late.
It was just a strong challenge and the German players
didn't take didn't didn't take too kindly to that.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Yeah, he went in hard, but I think if you
were to ask him wheat today who he tackled, he
probably doesn't even remember by now, because I think I
think that tackle was not about the Germany game at all.
It was about, hey, coach, I want to be playing
and I can't believe I'm not playing. That's kind of
how it felt for me. So whether he was tackling
a German today or a Chinese player or whatever else,
(24:22):
it really wasn't going to matter. Tim Y Yeah, Tim
Waya just wanted to prove a point. And by the way,
I don't mind that at all, to be honest, I
like players when you know, if they don't play, they
should be upset that they're not playing. They can do
it in a good way. But I think it's a
good reaction, and I would agree with you that both,
you know, if I had to say about you know,
(24:43):
of course, now we're it looks like we're seeing the
starting eleven. If that's the starting eleven, all those guys
weren't on it. And I thought burr Holz came in
and played like a professional like he always does. I
thought Aaronson came in and played like a professional like
he always does. And I like that, you know, after
why in the game today, I'm thinking, you know what,
those two guys are coming off the bench for me
(25:04):
for sure after what I saw, because why not they
they came in, and they came in like they were
in the middle of this game, and and I really
like that. And I think and I think all the
players kind of lost lost an opportunity, you know, you know,
guys like maybe like like Geo or you know, guys
like roll Done. You know, like, I just think they
lost a good opportunity to try to make a difference.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I would agree, But it's time for a very quick
break up.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Next, we're going to discuss how the team is looking
now four years after we were eliminated in the.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Twenty twenty two More Cups to the Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
So please rate, review and subscribe to in South American
Soccer Tabronos wherever.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You get wanted.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Welcome back to in South American Soccer, so tab. The
United States lose to one to Germany in their final
pre World Cup tune up, and it was very.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Interesting to me.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
I thought it was a little bit poetic, maybe a
little bit ironic that this game was in Chicago and
the head coach and sporting Judger of Chicago Fire was
the host to both Germany and the United States. Both
teams used the Fire's beautiful facilities. This week, the head
coach gave personally gave a tour to the facility to
the German media. He made some time for US American
media too. Don't worry, but he was talking to both coaches,
(26:19):
all the players. And it's a little bit ironic that
this is Greg Burhalter, the man that Marisio Pochattino replaced
this head coach of the US national team. Burhalter said
that him and Pochatino have a good relationship. He said
that they spoke. He speaks very fondly of this group
because of how long he was with all these guys,
a lot of these guys, and Weston McKinney was talking
(26:41):
about how happy he was to see Greg and how
happy he was to spend time around him, and how
important he is to this group's journey to get to
hear again. We look back at the twenty twenty two
World Cup, I don't think that they underachieved. I don't
think they overachieved. I think the round of sixteen lost
the Netherlands, and how they for them to get there
was right in line with the expectations for the youngest
(27:04):
team at the World Cup. The idea was the next
four years there was gonna be a big job. They
were the youngest team at the last World Cup. You
look at pool A sick, you look at Adams, you
look at McKinney, Tilman, Weeya at a time you would
have had Unis Muna that he has fallen off this
roster selection under Potchettino. All these guys, Chris Richards, all
(27:24):
of these guys instead of their early twenties or late teens,
their mid twenties, late twenties, they went from as Burrow
to call it. He was like they were babies when
I had them, like in a completely loving way. He's like,
now there are grown adult men, they have kids. It's
so beautiful to see. Four years ago I would have
(27:45):
said quarterfinals bare minimum for what this group is, what
this group can become home World Cup hopefully maybe the
semi finals is on last week I was like, oh
my god, round of sixteen bare minimum because this team
has not showed an enough growth over the last four
years of tab What do you make of the evolution
(28:05):
or maybe lack thereof of the United States mensass team.
Since that day in guitar losing for the Netherlands.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
The evolution has not certainly has not gone in a
straight lineup, right, So you know, I would hope that
you know, obviously we have a good World Cup, and
that after the World Cup, we can hear the President
of US Soccer, Cindy Kohene, at some point speak because
she never speaks, so maybe she can say, you know,
obviously we had J. T. Batson here with us talking
(28:35):
about business, right, but when are we going to talk
about soccer? When is somebody from US Soccer going to
talk about soccer to us, to the rest of us. Right,
That doesn't necessarily happen, because I would like to ask
those questions. I would like to say, Okay, you know,
twenty twenty two, we got to a certain place with
Greg Burholter. I think overall it was a good World Cup.
(28:57):
It wasn't great, it wasn't bad. It was young players.
We wanted more. Everyone wanted more. And by the way,
we all agreed that we needed more, right because we've
been round to sixteen forever, right, Okay, so one time
we went to one time we went to the quarterfinals
and another time we didn't make it out of the group,
but in general we always make it to the round
of sixteen, So we want something something better. Now, I
(29:19):
would ask that question, have we accomplished something better? And
this is actually of course we're going to look at
it after the World Cup, but I think this is
a good time to look at it because we're looking
at it without the results of the World Cup. Are
we prepared? Do we feel like after we saw our
players crying off the field in the game against the
(29:40):
Netherlands after getting knocked out in twenty twenty two, do
we see now four years later that we are very
far ahead of where we were at that time, that
now we can go in and we can get to
the quarterfinals or to the semifinals, which is what we
all want. And by the way, knowing that you can
lose any game, right oh, we can be playing great
(30:01):
in the second round and lose to Egypt. We can
lose to Egypt in the second It can happen. So
this is why I'd like to look at it right now,
because right now we're looking at it without the results
of the World Cup. Are we at a point where
we feel like over the last four years US soccer
through however, their sporting director, their president, the coaches they hired.
(30:23):
Have they done everything they could? And has what they
have done gotten us to a better place than we
were when we left Qatar?
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Unfortunately, I don't think that we are because and I
don't the Potatino era. I think that was a really
good higher we have. Maybe we're going to see the
peak over the next few weeks and that is the hope,
That is the whole idea of this higher. Right, So
it's obviously incomplete at this point. Nobody's gonna remember that
they lost for not to Switzerland and a friendly last
(30:54):
summer if they get to the core finals, right, that's
very very obvious. The teams performances hasn't been super encouraging.
I think this week was the Senegal game in particular, obviously,
but I think that they battled very well against Germany
in this final game. But it all comes down to
what happens at the group stage and then what happens
to the knockout rounds, and soccer could be a cruel sport.
(31:16):
The lower scoring the game is in in sports in general,
the higher rate of random acts impacting greatly what happens. Right,
Basketball is the most predictable sport in terms of the winner,
because it's such a high scoring sport. Soccer is such
a low scoring sport. That's why it's so beautiful. That's
why we love it so much, because there's so many
(31:37):
different ways to win. And on any given day, you know,
let's say the referee doesn't call the foul that leads
to Germany's opening goal, what happens today, Well, what happens if.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
The Necks are on fire? By the way, goods.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Listen, I gotta I've been gogles last few days for
where thankfully I've been able to watch all these Nicks games.
I apologize sincerely to anybody who's been at a bar
while I'm watching the Knicks here in Chicago, but you've
greeted me greatly. So maybe that's why basketball is on
my mind. But I think more so is that just
the development of the players that we thought hasn't maybe
(32:14):
really happened. Like Polisic, He's I thought he was really
good in twenty twenty two, so I'm not even criticizing
him for not being vastly different than that. Chris Richards
has has excelled Tyler Adams, but I think Tyl Radams, McKinney,
they're both really good. It's just around this team. Maybe
we're not where we thought we were going to be.
So like we're talking about an abstract too, because tab
(32:37):
you go and get six points against Paraguay and Australia
and we're gonna be on this same very show being like,
what a success.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
There's so much better than we thought.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, no, it's true and the end result is what matters. Right,
But I'll go back to my reference about Christian Poliitic
right in him not scoring, Like it didn't matter to
me today that he didn't score because I saw that effort.
I saw him putting the team on his shoulders at
different times. That's what I think he's supposed to do,
and he did it. And okay, so it's not reflected
on the score sheet, but I thought today he played it.
(33:05):
He played a pretty good game. Do we want more? Yeah,
of course, we always want more, but I kind of
I want more out of this World Cup, and obviously,
you know, you always depend on your opponents. I think
the way, you know, our first round is set up
with what I see with potentially and Ciso being hurt
in the first game and not playing for Paraguay. Now,
(33:27):
I think we're in a good spot to take first
place in our group and really set us up to
make a little bit of a run. And and I
think our team should be good enough to do it.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
I think so too, Toad. Let's get into that Paraguay
game right after a very quick break. Thank you for
listening to South American Soccer. Please right if you subscribe,
We're gonna be right back with a Paraguay solting love break.
Welcome back to Inside Americans Soccer tab, where the World
(34:02):
Cup is about to be here in the United States.
Next game is that opening group stage game against Paraguay.
So TAB, with all the different lineup combinations and all
the different players called up over the last eighteen months,
do you feel Do you feel good about what you're
about to tell me of what you think the starting
eleven is going to be against Taraguay.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
The answer would be no, because I don't think. I
don't think I've been able to guess Mauricio Pochetino's lineup
once over the last year, one single time. But I'm
gonna give it the best shot and I'm gonna I'm
gonna consider that most of these players playing the first
sixty minutes in today's game against Germany, I'm thinking that
(34:43):
he's thinking that he's his eleven and I think that's
how most of the world would see this. But I
wouldn't be shocked if this completely changes. So starting with that,
I would say Freeze will be in goal. He played
ninety minutes. We have to remember the last game. The
other two goalkeepers, you know, Brady and Matt Turner split,
so which makes sense now they all have played going
(35:05):
into the World Cup, I Freeze played ninety I think
he will be the starter in the back. Freeman. I
didn't think he had his best game against Germany, but
I still think he did enough in the two games
to be a starter on the right side of the
Of the three center backs that I'm gonna put in
the lineup in the middle, I'm gonna put in Richards
(35:26):
just because I think it's the World Cup and if
Richards can play at all, I think you're going upstairs
to Mauricio Pochettino's room and knocking on the door and saying, Coach,
I'm ready to go. I'm all good, I'm gonna play,
And I think that has to happen, and I think
that's gonna happen, and I think on the left side
it will be Reim. Reim at the end of the day,
is Mauricio Puchettino's guy. He is his veteran on the field,
(35:48):
and however they have to protect them back there, they will,
and I think Green would play all the way on
the right will be best. I don't see why not.
He's been doing a great job and when he gets
a little further up the field, we know that Robinson
drops to form four in the back, so that that
kind of has started to work out pretty well. In
(36:09):
the center, I'm gonna go with Adams and McKinney, and
I know that you know, it's not an easy position
for McKinney because McKinnie I think he wants to be
freer than that. I don't think he wants to hold
the position. But I think that that's likely the best
for us, and that's likely the best of the team.
Uh So, left side, I'll go with Robinson and in
(36:32):
front of in front of those let's say four guys,
it'll be Tillman and Polisic, and I think Tillman and
and McKinney will have to be the two that that
switch back and forth, and at times when McKinny goes,
Tillman is gonna have to make those forty yards efforts
that we still make against Germany to get into the
right spot and get in front of our our our
(36:52):
center backs, and then up next to Tillman will be Polisic,
and up top it will be Balligin. I think that's
what our eleven will be.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
So I agree with you, and.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Again, person to person, the only slight tweek I'd say
is i'd probably list Tilman is next to McKenny. But
like you said, it's fluid, and the fluidity is hopefully
one of the team's strengths.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
I know that's that's by design.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
The questions I would ask, though, so right, if Richards
is good to go, he's gone the midfield, would it
make sense for and Burrhalter I think would be a
more natural fit than either mckinni or Tilman next to Adams?
So one, do you think that that's a possibility. The
other side of that is, okay, does that mean that
Tilman gets dropped? Because I don't think I think you
(37:36):
start McKinney, No, matter what. And then the only other
consideration for the starting eleven is Ricarda Peppy. I don't
think he's better than Baligan. I think he's good, but
his connection with poolsic and the overlapping of the complimentary
skills was on display against Senegal. All that being said
(37:57):
to have maybe if Baligan started against Senegal we be
having the same conversation.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
But we don't know.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
But I think at this point, for a team that
has had so many different combinations, we are we are
down to what I think all eleven is correct, but
we were only down to like two or three questions,
which I don't know. Ten days ago, I would have
told you that there's you know, ten positions under gram
or whatever, right, because we just didn't know.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Those are all Those are all good questions. And I'll
say this, you know we're going into the World Cup,
and I'll address specifically the Burholter and Tillman situation that
you just spoke about. Do I see it as a
possibility that Burholter can play next to Adams and push
McKinney a little higher. I do. I do, because I
think I think he knows how to hold that position better.
(38:41):
He's more natural in that position. Having said that, Tom,
this is the World Cup, you're playing against the best teams.
Tillman is a forty million dollars signing for Leverkusen. I
think you got to put him in there and he's
got to show up. I feel like just this, this
is the World Cup, is where you just put your
(39:02):
best players and you go and play against the best
players of other countries. And this is what we have.
And I think Tillman is one of our best players,
and that's why I think you should play. I maybe
this is not the right solution that you wanted to
hear or the right now, but I think you put
it on his shoulders and say, listen, you're playing in
Germany to be the guy for your team at Laverkusin.
(39:24):
We need you to do it here so you prepare
yourself for next year or whatever that is. But the
World Cup is a big deal and we have big players,
and the big players have to show up.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
I couldn't agree more, and I was on like, I
think that as I said, the eleven that you put out,
we both have the same one. I think that's what
it's gonna be. But those are the only real considerations
of debates. But listen, we are so very close tab
six days away at time of recording until that opening game,
so we are gonna dive all the way deep into Paraguay.
(39:55):
Will save some stuff for our next episode. So thank
you for listening to South American Soccer. Please rate for
you and subscriber ever gags your podcast. We're going to
be back with a full preview of the opening World
Cup match, Yes, the opening World Cup match for you,
us mn T against Paraguay. Will have that early next
week ahead of the game start the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
Thank you for listening. Its back very very soon.
This has nothing to do with kicking. He just kicked
the German. He kicked the German because he wants to play.
That's why.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
What's going on. Everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Welcome to Inside American Soccer. I am US men's national
team insider Tom Boger, and I'm joined by one of
the greatest players in US soccer history, a venteror of
three World Cups. So my good friend tap Ramos Tab.
I'm in Chicago. The United States have played their last
friendly before the World Cup. The next time this team
takes the field, it will be the World Cup opening
match against Paraguay. We've talked through this for months and
(00:31):
months and months. Paraguay was always the north star the
World Cup in general. But that's the first game, and Tab,
we're gonna break down this two to one loss to Germany.
But man, we're here the next time they hit the field,
it's a World Cup.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
We're finally here. You know, how many people have you
heard over the last few years talk about, Hey, the
World Cup is here, this is gonna happen. We're hoping this,
We're hoping. You know, the game is gonna blow up.
You know, all of these things, and some of it
came from obviously seeing all the changes that came here
after World Cup ninety four, And because of that, I'm
wearing one of my World Cup ninety four tops today
(01:06):
that the people on iHeartRadio unfortunately can't see. But I'm
wearing my top. You know, you can see how big
it is because everything was big back then. So I'm
wearing that in memory because I know that after today
we kind of have to put the past away. It's
time let's put everything away, and I'm really I'm really
excited about moving forward and seeing what we can do.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
A quick sidebar.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
I thought it was nice that US Soccer honored the
nineteen ninety fourteen before the game today, But I got
to tell you, I don't think you can call it
a nineteen ninety four reunion if tab ramosn't told me
all aren't there. So I just needed to push back
about that immediately.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, you know, it was nice for all the guys
to get back together. You know, for me, I had
you know, I had my youngest daughter's prom last night,
so it wasn't something I was gonna miss. And you know,
life takes you know, just like I haven't been to
a high school reunion. Ever, I missed this World Cup
ninety four reunion, so sorry about that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, hopefully you guys can have a nice phone call
or something, or we'll see we'll see where where Harksy
is later in the night and maybe he'll give you
a ring. But we're here to talk about the last
pre World Cup tune up. The United States lose to
wonder Germany. There was some bad moments, particularly the opening
three minutes, but I thought that there was a lot
of good moments too. It was a nuanced performance. It's
(02:22):
one of those where we can't come on here and
like kill the team for being bad or have a
lot to critique. But it's not as if they beat
Germany again. There's good and bad and we're gonna dive
into it all. But I wanted to set the table.
This is the fifth game against European opponents under Maricha
Pochatino for the national team. Zero wins, zero draws, five losses.
(02:43):
That's not just a Pochatino issue. This is now eleven
games in a row against European opposition in which the
United States have failed to win in FIFA windows, nine losses,
two draws, So that's obviously Burhalter and Pochatino, and I
don't know if one of the interim coaches had one
of those games in the middle. They have not beat
a European team since Northern Ireland, who are not anywhere
(03:04):
near the same level as Germany or even Turkey or
Switzerland or Belgium or Portugal of some of the recent ones.
They did beat Bosi and Herzegovina in December one year,
which is outside of a FIVA window, which means that
was not really Bosie and Hurtsgovina, it was just whoever
was in their off seasons.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So this is a bit of an issue though.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Coming out of this game, Tap, I don't feel like
really bad, Like I actually feel encouraged, and I think
part of that is still the goodwill from the win
against Senegal.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
But Tab, what did you make of this performance today?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I mean, you know, that's a good setup to this
because I, like you feel pretty optimistic about what I
saw today in general. You know, I think, of course
there were some mistakes. There were some you know, some
in particular tactical movements that we can talk about, but
in general, I felt like today I saw a US
team play, you know, I saw the US team get
(03:57):
out there. We went after Germany for the first I
would say forty five minutes. I think we were the
better team overall. I think it's hard to argue that.
Of course, Germany had some good moments too, And it's
difficult to play teams like Germany because you know, we
depend so much on our press. If our press fails,
we are in big trouble. And we notice that today
(04:18):
and that's what, you know, that's sort of who we've been.
And Germany is smart enough to find the other side
quickly and get out. But for the times they didn't
get out, we did punish them and we created quite
a few opportunities. So overall, for me, I felt like
today I watched a US team that I've been watching
for a long time, and I was I was happy
with that.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I think that that is a mark of improvement because
there's been so much discussion, debate about what's the team's identity, what, well,
you know, what do they want to do? Is this
the typical American spirit that we associate with some of
these teams, And I think, particularly over the last two matches,
a stark difference from March. We've seen that but so
again on on Saturday at a sold out Soldier field,
(04:58):
Germany goes up in the second minute, literally their first
attack of the game. They get a free kick outside
the box, they cross it in and Kai Hoverts just
scored in a Champions League final, unmarked alone header from
six yards out, and you start to worry. Tab it
might be a long, long day but the United States.
Maybe it wasn't immediate, but before long they were the
better team by the end of the first half, and
(05:19):
then Anthony Robinson has an absolute galazo full volley after
a clearance on a corner kick from outside the box.
I don't know if I've ever seen him strike a
ball that sweet.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
What a goal that was.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
And it goes one one a halftime, and in the
fifty seventh minute Leroy Zone scores the eventual game winner
for Germany. A few minutes later is when all the
subs came in. So the game really lost its intense
that he really lost its flow. So again Germany to
won some good and some bad. What did you think about?
You alluded to tactical thoughts, tactical sasms. What was on
your mind there when you were alluding to that?
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Well, a couple of things. Obviously. First of all, you know,
if we look a little bit at the pairing of
Bawligan and Polistic right when when we watched the last game,
you know, we were really encouraged by the fact that
because Peppi dropped into the holes, Polisic could be forward, more,
could be in the box more. Since Baligan doesn't really
(06:10):
do that, Chris and Polisic was forced to go and
find the ball himself. And by the way, he did
a great job doing it because the first goal, the
first goal comes from him coming into our side of
the field to collect the ball, get down the sideline,
he forced the corner and from the corner comes our goal, right,
So I think that was a lot of that was
(06:31):
created by him. So I was happy with that part.
But the second part, and this is the part where
I think it alarms me a little bit, but it
doesn't surprise me because we've been talking about us finally
putting a team together at some point we were talking
about this six eight months down the road. I have
difficulty figuring out how we defended in midfield. So for example,
(06:55):
we had because we were almost we were almost in
a four to four to two right almost in a
four four two where desk was in the middle, but
then Tillman had to make that effort. At a couple
of different times, I saw Tillman make like forty yard
sprint efforts to get into a hole either in between
Adams and McKenny or on the side of one of them,
(07:18):
And I'm not sure if that's a little bit confusing
for both. I'm not sure if that's the kind of
the effort that that Pochettino needs from Tillman. But I
think it was a long way to go for him
to get there, you know, And at times we had
Tyler Adams go all the way to the sideline to press,
and at times we had McKenny go all the way
to the right side on the sideline to press, which
(07:39):
was most of the time, so there was a lot
of There was a lot of you go or I go.
Sometimes it was Polisic all the way wide pressing, so
there was a lot of that. And you know, and
I know you're gonna obviously you're gonna say how you
feel about what I just said, but I'd like to
go back to four years ago and where we finished
in the last World Cup to address this specifically.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Do you want to go to go to that Noway?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, okay, so this is I'll start with this and
maybe it's a little a little bit of fun. But
if I were to ask you, okay, so we just
finished in twenty twenty two, we finished the World Cup
in Qatar by losing to the Netherlands in the second round,
if if I were to ask you, okay, like a
(08:24):
lot of people thought, well, maybe it's time to move on.
Maybe it's time time to bring a coach that brings
something different to the table. And I can maybe I
can answer that first and then ask you what you thought.
But if somebody just so I don't put you on
the spot, if then this I'm gonna ask you some question.
But somebody was gonna ask me after the twenty twenty
two World Cup, I would have said, okay, great, we
(08:45):
have a bunch of you know, young players who are
all willing to make a great effort like we saw today,
who are all willing to press in an organized way.
Because when you looked at a Burrholz team and you know,
and obviously there's a lot of people on one side
or the other of the way. Burholter coach but when
you looked at the Burholter team, it pressed organized always.
(09:08):
You always knew what was coming out, whether it was
Moosa stepping up, or it was Tom Bradham stepping up,
or it was McKinney stepping up. It was always very
organized and the way that happened. And so if somebody
were going to ask me the question that I asked you,
whereas where where do we need to improve? I would
have said at the time, Okay, we do a great
job pressing, we do a great job transitioning forward after
(09:30):
we win the ball, but our transition defense is just
not great. I just feel like when we lose the ball,
there's going to be danger against us. You know. The
other thing I would have said was, you know, when
we build out of the back is very robotic, it's
very mechanical, very it's very much patterns. So we're doing
(09:51):
patterns constantly. Okay, that's where we work. So there's what
we need improvement. So now let me before you end,
so let me fast forward to today's game. When I
look at today's game, I see a team that press well,
they went with everybody. I still don't feel any better
about our transition defense. I don't because I feel like
it didn't take Germany more than two or three passes
(10:12):
to actually be in our box and be dangerous, so
we're kind of and on attack. I actually feel less
confident that I can tell you how we attack because
I'm not really sure how we built out of the back.
So I agree, Listen, this is obviously just looking at
it from a coaching from my coaching eyes, this is
(10:32):
what I'm seeing. I'm seeing we don't really have a
way out of the back that I'm seeing clearly, which
I did see in twenty twenty two. And so did
we have we come along in the last four years
from the last game against Holland to today.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
That is yeah, And yeah, we'll focus on today because
I want to have this overarching conversation a bit deeper
later too. But that that is very interesting. I think
that we have less patterns, so it's less robotic in
some ways, which I also critiqued at times. But then
there's the drawbacks here where it, like you said, it's
(11:11):
you go or I go, or he goes, and it's
a lot of maybe more freelancing or more feel of
the game in terms of transition defense. It's a cop
out to say that like Tyler Adams, that that's the system,
that's the tactic. It's just Tyler go bet Tyler right.
So today it was more Malik Tillman holding with him
because it was it was like you said, it was
(11:33):
very fluid, So it would be maybe Malik's went more
forward or Weston dropped in. I think on paper they
would have listed Western McKinney next to next to Adams,
but I think Tilman was the one that was further
back more often. And I did appreciate some of his efforts,
but particularly the second goal was his fault for me
or maybe that's maybe that's a little bit too critical,
(11:53):
but the build up they they end up scoring on
the seed that sequence starts from a thrown, but the
sequence that gave them that thrown. He was very very
slow to react to runners, spot danger and know which
space is to fill, and he was a little bit
slow in coming out to challenge, and I think Adams
(12:14):
was as well. I'm not pitting that all. I'm leake Timman,
but that is the risk when you're playing somebody like
leaked Timan who was an attack minded player, somebody who
it was funny Mariso Potinos referenced Milik Tilman playing as
a holding midfielder in the Champions League for PSV or
playing some league games there, and he was like, you know,
he can do it, He's done it, and like he
referenced him. So that's also why I think that Pochetino
(12:36):
views Sam is more the deeper guy, but the irony
there is. Malik Tilman made no doubt about his feelings
about that. When that the PSV games Pochettino was speaking
of Tillman was asked around that time, He's like, I
hate playing his position. I want to play further forward,
but I would do a job for a team, all
the professional stuff. But it was funny that Pochettino was like,
(12:56):
see he did it today, just like he did for them,
and then like if you ask Tilman two years ago,
he's like, no, I hate this, I don't want to
play this way. And I think that's a that's a
big issue in terms of the defensive transition talking about
the attacking side of it.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
So before you move on to the attacking let me
just make one more point on that. I think Malie
Tilman was trying to play off of seeing what McKenny
was doing because McKenny was also leaving. McKenny was leaving
the middle, he wasn't staying and so he was trying
to compensate. So he had a I thought, Tilman, I
give him a lot of credit today because he had
a really, really tough job.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah, And I think that's a good way to look
at it, because maybe watching it live, watching the press box,
I was a little bit critical.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I thought he was fine.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
I thought he was good, but it was particularly maybe
his legs were fading and your point about I think
his work rate was really strong, and maybe I overlooked
that a little bit. But also he got injured in
the winter, and from the March window until the last
Bundesliga game he did not start. He made one start
for buyer Lebracusing. So maybe this is a symptom of
(14:00):
oh my god, I haven't played fifty five minutes. Like again,
they scored in the fifty seventh minute or whatever, and
it felt like it slowed down a little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
But in the attack I thought Polistic was very good.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Today he's not gonna He didn't have a goal and
he's not credited with any assists. I don't think he's
credited with many chances created, which again if you're just
looking at like raw numerical statistics, you'd say, eh, I
thought he was very very good. Today's tab one thing.
His movement was really really good off the ball. There
was a few times where he was making decisive and
(14:32):
dangerous and pressure inducing runs where there was like a
one with Malik Tilm and one with Tim reem At
that like if they had saw at a split second earlier,
he had a chance to either get in behind or
getting a dangerous spot. So that's not his fault that
the past didn't come. I think he he took on
the pressure of okay, we're under like Germany's really good,
(14:53):
give me the ball, all solve it, give me the
ball we get In transition, he was decisive. He was
taking players on Jonathan to first Germany. I think he
was good. He made his life very difficult. Baligan had
a lot of struggles with Todd though he was run
occupying him a lot. When Pulsick was in transition. That
was when this team was at their best, and he
(15:13):
was responsible for the creating the corner that led to
the anti Robinson goal. To again, he's not gonna get
an assist for that and I forget if he even
took the corner or not, but that doesn't happen without Polistic.
So I was very very encouraged for him by him
on the back of that Cenegal game. A goal and assist,
a man of the match performance. This is the best
two games stretch Pulisic has had in a national team
(15:33):
shirt since at least twenty twenty four, if not twenty
twenty three.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I agree. I think Christian Polistic had a good game,
and this kind of makes me think a little bit
about his press conference after the last game. Right, he
scored the goal and immediately he said to the fans, hey,
you know, hopefully now everybody can be quiet about me scoring.
It's not about scoring goals. It's really not about scoring goals.
I think, if anything, goals can hide the sometimes you
(16:00):
don't play well, right, because if you don't play well
but you score, everybody's like, well, you know, you scored goals,
that's good enough. But I think when you play the
way when Christian Polistic plays the way he played today,
he doesn't need to score goals. He just need to
provide to the team. And I think today he was
key to the team. Although we didn't win the game,
I think that's all the team needs from him.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
And like he, I go back and forth here because
I am encouraged by the team. But then I don't
want to be like, hey, raise the banner because we
played decently and we played well in a loss in
a friendly to Germany, right, all those things, but Pulistic
playing the way he did, it didn't feel like we
had no chance at matching Germany's firepower, And like, I
think that that feeling is important because he is how
(16:45):
the attack is going to go. I think Balgan's obviously
very important because of his goal scoring, or if it's
Ricardi Peppy, or if it's McKinney, or if it's whoever, right,
Polistic is the most important piece of driving where that goes.
And again today, if you just look at the numbers,
you'd be underwhelmed. But again, watching the game, you know
for sure that it was very good and very strong,
(17:05):
and this is a game that was very tight. Germany
had won, who knows what it would have looked like.
And I thought it was very intense in the first half,
and then the stoppage time in the second half, which
we'll get to. It a bit, but who knows what
would have happened over ninety minutes at a World Cup game, right,
And I think that to walk away very very encouraged,
particularly beyond him. Anthony Robinson looked vintage, and we know
(17:29):
how good he is. This is the best he's looked
in a national team shirt since his injury. He scores
that incredible goal. I thought that he did a lot
of other stuff really well. He was taking on his defender,
getting to the byline, trying to get crosses in chances creating.
He was an outlet positively down that left flank. He
did leave with he cramping. He left with cramps. He
(17:51):
wasn't supposed to be substituted. When the subs were happening.
He went down holding it like stretching himself out. Pochatino
after the game said it's just cramps. The medical ta
told me it's just scramps. And then he goes, I
hope it's just scramps, and he started laughing of like,
you know, I really it better not be something worse,
because they pretty much said they can't say with one
hundred percent certainty it was just scramps. But that is
(18:12):
the feeling. Anthony spoke after the game as well, which
is usually a good sign that if he had a
serious injury he wouldn't be talking. He said, he's fine
all that stuff. Tyleer Adams called him one of the
best left back to the Premier League, and Tyler goes,
I don't say that lightly.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So this was a really good day for Anthony Robinson.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yeah, without a doubt. Obviously the goal, you know what
else can we say about it? It's an outstanding always
is I mean, hopefully not for him, but it's usually
a once in a lifetime. I mean, he he couldn't
have hit the ball any harder because you think about it,
the ball almost went right into the middle of the
goal and the goalkeeper didn't even have enough time to
raise his hands. That's how hard he hit the ball, right,
(18:52):
Because if they would have gone in the corner, you
can say, well the keeper couldn't reach it. No, in
this case, the keeper couldn't even get his hands up
to touch it. The time he got his hands up,
the ball was in the back of the net. So yeah,
that was great. But more importantly, like you said, I
think it was that he contributed in many other ways today,
defensively against sane on that side, and I think an
(19:12):
attack as well, So it was it was all around
a good performance for him.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
One more key health up date Chris Richards. He was
unavailable to play in this game with that ankle injury.
But the positive news is on Friday he took part
in individual training with the team for the first time
since camp open, so that was an important step. Richards
keeps telling He's said this the whole time. I am fine,
I am going to be able to play. Pochettino let
(19:38):
his like frustration slip a little bit in the press
conference of like, you know, we aren't really happy with
the information that we've gotten because he was picked to
the bench for the Conference League final, so we thought
that meant he was available and ready to play, and
he couldn't train when he got here, so Pochattino wasn't.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Thrilled by that.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
My pushback would be call Chris Richards. He's he's famously
made a point to say, I don't talk to my
players outside of camps.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Send the club camp.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah, call his agent, right, and again, maybe maybe they
did any good the benefit of doubt, but it was,
you know, are you just relying on the information that
Palace put him on the bench, because Pallace I would
have done the same thing about even if he had
no chance of playing. Put on your boots, walk around
in warm ups, let them think that you might be available.
But anyway, he hopefully he'll be I don't know if
he'll be able to start for Paraguay, but this week
(20:32):
was at least an encouraging sign insofar as he was
able to train individually. The media gets to see the
first fifteen minutes of training. He looked normal, but again
it's light jogging, it's it's little technical drills, it's rondos,
but he hadn't done that yet, so that's a good sign.
And again, if you can't start against Paraguay, I'd have
pretty good confidence that he could start against Australia. But
(20:52):
we saw I think early in the game. In particular,
we really are missing Chris Richards in this team because
he is the defensive anchor and also he's somebody with
his passing range that can help with those sequences out
of the back.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
No question, I mean you you you start to think about,
you know, if had Richard's been in the game, if
Matt Freeze comes after that cross, or if he doesn't
or if Chris Richards goes after it. These are the
little things that you build when you're building a team, right,
You're building the guy, you know, in particular the goalkeeper
with the center back saying always know what what what
(21:27):
the next play is going to be, and uh, you
know that's one of those things. Today, you know, Miles
Robinson gets thrown into the middle of the three and
I don't think he had played the middle of three
for too much. And so I.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
Thought Mark mackenzie was going to say I was surprised
by that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Right, And I think maybe that's a little bit of
a surprise, and that's a little bit of maybe that
has to do with being in the first few minutes
and the you know, into the game and and sort
of adapting to everything that's around you in a new position.
So yeah, but certainly, uh, maybe I would say if
Chris Richards is in there, that likely would have been
a little different.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Yeah, And I don't want to pick too much on
Miles Robinson, but I do think he was He could
have done better for sure on the first and the
second goal. I don't think he was bad on today,
But it's just a difference when Chris Richards is the
gold standard of this center back pool, and you have
to wonder what it might have been with him in there.
(22:25):
When the subs came into this game. I was a
little disappointed that the intensity dropped. I know, it's difficult
to come into a game and keep the intensity raised
and because there's so many stoppages or so many guys
coming in and out and you're trying to get a
feel for the game. But I think today was the
clearest indicator of who po Chatino views as his first choice.
(22:46):
Eleven can know Chris Richards, that's the obvious caveat. But
I kind of think what we saw in the first
fifty five to sixty minutes is who's going to start
against Paraguay as long as everybody's fit.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Again, with Richard's being.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
In there, so you would think that that would be
enough of impetus for a lot of players buzzing around,
a lot of players just trying to do stuff, a
lot of players saying, Okay, I might not be the
starting group right now. Let me see if I could
change his mind over the next few days. And I
didn't see much of that. I don't think Gioranna was
particularly good bustin bashion brawls were in good moments, Brandon
Aaron sentd some good moments, but nobody really moved the needle.
(23:18):
Tim Wye is somebody who is in what appears to
be now somebody who would be coming off the bench,
and I think he'll still be a valuable part of
this group. He's somebody that if I think he'll appear
in every game, whether he starts or not.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
I think he appears in every game.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
But in second half stoppage time, Tim why I got
kicked once or twice and then probably that and probably
maybe a little frustration that he's not part of the
starting group. Tap I think that he said, I don't
I don't care what's happening. The next time I come
near somebody on Germany, I'm kicking the shit out of him.
And he got his money's worth and almost ignited a
bit of a fight with a slide tackle that I
(23:50):
think was fair. Yes, he came in hard, it was
not dirty, it was not excessive, it was not late.
It was just a strong challenge and the German players
didn't take didn't didn't take too kindly to that.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Yeah, he went in hard, but I think if you
were to ask him wheat today who he tackled, he
probably doesn't even remember by now, because I think I
think that tackle was not about the Germany game at all.
It was about, hey, coach, I want to be playing
and I can't believe I'm not playing. That's kind of
how it felt for me. So whether he was tackling
a German today or a Chinese player or whatever else,
(24:22):
it really wasn't going to matter. Tim Y Yeah, Tim
Waya just wanted to prove a point. And by the way,
I don't mind that at all, to be honest, I
like players when you know, if they don't play, they
should be upset that they're not playing. They can do
it in a good way. But I think it's a
good reaction, and I would agree with you that both,
you know, if I had to say about you know,
(24:43):
of course, now we're it looks like we're seeing the
starting eleven. If that's the starting eleven, all those guys
weren't on it. And I thought burr Holz came in
and played like a professional like he always does. I
thought Aaronson came in and played like a professional like
he always does. And I like that, you know, after
why in the game today, I'm thinking, you know what,
those two guys are coming off the bench for me
(25:04):
for sure after what I saw, because why not they
they came in, and they came in like they were
in the middle of this game, and and I really
like that. And I think and I think all the
players kind of lost lost an opportunity, you know, you know,
guys like maybe like like Geo or you know, guys
like roll Done. You know, like, I just think they
lost a good opportunity to try to make a difference.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I would agree, But it's time for a very quick
break up.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Next, we're going to discuss how the team is looking
now four years after we were eliminated in the.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Twenty twenty two More Cups to the Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
So please rate, review and subscribe to in South American
Soccer Tabronos wherever.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You get wanted.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Welcome back to in South American Soccer, so tab. The
United States lose to one to Germany in their final
pre World Cup tune up, and it was very.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Interesting to me.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
I thought it was a little bit poetic, maybe a
little bit ironic that this game was in Chicago and
the head coach and sporting Judger of Chicago Fire was
the host to both Germany and the United States. Both
teams used the Fire's beautiful facilities. This week, the head
coach gave personally gave a tour to the facility to
the German media. He made some time for US American
media too. Don't worry, but he was talking to both coaches,
(26:19):
all the players. And it's a little bit ironic that
this is Greg Burhalter, the man that Marisio Pochattino replaced
this head coach of the US national team. Burhalter said
that him and Pochatino have a good relationship. He said
that they spoke. He speaks very fondly of this group
because of how long he was with all these guys,
a lot of these guys, and Weston McKinney was talking
(26:41):
about how happy he was to see Greg and how
happy he was to spend time around him, and how
important he is to this group's journey to get to
hear again. We look back at the twenty twenty two
World Cup, I don't think that they underachieved. I don't
think they overachieved. I think the round of sixteen lost
the Netherlands, and how they for them to get there
was right in line with the expectations for the youngest
(27:04):
team at the World Cup. The idea was the next
four years there was gonna be a big job. They
were the youngest team at the last World Cup. You
look at pool A sick, you look at Adams, you
look at McKinney, Tilman, Weeya at a time you would
have had Unis Muna that he has fallen off this
roster selection under Potchettino. All these guys, Chris Richards, all
(27:24):
of these guys instead of their early twenties or late teens,
their mid twenties, late twenties, they went from as Burrow
to call it. He was like they were babies when
I had them, like in a completely loving way. He's like,
now there are grown adult men, they have kids. It's
so beautiful to see. Four years ago I would have
(27:45):
said quarterfinals bare minimum for what this group is, what
this group can become home World Cup hopefully maybe the
semi finals is on last week I was like, oh
my god, round of sixteen bare minimum because this team
has not showed an enough growth over the last four
years of tab What do you make of the evolution
(28:05):
or maybe lack thereof of the United States mensass team.
Since that day in guitar losing for the Netherlands.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
The evolution has not certainly has not gone in a
straight lineup, right, So you know, I would hope that
you know, obviously we have a good World Cup, and
that after the World Cup, we can hear the President
of US Soccer, Cindy Kohene, at some point speak because
she never speaks, so maybe she can say, you know,
obviously we had J. T. Batson here with us talking
(28:35):
about business, right, but when are we going to talk
about soccer? When is somebody from US Soccer going to
talk about soccer to us, to the rest of us. Right,
That doesn't necessarily happen, because I would like to ask
those questions. I would like to say, Okay, you know,
twenty twenty two, we got to a certain place with
Greg Burholter. I think overall it was a good World Cup.
(28:57):
It wasn't great, it wasn't bad. It was young players.
We wanted more. Everyone wanted more. And by the way,
we all agreed that we needed more, right because we've
been round to sixteen forever, right, Okay, so one time
we went to one time we went to the quarterfinals
and another time we didn't make it out of the group,
but in general we always make it to the round
of sixteen, So we want something something better. Now, I
(29:19):
would ask that question, have we accomplished something better? And
this is actually of course we're going to look at
it after the World Cup, but I think this is
a good time to look at it because we're looking
at it without the results of the World Cup. Are
we prepared? Do we feel like after we saw our
players crying off the field in the game against the
(29:40):
Netherlands after getting knocked out in twenty twenty two, do
we see now four years later that we are very
far ahead of where we were at that time, that
now we can go in and we can get to
the quarterfinals or to the semifinals, which is what we
all want. And by the way, knowing that you can
lose any game, right oh, we can be playing great
(30:01):
in the second round and lose to Egypt. We can
lose to Egypt in the second It can happen. So
this is why I'd like to look at it right now,
because right now we're looking at it without the results
of the World Cup. Are we at a point where
we feel like over the last four years US soccer
through however, their sporting director, their president, the coaches they hired.
(30:23):
Have they done everything they could? And has what they
have done gotten us to a better place than we
were when we left Qatar?
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Unfortunately, I don't think that we are because and I
don't the Potatino era. I think that was a really
good higher we have. Maybe we're going to see the
peak over the next few weeks and that is the hope,
That is the whole idea of this higher. Right, So
it's obviously incomplete at this point. Nobody's gonna remember that
they lost for not to Switzerland and a friendly last
(30:54):
summer if they get to the core finals, right, that's
very very obvious. The teams performances hasn't been super encouraging.
I think this week was the Senegal game in particular, obviously,
but I think that they battled very well against Germany
in this final game. But it all comes down to
what happens at the group stage and then what happens
to the knockout rounds, and soccer could be a cruel sport.
(31:16):
The lower scoring the game is in in sports in general,
the higher rate of random acts impacting greatly what happens. Right,
Basketball is the most predictable sport in terms of the winner,
because it's such a high scoring sport. Soccer is such
a low scoring sport. That's why it's so beautiful. That's
why we love it so much, because there's so many
(31:37):
different ways to win. And on any given day, you know,
let's say the referee doesn't call the foul that leads
to Germany's opening goal, what happens today, Well, what happens if.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
The Necks are on fire? By the way, goods.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Listen, I gotta I've been gogles last few days for
where thankfully I've been able to watch all these Nicks games.
I apologize sincerely to anybody who's been at a bar
while I'm watching the Knicks here in Chicago, but you've
greeted me greatly. So maybe that's why basketball is on
my mind. But I think more so is that just
the development of the players that we thought hasn't maybe
(32:14):
really happened. Like Polisic, He's I thought he was really
good in twenty twenty two, so I'm not even criticizing
him for not being vastly different than that. Chris Richards
has has excelled Tyler Adams, but I think Tyl Radams, McKinney,
they're both really good. It's just around this team. Maybe
we're not where we thought we were going to be.
So like we're talking about an abstract too, because tab
(32:37):
you go and get six points against Paraguay and Australia
and we're gonna be on this same very show being like,
what a success.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
There's so much better than we thought.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, no, it's true and the end result is what matters. Right,
But I'll go back to my reference about Christian Poliitic
right in him not scoring, Like it didn't matter to
me today that he didn't score because I saw that effort.
I saw him putting the team on his shoulders at
different times. That's what I think he's supposed to do,
and he did it. And okay, so it's not reflected
on the score sheet, but I thought today he played it.
(33:05):
He played a pretty good game. Do we want more? Yeah,
of course, we always want more, but I kind of
I want more out of this World Cup, and obviously,
you know, you always depend on your opponents. I think
the way, you know, our first round is set up
with what I see with potentially and Ciso being hurt
in the first game and not playing for Paraguay. Now,
(33:27):
I think we're in a good spot to take first
place in our group and really set us up to
make a little bit of a run. And and I
think our team should be good enough to do it.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
I think so too, Toad. Let's get into that Paraguay
game right after a very quick break. Thank you for
listening to South American Soccer. Please right if you subscribe,
We're gonna be right back with a Paraguay solting love break.
Welcome back to Inside Americans Soccer tab, where the World
(34:02):
Cup is about to be here in the United States.
Next game is that opening group stage game against Paraguay.
So TAB, with all the different lineup combinations and all
the different players called up over the last eighteen months,
do you feel Do you feel good about what you're
about to tell me of what you think the starting
eleven is going to be against Taraguay.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
The answer would be no, because I don't think. I
don't think I've been able to guess Mauricio Pochetino's lineup
once over the last year, one single time. But I'm
gonna give it the best shot and I'm gonna I'm
gonna consider that most of these players playing the first
sixty minutes in today's game against Germany, I'm thinking that
(34:43):
he's thinking that he's his eleven and I think that's
how most of the world would see this. But I
wouldn't be shocked if this completely changes. So starting with that,
I would say Freeze will be in goal. He played
ninety minutes. We have to remember the last game. The
other two goalkeepers, you know, Brady and Matt Turner split,
so which makes sense now they all have played going
(35:05):
into the World Cup, I Freeze played ninety I think
he will be the starter in the back. Freeman. I
didn't think he had his best game against Germany, but
I still think he did enough in the two games
to be a starter on the right side of the
Of the three center backs that I'm gonna put in
the lineup in the middle, I'm gonna put in Richards
(35:26):
just because I think it's the World Cup and if
Richards can play at all, I think you're going upstairs
to Mauricio Pochettino's room and knocking on the door and saying, Coach,
I'm ready to go. I'm all good, I'm gonna play,
And I think that has to happen, and I think
that's gonna happen, and I think on the left side
it will be Reim. Reim at the end of the day,
is Mauricio Puchettino's guy. He is his veteran on the field,
(35:48):
and however they have to protect them back there, they will,
and I think Green would play all the way on
the right will be best. I don't see why not.
He's been doing a great job and when he gets
a little further up the field, we know that Robinson
drops to form four in the back, so that that
kind of has started to work out pretty well. In
(36:09):
the center, I'm gonna go with Adams and McKinney, and
I know that you know, it's not an easy position
for McKinney because McKinnie I think he wants to be
freer than that. I don't think he wants to hold
the position. But I think that that's likely the best
for us, and that's likely the best of the team.
Uh So, left side, I'll go with Robinson and in
(36:32):
front of in front of those let's say four guys,
it'll be Tillman and Polisic, and I think Tillman and
and McKinney will have to be the two that that
switch back and forth, and at times when McKinny goes,
Tillman is gonna have to make those forty yards efforts
that we still make against Germany to get into the
right spot and get in front of our our our
(36:52):
center backs, and then up next to Tillman will be Polisic,
and up top it will be Balligin. I think that's
what our eleven will be.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
So I agree with you, and.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Again, person to person, the only slight tweek I'd say
is i'd probably list Tilman is next to McKenny. But
like you said, it's fluid, and the fluidity is hopefully
one of the team's strengths.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
I know that's that's by design.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
The questions I would ask, though, so right, if Richards
is good to go, he's gone the midfield, would it
make sense for and Burrhalter I think would be a
more natural fit than either mckinni or Tilman next to Adams?
So one, do you think that that's a possibility. The
other side of that is, okay, does that mean that
Tilman gets dropped? Because I don't think I think you
(37:36):
start McKinney, No, matter what. And then the only other
consideration for the starting eleven is Ricarda Peppy. I don't
think he's better than Baligan. I think he's good, but
his connection with poolsic and the overlapping of the complimentary
skills was on display against Senegal. All that being said
(37:57):
to have maybe if Baligan started against Senegal we be
having the same conversation.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
But we don't know.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
But I think at this point, for a team that
has had so many different combinations, we are we are
down to what I think all eleven is correct, but
we were only down to like two or three questions,
which I don't know. Ten days ago, I would have
told you that there's you know, ten positions under gram
or whatever, right, because we just didn't know.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Those are all Those are all good questions. And I'll
say this, you know we're going into the World Cup,
and I'll address specifically the Burholter and Tillman situation that
you just spoke about. Do I see it as a
possibility that Burholter can play next to Adams and push
McKinney a little higher. I do. I do, because I
think I think he knows how to hold that position better.
(38:41):
He's more natural in that position. Having said that, Tom,
this is the World Cup, you're playing against the best teams.
Tillman is a forty million dollars signing for Leverkusen. I
think you got to put him in there and he's
got to show up. I feel like just this, this
is the World Cup, is where you just put your
(39:02):
best players and you go and play against the best
players of other countries. And this is what we have.
And I think Tillman is one of our best players,
and that's why I think you should play. I maybe
this is not the right solution that you wanted to
hear or the right now, but I think you put
it on his shoulders and say, listen, you're playing in
Germany to be the guy for your team at Laverkusin.
(39:24):
We need you to do it here so you prepare
yourself for next year or whatever that is. But the
World Cup is a big deal and we have big players,
and the big players have to show up.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
I couldn't agree more, and I was on like, I
think that as I said, the eleven that you put out,
we both have the same one. I think that's what
it's gonna be. But those are the only real considerations
of debates. But listen, we are so very close tab
six days away at time of recording until that opening game,
so we are gonna dive all the way deep into Paraguay.
(39:55):
Will save some stuff for our next episode. So thank
you for listening to South American Soccer. Please rate for
you and subscriber ever gags your podcast. We're going to
be back with a full preview of the opening World
Cup match, Yes, the opening World Cup match for you,
us mn T against Paraguay. Will have that early next
week ahead of the game start the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
Thank you for listening. Its back very very soon.
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