Episode Transcript
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A post messy edition of the UnionSoccer Podcast. I know Messi is a
global superstar. I imagine we mightget tired of hearing that name a little
bit on this podcast today. Itis the Union Soccer Podcast. Find us
wherever you get your podcasts. Also, we are part of the Fox Sports
and Gambler family foxphl Gambler dot com. Follow us on socials at Fox Phil
(00:22):
Gambler. But this is also inthe Union Soccer Blog Union Soccer Blog dot
substack dot com. The owner ofthat blog its owner. Do you operate
it? Are you? You're justeverything? Joe Tanzy You can follow at
j Tanzi ninety. My name isJohn Jansen. All I do is just
host give Joe some questions. Youcan follow me at j Jansen thirty four.
The Messy Madness? Joe, isit warrnt off for you yet?
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Are you good? To you?Refreshed? How you feel? And after
a whirlwind I would say, likewhat four days, four or five days
leading up to MESSI in Chester,I was waiting to see how you were
an intro there, owner, operator, whatever you want to be? Writer
at editor content the e I seethe editor in chief. How many titles
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do you have the Union Soccer Blog, the all Powerful Union Soccer Blog.
Yeah, the Wizard of Oz,the Union Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
so subscribe. There plenty of stuffcoming because everybody else is gone,
but we're still here and there's athird place game to be had this week,
and I guarantee you that I willbe one of maybe like three media
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there's. Yeah, So if youneed any Monterey versus Union coverage, Bill
Union Soccer Blog, because there willbe plenty coming from tomorrow's media session as
well as Saturday's game, which arefreshing six o'clock kickoff. I didn't know
what first of all, I didn'tknow what to do, Like with a
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seven pm kickoff, I'm like,wait, I can be home before midnight
and actually be on like a normalsleep schedule. I ended up sleeping like
six hours yesterday afternoon, so itdidn't matter. But yeah, the messy
apocalypse has is that what we're calling. I didn't know if you're gonna call
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it the messy massacre, the messyapocalypse. I didn't know it was supposed
the title. It was about that. It was definitely a massacre, whatever
you want to call it. Imean, it wasn't good from the Union
perspective, No, And I guesswhat the question is now is what where
do we start with that? Becausein the beginning, it's all about atmosphere
and how amazing this moment is.As you're seeing the bridge in Subaru Park
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all over in the background in theriver, and then Messi's in the Subaru
Park on the field warming up,and the Messy jerseys, the Union kits,
they kind of all blended together becausethe Argentina colors and the alternate alternate
kits from last year for the Unionall the same color. So it was
really hard to tell at times.But it is this incredible atmosphere that was
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I mean deflated within least for mostof the audience, deflated within a few
minutes. So how how do youhow do you look at that game?
Like what is what is post Messipost Messy and Chester? Where do you
begin with that? There's so manyways to approach it, right, because
there's a big picture way, there'sa small picture way. There's a way
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to just condemn the Union for notspending and they'll never be this even in
the same stratosphere as Miami. Ever, from a small picture, you have
to rebound for to play a thirdplace game. You have to win to
get in the Champions League. Theother big picture item is is Jim Curtin
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in in big games, it's AndyReid with the Eagles. You know,
you win, Like, I thinkthat's an app comparison now, right it
is. I saw that comparison floatingaround on Twitter, so yeah, because
he'll get you there. But itdoes feel like the big game. I
asked all one hundred Padoya after thegame, I'm like, how do you
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guys get over the hump? Andyou know, it comes down to like
a psychological thing because they played decent, but when you're set up to fail,
it'll come back to haunt you.And they had no business being in
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that game from the start, andit was just it felt like the twenty
eighteen Open Cup final in Houston wherethat game was over in twenty minutes,
Like that was that was the worsthalf of soccer I've seen this team played
since that that Open Cup Final inHouston, and we all know what happened
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after that. They famously just backedinto the playoffs, had to play NYCFC
twice at the end of the regularseason and the playoffs, and when Ernie
start was met with with those criticisms, he pushed back on it very hard,
like, no, we didn't backinto the playoffs at all. You
did, and the Open Cup finalhurt you. Now, it's completely different
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sub circumstances, you know, intwenty twenty three with the team that's now
one. A bunch of things.But the way I felt at least,
and I know speaking to the fansand speaking to other people in the press
box they felt differently. But tome, just going into that game,
it felt more like the Union inthose two home Open Cup finals against Seattle
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and Kansas City where they are thedecided underdog. There's stars on the other
side, established teams on the otherside, and the Union need to be
perfect in every department to even bein that game. Yeah, that's that's
where I since you brought that up, now, you know, I think
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that's that's part of the questions thatcome up, you know, when they
lose too and LAFC and Gareth Bale'scoming off the bench and he was the
difference maker and obviously a difference makerbeing Biscots and Messy and all the other
changes that Miami made. You knowthat that seems to be a big difference,
and how do the Union combat that? Is there a way to combat
that? Like it is? Isthis just an impossible situation sometimes and you
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just have to play the perfect game. And obviously the Union did NOTT in
Tuesday and the Leagues Championship semifinal,Leagues Cup semifinal. But what what is
what is a way to put theUnion on equal terms to equalize this?
Is there a way to do that? I think equal terms. You can't
equal terms with Messy and in CarlosVela, but I think there's a way
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to do it. I mean,look at look at what Nashville has done
so that Honey Mutar was a phenomenalsigning from the start and it took them
years to get over one bad signinga striker. Now they signs am sewerage
from from Nottingham Forest looks the partso far? You know, still tbd
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on what his long term success isgoing to be. But you see that,
you see Columbus going after Kucho Hernandezto partner with Zella r On and
now they've basically swapped Zella r Onfor Diego Rossi. There are ways to
do it without bringing in Messi orNaymar, which, let's be honest,
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would have been catastrophic for the league. Yes, Nymar is a name,
but man, there's no player inthe world that hasn't lived up to expectations
more than Naymar. That would Ithink personally that would have been a disaster.
How he how you signed him?Kind of glad he signed in Saudi
Arabia. That kind of fits thethe mold and kind of shows the difference
between like the messies of the world. And I I did the terrible thing
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of making jokes after the Miami game. I was just kind of messing around
like I usually do on Twitter,because that's what Twitter, to me is
for. That is what the thatis what that vessel is for for me.
And so I made the joke andit was a reply to Kevin Kikaid's
tweet, uh, and it wassomething about you know, talent and all
that, and it was like,well, the union at type Barrabou coming
in, right, isn't that?Isn't that what's going to fix everything?
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You know? But that's it justbecause ula was supposed to be that,
you know, Barrobo there, theybring somebody in and it's all nice,
basic We don't know a barbo isgonna be like and he could be fine.
He could be a really good player. He could be a dude.
I had to say, Dune,he could be you know, maybe not
not meeting the expectations that we puton ouah when he came over here,
all of that, but as asit stands now, it's just none of
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that's none of that feels like it'sgoing to be enough. Well, look
at how this, you know,since we're going macro, Yeah, I
think it's probably better, the betterway to go, because we all know
what happened, what wrong in thegame. Daniel Gazac was a complete hit
Byron Stander getting Julian Corronza from InterMiami for not a lot big hit and
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Uhah last year seemed to be biglike a big hit. Now. Unfortunately
strikers sometimes this happens where they justgo out of form. It is what
it is. Mike Michael uh isnot the first or the last Ford to
have an extended dry spell in frontof goal. It just happens that it's
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happened at the worst time possible forthe Union. Ended up being something that
hurt Jim Curtain's decision making on Tuesdaynight. So the track record is still
there. Like to defend the Unionfor a second, you don't reach all
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of these semifinals and finals making badmoves by yeah, by just cobbling stuff
together. I mean, look atlook like, look at how the first
choice eleven is built. Number onepick in the super draft. You have
a left back who was plucked fromthe third division in Germany who now is
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trying to argue his case to bea DP level player or at least make
that type of money. You don'tpay a left back a designated player contract.
That's just the valuation position. Butwe'll get into Kybogner's contract situation later.
Left backs like you in NFL runningback is ever you're trying to tell
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him. I don't know if that'sa direct comparison, but in small yeah,
you have a seventy whatever fourth roundsuper draft pick is center back from
Norway. You have a homegrown twohomegrown right backs because Biso has been with
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the Union since he's you know,it feels like since forever. At this
point, you developed hay SU's buenofrom this Venezuelan signing and and please go
read over that Union Soccer block cases. Blena was very open and honest about
his not not playing at all intwenty twenty two and using that as motivation.
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So you see that I was aMartinez. We know that's been a
success. You know, you lookat at Jack McClean, a homegrown who's
gaining interested across your ipe. That'sno secret that you're naming like the entire
eleven and it's what most of theseguys are are insanely big hits, right,
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That's why I'm doing this. Actually, yeah, this is you have
this, this first your first choiceeleven. So you have God's Dag who's
an MVP candidate, Caronza who athis peak, if he performs incredibly well
in the next three months, couldget sold for eight figures, like that's
not a unrealistic expectation. And you, oh, who was a double digit
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scored twice with Braunbe one of thetop Scandinavian clubs. Yeah, he's had
a rough patch of form, butyou'd still grade that signing as a success
so far based off of of whathe's done. And then you look at
you know the Leon Flox or LeonFlox is starter every team in MLS.
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You know what, no matter whatyour opinion of him is or isn't,
Like, Okay, maybe ninety fivepercent. Maybe he doesn't start at LAFC,
but he's starting and the majority ofMLS clubs would love to have a
Leon Flock type player al Jandre Beadoya. I mean, I know people have
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been ragging on him this season,but like he's invaluable. Now you get
to the tactics of being able tomake those changes forty five sixty, you
know whatever with the micro part ofit. But I mean that was a
home run of a signing and thatwas done way way before Ernest Tanner was
given a pipe dream here as asporting director. So is there like that?
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This this groundwork of successful foundation ofsuccessful signings is is? Is there?
But how do you expand on?That? Is what you have to
do if you're the Union because isit a Diego We're all Sea type?
You know, the young South Americanhe thrives at LAFC, goes overseas,
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doesn't you know, it doesn't findhis footing there comes back to MLS and
as a lot of as a hugesigning. Is is it a Kucho Hernandez?
You know South American who applied histrade in the Championship with Watford and
and then comes over here and becomesa star, like is it is it
that level of superstar? I don'tknow. Superstar is the right word when
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they come in, But when theycome to MLS, can they turn themselves
into superstars and hasshold names? That'swhat you want? I think that's what
the Union lack. You know,it's the household name. Like if you
went up to one hundred people onthe streets of Philadelphia or wherever in the
area, the household name is probablyAndre Blake. I think that's a fair
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assessment. Maybe Jim Curtin is thefirst name they mentioned, because like God's
Dag has that within the fan base. But I don't know, if no,
I don't know, if you gooutside the bubble, it's Blake,
right. So I think from thatstandpoint, maybe you get a player like
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that where he scores twenty goals andhe's he's flashy and you can put them
on billboards and and all that stuff. Maybe that's maybe that's taybarbo In two
or three years. Maybe that's Mikeeluatwo or three years. Who knows,
but I think there's that The nextechelon of player the Union could go after
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and could could make a difference inthese types of games, because that's you're
not obviously not gonna sign Messi.You're not gonna sign just aren't available anyway.
You can't just get that guy,you just plucked them off as like
any Argentinian and get him. Butlike you can make moves within MLS like
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what Seattle's done over over the years. Look at what Columbus has done with
this Rossi's Delroyan swap. They've done. You know, it's it's very doable.
I mean NYCFC did it with Tatiand did it with and the briging
Maxie Morales back whatever the shell ofhim is now. But like they had
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that that guy and they wanted JulianCorronza to be that guy. And he
still can be that guy without adoubt. But can you can you move
yourself into that next echelon of spendingwhere it doesn't have to be an eight
figure transfer fee. You don't haveto be Atlanta and signing like the best
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young South Americans or Miami who's startingto do that right, But there is
an echelon above an Uwa and Barabathat you can go, you can go
up. So if you if youcan explore that echelon in the off season
and and find the right players.I mean, it's proven that you have
the scouting network and the connections andall of the above to land these types
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of players, and they've they've endedan incredible amount of finds. Like the
hit rate that Ernest Tanner has hadwith the level of signings he's brought in
is just remarkable. But to getto that next level, to get to
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winning a championship, being competitive ina semifinal, being all all of the
things we want the Union to be, you know, that's probably the next
step. You have. You havethe foundation, they have all these players
in place that have have won alot of meaningful games. Let's not take
away from that and look, personally, I probably let that those facts go
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on Tuesday night. But when you'recaught up in the emotion of a big
game and you see the exact samething from this team that you've seen many
times over, it just becomes sofrustrating. So, look, they've they've
won a lot of big games,sure, and if they win the third
place game, they're in Champions Leagueor Champions Cup whatever we're calling it now,
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and you don't have to worry aboutthat, and your sole focus can
be on winning MLS Cup, gettingas many home playoff games as possible,
all of that jazz, and you'replaying a lot of home games, a
lot of home games at the endof the season schedule, it's tough playing
you get Cincinnati, LA, andNashville all at home. Like that's that's
a nice little litmus test for yougoing into the playoffs. Yeah, it's
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it's frustrating, no doubt. Butyou're not gonna sign the messies of the
world. You're not. You're gonnasign the tier under the messias of the
world. But if you can youcan find that it's the five, five
to eight million dollar player, maybeexpand that to ten. You can find
that type of player and bring himin and have him be a difference maker
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than then, Yeah, I thinkthat's the next evolution of where the Union
can spend and compete. So Ithink for me, after that game,
my head when even more on ona bigger level than just the Union,
because I I don't think it wasa coincidence. You know, you mentioned
it was a bad game. Youknow, the worst half the Union of
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played Andre Blake probably played the worstgame he did in a Union Jersey so
and all this happened into Bower Parkand they concede four goals, which haven't
done I think since twenty eighteen.Like, none of that's a coincidence that
had happened when Messi was on thefield. You know, whether that affected
them mentally physically, I don't knowwhat it is, but I don't think
that's a coincidence. And so tome, in my head, this was
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supposed to be the game. Okay, this is one of the best in
the MLS, and this is thebest test we've seen for Messi and it
was easy for them. Now,the Union probably could have played better,
made it a little bit harder.But I guess my question you is,
is this is this what life inthe league is going to be like with
Messi in it? Is this?What is this Messi's league? Now?
And this is what we're just goingto have to get used to see.
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Here's what I'll say to that,the Union actually did a really good job
on Messi, Like look at lookat the goals. Messi's directly involved in
one of them. Ye, andit's one of his longest goals ever at
the club level. They actually dida really good job containing his threat.
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That obviously gets pushed aside because ofthe result. But if you take the
forty five minutes of the second halfand and that version of the Union shows
up, we're talking about a completelydifferent game. At least they're they're fighting
their tails off and not look scared. And I guarantee you there's every person
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in that locker room would love tosee Miami back in Super Park during the
postseason because they know, to aman they can do better. I don't
know. I don't know if weif we can say it's Messi's league to
lose yet, because I'd like tosee what Nashville does against him, because
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Nashville has the backbone defensively, theyhave the playmaker, they have a striker
now that can combine with said playmaker. And if look, Miami's defense still
didn't look great. The Union didn'tcapitalize on that, but Miami's defense still
had a lot of holes in it. Even in the first half. There
were a lot of moments where therewere loose balls. It was just way
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too sloppy from Miami. But theUnion were just not up to the task
to take advantage of any of that. I mean interested how Nashville plays them.
Look, they're going to be alot of games where Miami just overwhelms
teams. Let's be honest, likethat's that's just how the hierarchy of the
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league is going to work now.And I know we all kind of joked
around about them making the playoffs.I think it's you have to consider it
a reality now because of how wellthey've played. Yeah, the way I
viewed things, because you know what'sfunny is it's just everybody's like, oh,
you put Bessie on the worst inthe MLS and he makes them the
best. By the way, theydidn't just add Messy. This wasn't Curtain.
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That's what Jim Curtain made sure topoint out, like it was Bousquete.
It was Geordie Alba, but alsoa bunch of young South Americans and
Tad Tam Martino had success in MLSwith Atlanta United too as manager. Like
that was a huge one. Solook, I say, look at the
next few games in Miami plays.They played at Nashville and the League's Cup
final. They got play at Cincinnatiin the Open Cup semifinal, next week
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Red Bulls, they'll probably just absolutelyannihilate. And they played and they played
Nashville again at home, and thenthey have to go to LAFC, so
that that's not like the easiest stretchof games. And I'm kind of looking
at what they what they have lefthere. They play, they play LAFC
on the road, and they hostCasey, they visit Atlanta. Almada is
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gonna be on his best. They'llbeat Toronto, they can beat Orlando,
they can beat NYC, they canbeat Chicago, beat Charlotte, like Cincinnati
going to South Florida, I meanlike it's a favorable schedule, no doubt.
I mean they're gonna have to getsomething from those Nashville and LAFC League
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games to make it make it avery serious, right, Like I think
I think they can still speak itas what the eight or nine seed,
And I think if you're Apple inMLS, you'd love Miami as that eight
or nine seed because then you canplay that play in game on top of
playing the one seed in the inthe best of three. But that's just
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you know, the conspiracy theorists thatwe all have in ourselves. Look there,
you can make an argument they're atop three team in the Eastern Conference
right now, excuse me, andthey only get better. Yeah, like
it's it could probably get which iscrazy, Like it's it's since it's crazy,
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it's the Union. I don't knowif I we don't know what's going
on with Bruce Arena in New Englandstill, so New England's got a big
question mark and Petrovitch might be gonethe next two weeks. Who knows.
I would still put the Union aboveNew England. So yeah, if you're
doing a hierarchy thing, nobody elsein the East is good. Like that's
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what people don't realize, Like theylook at the number and the standings,
but who who's good in the East. We've we've said this since like May
Nope, none of these teams inthe Eastern Conference are good. So yeah
it's congested, it's competitive, butit's not good, Like none of these
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teams are even worthy of winning aplayoff series right now, somebody's going to
have to buy default because they playeach other. But there's a very clear
since Nashville Union, maybe New Englandtop tier and Miami slots right into that
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and blame whatever you want on thatfor that that happening. But it's very
very clear who the best teams inthe Eastern Conference are. And if you're
Miami, you look at that andsay, well, we already beat Orlando,
We've already beating Miami or Atlanta,already beating Charlotte. Like what's going
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to stop them from beating the RedBulls or beating NYC. The only way
they slip up is against the eliteof the elite and MLS and that's Nashville,
LAFC, and Cincinnati on their scheduleother than that pencil and some WS
for inner Miami and then you justdo the playoff mat think that's it's really
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where it stands right now. AndI know we kind of poo pooed the
Miami to the playoffs sentiment when Messiwas signed, like, oh Miami's Yeah,
Miamie will still drop points. Iguarantee they'll be one or two games
where it makes a difference between adraw and a win. They dropped two
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crucial points. But if he wasgoing in cold, it'd be different.
But because they have League's Cup,because they have that Open Cup game and
potentially an Open Cup final, Imean, the only thing I could see
stopping Miami is just straight fatigue,yeah, and just playing so many games
in this quick succession. They playin quick succession all the way up until
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the September international break. That couldbe what does them in. But I
mean at this point you're just kindof throwing darts and hope and they stick.
Because that's that's the reality of MLSright now. Like the Eastern Conference.
It's trash. Yes, it isnot so that that's kind of after
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that game. To me, thatwas my prevailing thought was, Man,
Messi's gonna Messi's really gonna get Miamito the playoffs. And you know,
I think of Miami with Messi alot differently, you know, because it's
hard to imagine a team coming fromthe basement and going on the way up.
But obviously it's it's the Messy effect. But the other question I had,
and I think a lot of peoplethis was a big criticism, I
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don't want to go too far intothe game in terms of the acts and
knows what happened and go over everygoal. We've done enough of that.
Everybody's done enough of that throughout thepast. By the way, real quick,
Miami is twelve points back of ninthplace, right now, and these
are the teams standing in their way. So let's let's assume. I'm going
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to assume it's gonna be Cincinnati therevs. The Union, and Nashville's top
four spots. So then it's Orlando, Columbus, Atlanta, Chicago, DC.
I think Columbus is going to bevery good. They've gotten better.
I think they are locked to makethe playoffs. Atlanta, as chaotic as
they are defensively, they still haveone of the league's best players in Thiaga
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Alamada. I'll count them in afterthat. Yeah, I guess Orlando's in
there as well. But like anyof these teams can can take over Chicago
or DC. Now, it's it'sa twelve point gap, and Miami's got
two games in hand on DC.They have twelve games left. DC's got
ten. I mean, it's it'sthere for the taking. Yeah, it's
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probably gonna happen, right And that'sand that's that's the point. We're gonna
have this discussion probably in September,and I think we hinted at it earlier
in the season. Is well,the the Union not having the one seed
in Eastern Conference actually benefits them.Yeah, good, Like if you're the
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Union and you look at what theirschedule is from the DC game on,
from the presumption of players, it'sthe final eleven games of the regular season,
you're very comfortable with being the twoseed. I think that that should
be the goal. You know,you're better than New England. You get
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Since in your house, you getNashville in your house, you get LAFC
in your house. And the roadgames, it's DC Toronto, Columbus,
Charlotte and New England. Those aregames that you can get points off of.
You solve DC Toronto is still bad. Columbus as as well as they
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could play, you can take pointsoff of. You can win in Charlotte,
and you can win in New England. I mean, yeah, they're
going to point to try and makeup that eleven point gap to Cincinnati.
Probably unlikely. But if you getthe two seed, which you're three points
out of right now, you lookreally p because let's operate under the assumption
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that Messi and Miami get in.Well, they're not going to get higher
than the eight seed because it's seventeenpoints between them in Atlanta. Right now,
I'm just doing the math off thetop of my head that would require
kind of a colossal tanking from anybodyin the top seven. So I think
it's realistic to say, if you'rethe Union, make sure you get the
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two seed, make sure you're onthe opposite side of the bracket is messy.
Make make sure you get home fieldadvantage through that side of the bracket,
and then yeah, you let Cincinnatideal with MESSI that would be nice,
and you let's like, if thebracket falls your way, maybe Cincinnati,
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Nashville, and Columbus are all onthe same side. I would love
that, and I think that wouldbe obviously an ideal situation, so that
that's obviously hopefully, hopefully that couldbe the case when we get there.
But another thing coming out of thatgame, and to go back to more
of a focus on the Union again, don't want to go too much into
you know, all the goals breakdownsall that in the game, but the
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formation got a lot of attention,especially the criticisms afterwards, because once you
do something sort of that bold anddifferent, I would say, I don't
know if it was bold, maybejust difference the better word. We weren't
familiar with Jim Kurtin doing anything likethat. It's going to get criticized,
and Jim Kurtin now is getting thissort of label, is you know,
kind of overthinking things. To me, I read it in a different way,
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So I guess I will state thatI think that was more his back
was kind of against the wall there. He Carranza was not available really for
that game. Uah is not inhis best form and obviously in the doghouse
a little bit. And the waythat they were playing the last two games,
if they played, you know,put out that same exact formation,
did the same exact thing they didin the last two games. MESSI was
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gonna do this probably even more,and not MESSI Miami, because I don't
want to just say MESSI as youjust said, I was more. Miami
was gonna do probably just as goodas they did against this this new formation
that Jim Curtain rolled out. Whatwas your read on it was? Do
you think did they say anything thatJim Curtain mentioned why he went with this.
Was it just to be defensive andto put more of a focus or
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was there a little bit of hey, you know, our two guys at
the top, one's hurt and theother one's not playing well. You know,
let's just kind of throw something ina little bit different that could be
a little bit better tactically to stopmessy. Yeah, Jim was being uber
defensive with this strategy. Like Iguess my question was what was that born
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out of? Was it born outof like trying to stop in particular messy
or just the form of play andinjuries at the top. I think it
was born out of form. Ithink it was born out of the best
eleven also born out of stubber stubbornness. I think the one one of the
flaws in Jim Curtain's lineup selection ishe sticks with his guys almost too much
(33:02):
or sticks with the formation too much, and the line you know is he
wants to get his best of livingon the field. And Ali Badoya's injury
on top of all that the absolutelyreasons why this this back three has been
utilized so much. And it worked. Don't get me wrong, it worked
(33:22):
the start of the season. Youknow it served its purpose. But when
you when you go to it toomuch and the spacing is radically off in
three straight games with it in knockoutsituations, at some point you kind of
just have to give it up andgo, Okay, let's do something different,
(33:46):
which I hope they do against Montereybecause if not, the same issues
will prevail. Low had a shockinggame on Tuesday. Jack Elliott hasn't played
great lately. He's had a badgame or two, and they leave glessness
(34:06):
out in out on the right ordrifting into the middle where he doesn't belong.
You want him in the center.You want him being that commanding physical
presence in the center in which hecan't be because Elliot's the folk room of
the the three man back line.So yeah, that was born defensively.
(34:30):
The pre match thought was stop busquetsstuff bus gets that way, you can
stop Messy. You kind of takethe one part of the snake out and
disjoints them. And and look theyin fairness to the Union, they stopped
(34:52):
Messy for the most part. Theydid probably the best job on Messi that
anyone's done so far. It's justthe thought of Messi, the psychological impact
of Messy. Kill them on thoseopening goals like these are mistakes. These
guys don't make like Damian Low justabsolutely whipping on a clearance, making it
(35:15):
more complicated for himself, and thenJack Elliott just one eye on the center
of the box, one eye onJoseph Martine joh. I think you're percent
right on this. By the way, that's like it's not a coincidence that
all this happened with Messy on onthe pitch, and as you just mentioned,
like it's it's they did a goodjob, but it's it's the psychological
thing. It's I think you know, it happens in every sport. It
(35:35):
happens when teams play Patrick Mahomes,it happens when teams play Lebron James.
This has probably happened to teams thatMessi's played in other leagues. It happens
everywhere where. That's just psychological aspectof I'm facing one of the greatest players
in the sport. I have tobe perfect, and perfect then leads you
to maybe take an extra step tomaybe think a little bit more. And
I think that's that's what we sawtimately play out on Tuesday. Look at
(35:58):
what these these big games in thepast that they've played against LAFC, against
Club America, against you know,Atlanta United in Champions League, like all
these all of these teams had reallyamazing players, but the Union never backed
down from those games. Especially wasright, like when they talk about big
games with Jim Kurtin in the Union, they were in that game and they
(36:22):
probably should have won that game.There were moments away and so obviously a
few seconds changes everything in terms ofperception. But the Union played well in
that game. They played well,and they've played well in other game,
big games that they've lost, butthis one is just it was completely different.
They were completely wrecked from the start, and I mean, Aliabadi said
(36:45):
after the game, like take thesecond goal, for example, we had
three center backs, they had onenumber nine and Joseph Martinez able to break
free and then play that that ballover to Messy. I mean, it's
just and then the third goal DamianLowe. Damian Lowe is keeping Jordi Abba
on side by ten yards, NathanHarryl's all the way up the field,
(37:06):
you know, ten yards past thecenter circle. It's just all discombobulated and
it leads to, you know,a wide open situation for them in a
play that normally someone would be offside for they're on side, and it
leads to you know, the daggerright before halftime, like if they keep
it two oh, and they makethe tactical change like they did into the
(37:28):
four and four two, it actuallymakes them somewhat dangerous. I mean I
kept thinking the entire second half,well what if this was to one now,
because then you can at least putthe pressure on and get it to
penalties or say like, hey,we made our changes, we fought till
the end. All of that nonsense. It seems like they and we've seen
(37:49):
that second halfs they come out strong. But I mean, once once that
that third goal happened, and Ithink you even mentioned this too, that
game was just way too wide openin the second half. Obviously they had
to be, but it was sowide open you were begging for Miami to
get that fourth one. In begging, they actually played, actually played a
decent second half. And that's whyI think that the Diamonds has to be
reinstated for the Monterey game, becauseyou need Bedoya out there, you need
(38:14):
his experience, his leadership, allthat. You need to be progressive from
the start. So you need toput Bizo out there. You just sacrifice
one of the center backs, justjust do it. Yeah, I think
you have to say. I thinkwe and it's very clear to me the
Diamonds Diamonds. It well, Ithink in this in this part of the
(38:38):
season, yes, there will bea time and a matchup where the three
five two serves its purpose. Absolutely, There's no doubt it will most likely
on the road, which is whyyou know, don't be surprised if you
see it when you go back inthe league, play with DC in Toronto.
But for a home match again youshould. You should go out and
(39:01):
win and not be not be sostand offish and intimidated in your own building.
That I think is where the issuelies. The three man back line.
You could make tweaks to it.You can make personnel tweaks to it.
In front of it. The understandingbetween Elliott Lowe and Glessness can still
(39:23):
be there and it can still serveas a successful second formation. But now
that you have your personnel, yourdiamond personnel in there, the only thing
you have to figure out if you'recurtain and this is this is what you
should do going into the Monterey game, is you bring your diamond back.
You put by Zoe in at rightback to be more aggressive. You have
(39:45):
the Doya in on the right side, start Godsdag at the ten and look,
if you're gonna you got you eitherhave to start Quinn Sullivan or Chris
Donovan and the other one has tocome on for thirty r forty five and
the second half next to that.That's just the way it's going to have
to be. And then you doyou bring McGlenn in his attack minded role,
(40:09):
you have either Martinez or Bueno thereand boom, all of a sudden,
your your bench looks incredibly deep becauseyou have a starting center back,
you have a and two starting midfielderscoming off the bench. But that can
help you close the game at homein in a fashion where you hope to
be up one to nothing over Monteree. And we'll get into the psychiatry behind
(40:32):
the third place game, because that'san interesting one in itself. But yeah,
I just I want the Union tobe more proactive with their formation.
The three five two still serves apurpose. It will reappear at some point,
but for Saturday, to get youinto the Conky Cap Champions Cup,
(40:54):
I think that's what we're calling itnow, the CCL as we know it.
To get in and to earn thatspot, you've got to be more
proactive at home against the team thatwho the heck knows what Montere is gonna
throw off there. Yeah, howdo you think that? Now, let's
get into that as we kind ofwrap things up. I feel like we've
we've gone over about as much aswe can with the messy madness. Yeah,
(41:17):
and at this point, look,I'm as much as cool as it
was that all eyes are on theUnion. They're getting all this attention from
every radio station, every TV station, everything in the city. I'm so
glad they got the attention. I'mso glad it's over with. I don't
know if that's how you feel,but I can just go back to talking
about the union and not like thebig because it's always the question. We'll
(41:40):
see that, you know, MESSIin the MLS. I mean, these
guys just aren't good. Like Idon't I Joe. I like MLS the
way it is. I like itlike to be I just don't like people
questioning, you know, the talentlevel. First of all, could you
imagine being these players and you've workedhard to get to this stage, which
is a pretty good stage, likepretty good league to be in. Like
(42:00):
this isn't the top of the top, but hey man, you're making a
good living. You know, you'reyou're you're playing in a professional soccer league,
and you know, you have allof these great things and to be
questioned like, oh you guys stink, come on, man, Like I
just nay, I just I alwaysI always hate how these discussions happen.
And I'm so glad that whenever itgoes away, I'm like, Okay,
(42:21):
now I can just talk about MLSand the union because I actually I like
this. This is what I likeand for me to have to like try
and I hate to say prove it, it's just you know, try and
be like, well, this iswhy I like meliss I just I like
it. Can I like the leaguefor what it is. Right, we've
had this, We've had this conversationwe have and I feel like I wanted
to bring it up because this ithappened. I really got frustrated with it.
(42:44):
This week I got right, andI think it's a good can continue,
like reinforce it, like we likesoccer, We like you know very
much compared to five years ago,very much into it. Covering the union
now because yea, I would imagine, but everybody who listens, everybody who
(43:07):
who attends these games and it hasbeen a union for a while. Yeah,
like they're not gonna stop. Thecoverage is gonna stop from yea that
these bigger outlets. But I thinkthe Union are what they are at this
point in the Philly sports defession,and I think there's more respect with the
(43:35):
Union because of how much success they'vehad. Jim Curtain's a very likable coach
and very open and bless his heart, every time you know, people show
up that uh for like one ortwo matches a year, He's willing to
have that discussion and be open aboutsoccer and where it stands in Philadelphia,
(43:57):
which I think is incredible to havean ambassador to the city and for the
game that represents the game of soccer, because there could be a you know,
the coach could just be like,oh, well, you guys aren't
here all the time. I'm notgonna open up to you guys. No,
Jims has always been incredible when inthat regard. So yeah, it
(44:22):
kind of just is what it is. Like there will still be people on
the internet and this will happen foreverwith every sport and every discussion that we'll
get under your skin, and I'mjust kind of ignored it at this point.
Like cool, like MESSI being anMLS is awesome. There's no other
(44:43):
way to describe it. Leon OnMESSI playing in our league, our dysfunctional,
crazy, stupid league that makes absolutelyno sense. He's here. That's
awesome, soak it in. Butit's kind of like demean the talent level
of every other player, Like,I mean, cool, but twenty twelve
also wants a Twitter argument back.Yeah, thank you, thank you.
(45:07):
Like we've been doing this since,like I've been covering the team for ten
years now, and like the sameargument's been had for ten years. It's
like, if you're gonna at leastdemean MLS and the talent level of these
players, at least come up withsomething original. Yeah, And you know
what, I want to make itclear that this is not a gate keeping
(45:30):
thing. I am not gate keepingthe MLS, and like, this is
my thing, this is our thing. I don't want people coming in and
just looking at it and going,you're watching this, Oh, this is
terror and no, don't. Idon't want those people. If that's what
they are, then I like theUnion the way that they're covered now because
it's people that actually want to watchthe Union be interested in the league,
(45:51):
and that's what I want. Idon't want people that look at it and
go, well, it's fun,but you know, it's not this,
it's not premierly. I don't wantthat. I want to watch MLS.
I want to watch and interact withpeople that actually like this league. So
it's not a gatekeeping thing, it'sI want to Yeah, I want to
filter out the people that just don'tcare about this league. And and to
me, I just I'm glad it'sover because now we get to have a
(46:14):
podcast for people that want to watchthe Union. We get to talk to
people that want to talk about theUnion, to talk about Monterey and you
know what's happening with the formation notjust hot Well did you see how bad
Andre Blake was against Messy. Imean, this league is so weazy.
I just that's that's that was alsofor me a very big thought of I'm
so glad that the Union are coveredthe way that they are, and when
(46:37):
it gets too massive like this,all it does is just bringing the people
that really don't care about it,and I don't. I don't like that.
Plus we saved the gatekeeping for thePhiladelphia inquiry and telling people how to
you know, use their messy ticketsbuy or sell, buy or sell.
Don't you know the gatekeep? Wemight as well change our Twitter handles to
(46:59):
add the gatekeeper. I'm just yeah, I know, because it feels like
it could be like gate Keeper attimes what I'm saying about this, but
I don't. I don't want itto be. I just wanted I want
to actually enjoy this thing without beingtold it's the same thing. Honestly,
it feels like to me, youdon't this is not a parallel that you
can relate to. But to me, it's like wrestling. I'm tired of
(47:20):
justifying the people that are never gonnalike wrestling why I watch it. I
watch it because I like it.There's no reason for me to justify it.
I love it. It's the samething with MLS. I can't watch
soccer in the Premier League because Iwork at these times. It's really hard
for me to watch. Obviously it'soverseas, you know, in the morning.
It's hard for me to watch someof these leagues. It's easy for
me to watch MLS. It's ata perfect time of the year where I
can watch it. It's at timesthat are easy for me to watch.
(47:45):
And there's a team here in Philadelphiathat I like rooting for. So this
is where my interest is. Ihave no need to justify my interest in
it, and I feel like everytime outsiders come in, it's just like
I have to justify it all overagain. I'm like, if that's what
you're gonna be, like, goaway, I don't. I don't want
you here. I don't want andnot to point out specific stations because I'm
not saying they're doing this, butI don't want NBC ten there, I
(48:05):
don't want Fox there, I don'twant the Inquirer there. If all it's
gonna do is bring in an audiencethat just wants to look at it from
an outside point of view and go, wow, you watch this, Like
okay, yeah I do. Ido. I think also to that point
is like, well, look atthe news coverage and look at the newspaper
coverage too, of this past threedays, four days, whatever it may
(48:30):
be, it was all centered aroundMessy and I understand that you have to
do that. It's doing a Messi'sten Greatest Moments for Barcelona and Argentina slide
show is a little over the top, but yeah, I get it if
Messi's come into town. But like, would we do this with Michael Jordan,
(48:53):
with Patrick Mahomes, with Tom Brady? That's that's to me, That's
what I was like going through thediscourse, and my my mind can be
thinking completely different from everybody else ishere. But like if if Jordan comes
in, if if if Lebron comesin, if when when Kobe was alive?
When when he comes in? Whenwhen Brady and Mahomes played the Eagles?
(49:16):
Are we dedicating an entire section tothem? Right? No? Like
I think there's there's got to bea a balance in that coverage, and
there wasn't. Heck, I'm thepress conference for the Monterey game. He
came to me and matth to Georgejust sitting there asking questions like we have
(49:36):
the entire tournament like it kind ofjust I accept it for what it is.
But when people try and make allthese comparisons and like the Union should
do this just because it's messy,Well, none of you wouldn't say a
single thing about like the Eagles movinga game to a stadium with higher capacity
because you know a certain player isn'tisn't like the aren't the Angels coming in
(50:00):
soon? Should the Phillies find thebiggest stadium in MLB and move their games
because Saotani is coming in. Likeyes, they they feel they just feel
like really lazy takes and like beable to just want to like hop in
on the bandmin because they have notthey have nothing else to add. So
we're gonna gonna make it this likegeneric hot taky type thing. And I
(50:22):
get it to an extent, butalso like you wouldn't cover any other team
in Philadelphia like this, And that'slike if Connor McDavid comes in and faces
Platt to make sure we cover everyeverybody's basis here. Yeah, you're not
moving the game from the Wells FargoCenter to a bigger arena. You're not
(50:43):
like in in competitive for competitive advantage'ssake. Like I get it, Messy
is at is on a higher echelonthan all of those athletes I just mentioned.
But if you kind of make thecomparison to the Big Four, like
think about how how ridiculous you takesounds. It's it's so funny that you
know, we could talk about Bradyand Mahomes and all that. I mean,
the closest thing we've had to aglobal superstar in America, Like MESSI
(51:06):
is Michael Jordan and right, that'sit, all right, we gotta wrap
things up here. Thank you.Joe Tanzy Union Soccer Pod. Check us
out wherever you find your podcast.Union Soccer Blog dot substack dot com.
You can subscribe, follow Joe atJay Tanzy nine. You can follow me
at Jay Jansen thirty four. Jointhe montor Ray game. We'll be back
with more Union coverage right here onthe Union Soccer Podcast
A post messy edition of the UnionSoccer Podcast. I know Messi is a
global superstar. I imagine we mightget tired of hearing that name a little
bit on this podcast today. Itis the Union Soccer Podcast. Find us
wherever you get your podcasts. Also, we are part of the Fox Sports
and Gambler family foxphl Gambler dot com. Follow us on socials at Fox Phil
(00:22):
Gambler. But this is also inthe Union Soccer Blog Union Soccer Blog dot
substack dot com. The owner ofthat blog its owner. Do you operate
it? Are you? You're justeverything? Joe Tanzy You can follow at
j Tanzi ninety. My name isJohn Jansen. All I do is just
host give Joe some questions. Youcan follow me at j Jansen thirty four.
The Messy Madness? Joe, isit warrnt off for you yet?
(00:43):
Are you good? To you?Refreshed? How you feel? And after
a whirlwind I would say, likewhat four days, four or five days
leading up to MESSI in Chester,I was waiting to see how you were
an intro there, owner, operator, whatever you want to be? Writer
at editor content the e I seethe editor in chief. How many titles
(01:04):
do you have the Union Soccer Blog, the all Powerful Union Soccer Blog.
Yeah, the Wizard of Oz,the Union Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
so subscribe. There plenty of stuffcoming because everybody else is gone,
but we're still here and there's athird place game to be had this week,
and I guarantee you that I willbe one of maybe like three media
(01:29):
there's. Yeah, So if youneed any Monterey versus Union coverage, Bill
Union Soccer Blog, because there willbe plenty coming from tomorrow's media session as
well as Saturday's game, which arefreshing six o'clock kickoff. I didn't know
what first of all, I didn'tknow what to do, Like with a
(01:52):
seven pm kickoff, I'm like,wait, I can be home before midnight
and actually be on like a normalsleep schedule. I ended up sleeping like
six hours yesterday afternoon, so itdidn't matter. But yeah, the messy
apocalypse has is that what we're calling. I didn't know if you're gonna call
(02:13):
it the messy massacre, the messyapocalypse. I didn't know it was supposed
the title. It was about that. It was definitely a massacre, whatever
you want to call it. Imean, it wasn't good from the Union
perspective, No, And I guesswhat the question is now is what where
do we start with that? Becausein the beginning, it's all about atmosphere
and how amazing this moment is.As you're seeing the bridge in Subaru Park
(02:37):
all over in the background in theriver, and then Messi's in the Subaru
Park on the field warming up,and the Messy jerseys, the Union kits,
they kind of all blended together becausethe Argentina colors and the alternate alternate
kits from last year for the Unionall the same color. So it was
really hard to tell at times.But it is this incredible atmosphere that was
(02:58):
I mean deflated within least for mostof the audience, deflated within a few
minutes. So how how do youhow do you look at that game?
Like what is what is post Messipost Messy and Chester? Where do you
begin with that? There's so manyways to approach it, right, because
there's a big picture way, there'sa small picture way. There's a way
(03:21):
to just condemn the Union for notspending and they'll never be this even in
the same stratosphere as Miami. Ever, from a small picture, you have
to rebound for to play a thirdplace game. You have to win to
get in the Champions League. Theother big picture item is is Jim Curtin
(03:45):
in in big games, it's AndyReid with the Eagles. You know,
you win, Like, I thinkthat's an app comparison now, right it
is. I saw that comparison floatingaround on Twitter, so yeah, because
he'll get you there. But itdoes feel like the big game. I
asked all one hundred Padoya after thegame, I'm like, how do you
(04:06):
guys get over the hump? Andyou know, it comes down to like
a psychological thing because they played decent, but when you're set up to fail,
it'll come back to haunt you.And they had no business being in
(04:27):
that game from the start, andit was just it felt like the twenty
eighteen Open Cup final in Houston wherethat game was over in twenty minutes,
Like that was that was the worsthalf of soccer I've seen this team played
since that that Open Cup Final inHouston, and we all know what happened
(04:48):
after that. They famously just backedinto the playoffs, had to play NYCFC
twice at the end of the regularseason and the playoffs, and when Ernie
start was met with with those criticisms, he pushed back on it very hard,
like, no, we didn't backinto the playoffs at all. You
did, and the Open Cup finalhurt you. Now, it's completely different
(05:11):
sub circumstances, you know, intwenty twenty three with the team that's now
one. A bunch of things.But the way I felt at least,
and I know speaking to the fansand speaking to other people in the press
box they felt differently. But tome, just going into that game,
it felt more like the Union inthose two home Open Cup finals against Seattle
(05:36):
and Kansas City where they are thedecided underdog. There's stars on the other
side, established teams on the otherside, and the Union need to be
perfect in every department to even bein that game. Yeah, that's that's
where I since you brought that up, now, you know, I think
(05:56):
that's that's part of the questions thatcome up, you know, when they
lose too and LAFC and Gareth Bale'scoming off the bench and he was the
difference maker and obviously a difference makerbeing Biscots and Messy and all the other
changes that Miami made. You knowthat that seems to be a big difference,
and how do the Union combat that? Is there a way to combat
that? Like it is? Isthis just an impossible situation sometimes and you
(06:19):
just have to play the perfect game. And obviously the Union did NOTT in
Tuesday and the Leagues Championship semifinal,Leagues Cup semifinal. But what what is
what is a way to put theUnion on equal terms to equalize this?
Is there a way to do that? I think equal terms. You can't
equal terms with Messy and in CarlosVela, but I think there's a way
(06:44):
to do it. I mean,look at look at what Nashville has done
so that Honey Mutar was a phenomenalsigning from the start and it took them
years to get over one bad signinga striker. Now they signs am sewerage
from from Nottingham Forest looks the partso far? You know, still tbd
(07:05):
on what his long term success isgoing to be. But you see that,
you see Columbus going after Kucho Hernandezto partner with Zella r On and
now they've basically swapped Zella r Onfor Diego Rossi. There are ways to
do it without bringing in Messi orNaymar, which, let's be honest,
(07:30):
would have been catastrophic for the league. Yes, Nymar is a name,
but man, there's no player inthe world that hasn't lived up to expectations
more than Naymar. That would Ithink personally that would have been a disaster.
How he how you signed him?Kind of glad he signed in Saudi
Arabia. That kind of fits thethe mold and kind of shows the difference
between like the messies of the world. And I I did the terrible thing
(07:57):
of making jokes after the Miami game. I was just kind of messing around
like I usually do on Twitter,because that's what Twitter, to me is
for. That is what the thatis what that vessel is for for me.
And so I made the joke andit was a reply to Kevin Kikaid's
tweet, uh, and it wassomething about you know, talent and all
that, and it was like,well, the union at type Barrabou coming
in, right, isn't that?Isn't that what's going to fix everything?
(08:18):
You know? But that's it justbecause ula was supposed to be that,
you know, Barrobo there, theybring somebody in and it's all nice,
basic We don't know a barbo isgonna be like and he could be fine.
He could be a really good player. He could be a dude.
I had to say, Dune,he could be you know, maybe not
not meeting the expectations that we puton ouah when he came over here,
all of that, but as asit stands now, it's just none of
(08:41):
that's none of that feels like it'sgoing to be enough. Well, look
at how this, you know,since we're going macro, Yeah, I
think it's probably better, the betterway to go, because we all know
what happened, what wrong in thegame. Daniel Gazac was a complete hit
Byron Stander getting Julian Corronza from InterMiami for not a lot big hit and
(09:05):
Uhah last year seemed to be biglike a big hit. Now. Unfortunately
strikers sometimes this happens where they justgo out of form. It is what
it is. Mike Michael uh isnot the first or the last Ford to
have an extended dry spell in frontof goal. It just happens that it's
(09:26):
happened at the worst time possible forthe Union. Ended up being something that
hurt Jim Curtain's decision making on Tuesdaynight. So the track record is still
there. Like to defend the Unionfor a second, you don't reach all
(09:48):
of these semifinals and finals making badmoves by yeah, by just cobbling stuff
together. I mean, look atlook like, look at how the first
choice eleven is built. Number onepick in the super draft. You have
a left back who was plucked fromthe third division in Germany who now is
(10:11):
trying to argue his case to bea DP level player or at least make
that type of money. You don'tpay a left back a designated player contract.
That's just the valuation position. Butwe'll get into Kybogner's contract situation later.
Left backs like you in NFL runningback is ever you're trying to tell
(10:31):
him. I don't know if that'sa direct comparison, but in small yeah,
you have a seventy whatever fourth roundsuper draft pick is center back from
Norway. You have a homegrown twohomegrown right backs because Biso has been with
(10:52):
the Union since he's you know,it feels like since forever. At this
point, you developed hay SU's buenofrom this Venezuelan signing and and please go
read over that Union Soccer block cases. Blena was very open and honest about
his not not playing at all intwenty twenty two and using that as motivation.
(11:16):
So you see that I was aMartinez. We know that's been a
success. You know, you lookat at Jack McClean, a homegrown who's
gaining interested across your ipe. That'sno secret that you're naming like the entire
eleven and it's what most of theseguys are are insanely big hits, right,
(11:37):
That's why I'm doing this. Actually, yeah, this is you have
this, this first your first choiceeleven. So you have God's Dag who's
an MVP candidate, Caronza who athis peak, if he performs incredibly well
in the next three months, couldget sold for eight figures, like that's
not a unrealistic expectation. And you, oh, who was a double digit
(12:01):
scored twice with Braunbe one of thetop Scandinavian clubs. Yeah, he's had
a rough patch of form, butyou'd still grade that signing as a success
so far based off of of whathe's done. And then you look at
you know the Leon Flox or LeonFlox is starter every team in MLS.
(12:22):
You know what, no matter whatyour opinion of him is or isn't,
Like, Okay, maybe ninety fivepercent. Maybe he doesn't start at LAFC,
but he's starting and the majority ofMLS clubs would love to have a
Leon Flock type player al Jandre Beadoya. I mean, I know people have
(12:43):
been ragging on him this season,but like he's invaluable. Now you get
to the tactics of being able tomake those changes forty five sixty, you
know whatever with the micro part ofit. But I mean that was a
home run of a signing and thatwas done way way before Ernest Tanner was
given a pipe dream here as asporting director. So is there like that?
(13:07):
This this groundwork of successful foundation ofsuccessful signings is is? Is there?
But how do you expand on?That? Is what you have to
do if you're the Union because isit a Diego We're all Sea type?
You know, the young South Americanhe thrives at LAFC, goes overseas,
(13:28):
doesn't you know, it doesn't findhis footing there comes back to MLS and
as a lot of as a hugesigning. Is is it a Kucho Hernandez?
You know South American who applied histrade in the Championship with Watford and
and then comes over here and becomesa star, like is it is it
that level of superstar? I don'tknow. Superstar is the right word when
(13:50):
they come in, But when theycome to MLS, can they turn themselves
into superstars and hasshold names? That'swhat you want? I think that's what
the Union lack. You know,it's the household name. Like if you
went up to one hundred people onthe streets of Philadelphia or wherever in the
area, the household name is probablyAndre Blake. I think that's a fair
(14:11):
assessment. Maybe Jim Curtin is thefirst name they mentioned, because like God's
Dag has that within the fan base. But I don't know, if no,
I don't know, if you gooutside the bubble, it's Blake,
right. So I think from thatstandpoint, maybe you get a player like
(14:33):
that where he scores twenty goals andhe's he's flashy and you can put them
on billboards and and all that stuff. Maybe that's maybe that's taybarbo In two
or three years. Maybe that's Mikeeluatwo or three years. Who knows,
but I think there's that The nextechelon of player the Union could go after
(15:00):
and could could make a difference inthese types of games, because that's you're
not obviously not gonna sign Messi.You're not gonna sign just aren't available anyway.
You can't just get that guy,you just plucked them off as like
any Argentinian and get him. Butlike you can make moves within MLS like
(15:24):
what Seattle's done over over the years. Look at what Columbus has done with
this Rossi's Delroyan swap. They've done. You know, it's it's very doable.
I mean NYCFC did it with Tatiand did it with and the briging
Maxie Morales back whatever the shell ofhim is now. But like they had
(15:48):
that that guy and they wanted JulianCorronza to be that guy. And he
still can be that guy without adoubt. But can you can you move
yourself into that next echelon of spendingwhere it doesn't have to be an eight
figure transfer fee. You don't haveto be Atlanta and signing like the best
(16:14):
young South Americans or Miami who's startingto do that right, But there is
an echelon above an Uwa and Barabathat you can go, you can go
up. So if you if youcan explore that echelon in the off season
and and find the right players.I mean, it's proven that you have
the scouting network and the connections andall of the above to land these types
(16:38):
of players, and they've they've endedan incredible amount of finds. Like the
hit rate that Ernest Tanner has hadwith the level of signings he's brought in
is just remarkable. But to getto that next level, to get to
(17:00):
winning a championship, being competitive ina semifinal, being all all of the
things we want the Union to be, you know, that's probably the next
step. You have. You havethe foundation, they have all these players
in place that have have won alot of meaningful games. Let's not take
away from that and look, personally, I probably let that those facts go
(17:26):
on Tuesday night. But when you'recaught up in the emotion of a big
game and you see the exact samething from this team that you've seen many
times over, it just becomes sofrustrating. So, look, they've they've
won a lot of big games,sure, and if they win the third
place game, they're in Champions Leagueor Champions Cup whatever we're calling it now,
(17:48):
and you don't have to worry aboutthat, and your sole focus can
be on winning MLS Cup, gettingas many home playoff games as possible,
all of that jazz, and you'replaying a lot of home games, a
lot of home games at the endof the season schedule, it's tough playing
you get Cincinnati, LA, andNashville all at home. Like that's that's
a nice little litmus test for yougoing into the playoffs. Yeah, it's
(18:15):
it's frustrating, no doubt. Butyou're not gonna sign the messies of the
world. You're not. You're gonnasign the tier under the messias of the
world. But if you can youcan find that it's the five, five
to eight million dollar player, maybeexpand that to ten. You can find
that type of player and bring himin and have him be a difference maker
(18:38):
than then, Yeah, I thinkthat's the next evolution of where the Union
can spend and compete. So Ithink for me, after that game,
my head when even more on ona bigger level than just the Union,
because I I don't think it wasa coincidence. You know, you mentioned
it was a bad game. Youknow, the worst half the Union of
(18:59):
played Andre Blake probably played the worstgame he did in a Union Jersey so
and all this happened into Bower Parkand they concede four goals, which haven't
done I think since twenty eighteen.Like, none of that's a coincidence that
had happened when Messi was on thefield. You know, whether that affected
them mentally physically, I don't knowwhat it is, but I don't think
that's a coincidence. And so tome, in my head, this was
(19:19):
supposed to be the game. Okay, this is one of the best in
the MLS, and this is thebest test we've seen for Messi and it
was easy for them. Now,the Union probably could have played better,
made it a little bit harder.But I guess my question you is,
is this is this what life inthe league is going to be like with
Messi in it? Is this?What is this Messi's league? Now?
And this is what we're just goingto have to get used to see.
(19:41):
Here's what I'll say to that,the Union actually did a really good job
on Messi, Like look at lookat the goals. Messi's directly involved in
one of them. Ye, andit's one of his longest goals ever at
the club level. They actually dida really good job containing his threat.
(20:04):
That obviously gets pushed aside because ofthe result. But if you take the
forty five minutes of the second halfand and that version of the Union shows
up, we're talking about a completelydifferent game. At least they're they're fighting
their tails off and not look scared. And I guarantee you there's every person
(20:27):
in that locker room would love tosee Miami back in Super Park during the
postseason because they know, to aman they can do better. I don't
know. I don't know if weif we can say it's Messi's league to
lose yet, because I'd like tosee what Nashville does against him, because
(20:51):
Nashville has the backbone defensively, theyhave the playmaker, they have a striker
now that can combine with said playmaker. And if look, Miami's defense still
didn't look great. The Union didn'tcapitalize on that, but Miami's defense still
had a lot of holes in it. Even in the first half. There
were a lot of moments where therewere loose balls. It was just way
(21:15):
too sloppy from Miami. But theUnion were just not up to the task
to take advantage of any of that. I mean interested how Nashville plays them.
Look, they're going to be alot of games where Miami just overwhelms
teams. Let's be honest, likethat's that's just how the hierarchy of the
(21:41):
league is going to work now.And I know we all kind of joked
around about them making the playoffs.I think it's you have to consider it
a reality now because of how wellthey've played. Yeah, the way I
viewed things, because you know what'sfunny is it's just everybody's like, oh,
you put Bessie on the worst inthe MLS and he makes them the
best. By the way, theydidn't just add Messy. This wasn't Curtain.
(22:06):
That's what Jim Curtain made sure topoint out, like it was Bousquete.
It was Geordie Alba, but alsoa bunch of young South Americans and
Tad Tam Martino had success in MLSwith Atlanta United too as manager. Like
that was a huge one. Solook, I say, look at the
next few games in Miami plays.They played at Nashville and the League's Cup
final. They got play at Cincinnatiin the Open Cup semifinal, next week
(22:29):
Red Bulls, they'll probably just absolutelyannihilate. And they played and they played
Nashville again at home, and thenthey have to go to LAFC, so
that that's not like the easiest stretchof games. And I'm kind of looking
at what they what they have lefthere. They play, they play LAFC
on the road, and they hostCasey, they visit Atlanta. Almada is
(22:53):
gonna be on his best. They'llbeat Toronto, they can beat Orlando,
they can beat NYC, they canbeat Chicago, beat Charlotte, like Cincinnati
going to South Florida, I meanlike it's a favorable schedule, no doubt.
I mean they're gonna have to getsomething from those Nashville and LAFC League
(23:18):
games to make it make it avery serious, right, Like I think
I think they can still speak itas what the eight or nine seed,
And I think if you're Apple inMLS, you'd love Miami as that eight
or nine seed because then you canplay that play in game on top of
playing the one seed in the inthe best of three. But that's just
(23:42):
you know, the conspiracy theorists thatwe all have in ourselves. Look there,
you can make an argument they're atop three team in the Eastern Conference
right now, excuse me, andthey only get better. Yeah, like
it's it could probably get which iscrazy, Like it's it's since it's crazy,
(24:04):
it's the Union. I don't knowif I we don't know what's going
on with Bruce Arena in New Englandstill, so New England's got a big
question mark and Petrovitch might be gonethe next two weeks. Who knows.
I would still put the Union aboveNew England. So yeah, if you're
doing a hierarchy thing, nobody elsein the East is good. Like that's
(24:29):
what people don't realize, Like theylook at the number and the standings,
but who who's good in the East. We've we've said this since like May
Nope, none of these teams inthe Eastern Conference are good. So yeah
it's congested, it's competitive, butit's not good, Like none of these
(24:51):
teams are even worthy of winning aplayoff series right now, somebody's going to
have to buy default because they playeach other. But there's a very clear
since Nashville Union, maybe New Englandtop tier and Miami slots right into that
(25:12):
and blame whatever you want on thatfor that that happening. But it's very
very clear who the best teams inthe Eastern Conference are. And if you're
Miami, you look at that andsay, well, we already beat Orlando,
We've already beating Miami or Atlanta,already beating Charlotte. Like what's going
(25:33):
to stop them from beating the RedBulls or beating NYC. The only way
they slip up is against the eliteof the elite and MLS and that's Nashville,
LAFC, and Cincinnati on their scheduleother than that pencil and some WS
for inner Miami and then you justdo the playoff mat think that's it's really
(25:56):
where it stands right now. AndI know we kind of poo pooed the
Miami to the playoffs sentiment when Messiwas signed, like, oh Miami's Yeah,
Miamie will still drop points. Iguarantee they'll be one or two games
where it makes a difference between adraw and a win. They dropped two
(26:18):
crucial points. But if he wasgoing in cold, it'd be different.
But because they have League's Cup,because they have that Open Cup game and
potentially an Open Cup final, Imean, the only thing I could see
stopping Miami is just straight fatigue,yeah, and just playing so many games
in this quick succession. They playin quick succession all the way up until
(26:41):
the September international break. That couldbe what does them in. But I
mean at this point you're just kindof throwing darts and hope and they stick.
Because that's that's the reality of MLSright now. Like the Eastern Conference.
It's trash. Yes, it isnot so that that's kind of after
(27:04):
that game. To me, thatwas my prevailing thought was, Man,
Messi's gonna Messi's really gonna get Miamito the playoffs. And you know,
I think of Miami with Messi alot differently, you know, because it's
hard to imagine a team coming fromthe basement and going on the way up.
But obviously it's it's the Messy effect. But the other question I had,
and I think a lot of peoplethis was a big criticism, I
(27:26):
don't want to go too far intothe game in terms of the acts and
knows what happened and go over everygoal. We've done enough of that.
Everybody's done enough of that throughout thepast. By the way, real quick,
Miami is twelve points back of ninthplace, right now, and these
are the teams standing in their way. So let's let's assume. I'm going
(27:47):
to assume it's gonna be Cincinnati therevs. The Union, and Nashville's top
four spots. So then it's Orlando, Columbus, Atlanta, Chicago, DC.
I think Columbus is going to bevery good. They've gotten better.
I think they are locked to makethe playoffs. Atlanta, as chaotic as
they are defensively, they still haveone of the league's best players in Thiaga
(28:08):
Alamada. I'll count them in afterthat. Yeah, I guess Orlando's in
there as well. But like anyof these teams can can take over Chicago
or DC. Now, it's it'sa twelve point gap, and Miami's got
two games in hand on DC.They have twelve games left. DC's got
ten. I mean, it's it'sthere for the taking. Yeah, it's
(28:34):
probably gonna happen, right And that'sand that's that's the point. We're gonna
have this discussion probably in September,and I think we hinted at it earlier
in the season. Is well,the the Union not having the one seed
in Eastern Conference actually benefits them.Yeah, good, Like if you're the
(28:56):
Union and you look at what theirschedule is from the DC game on,
from the presumption of players, it'sthe final eleven games of the regular season,
you're very comfortable with being the twoseed. I think that that should
be the goal. You know,you're better than New England. You get
(29:17):
Since in your house, you getNashville in your house, you get LAFC
in your house. And the roadgames, it's DC Toronto, Columbus,
Charlotte and New England. Those aregames that you can get points off of.
You solve DC Toronto is still bad. Columbus as as well as they
(29:40):
could play, you can take pointsoff of. You can win in Charlotte,
and you can win in New England. I mean, yeah, they're
going to point to try and makeup that eleven point gap to Cincinnati.
Probably unlikely. But if you getthe two seed, which you're three points
out of right now, you lookreally p because let's operate under the assumption
(30:03):
that Messi and Miami get in.Well, they're not going to get higher
than the eight seed because it's seventeenpoints between them in Atlanta. Right now,
I'm just doing the math off thetop of my head that would require
kind of a colossal tanking from anybodyin the top seven. So I think
it's realistic to say, if you'rethe Union, make sure you get the
(30:25):
two seed, make sure you're onthe opposite side of the bracket is messy.
Make make sure you get home fieldadvantage through that side of the bracket,
and then yeah, you let Cincinnatideal with MESSI that would be nice,
and you let's like, if thebracket falls your way, maybe Cincinnati,
(30:47):
Nashville, and Columbus are all onthe same side. I would love
that, and I think that wouldbe obviously an ideal situation, so that
that's obviously hopefully, hopefully that couldbe the case when we get there.
But another thing coming out of thatgame, and to go back to more
of a focus on the Union again, don't want to go too much into
you know, all the goals breakdownsall that in the game, but the
(31:07):
formation got a lot of attention,especially the criticisms afterwards, because once you
do something sort of that bold anddifferent, I would say, I don't
know if it was bold, maybejust difference the better word. We weren't
familiar with Jim Kurtin doing anything likethat. It's going to get criticized,
and Jim Kurtin now is getting thissort of label, is you know,
kind of overthinking things. To me, I read it in a different way,
(31:30):
So I guess I will state thatI think that was more his back
was kind of against the wall there. He Carranza was not available really for
that game. Uah is not inhis best form and obviously in the doghouse
a little bit. And the waythat they were playing the last two games,
if they played, you know,put out that same exact formation,
did the same exact thing they didin the last two games. MESSI was
(31:52):
gonna do this probably even more,and not MESSI Miami, because I don't
want to just say MESSI as youjust said, I was more. Miami
was gonna do probably just as goodas they did against this this new formation
that Jim Curtain rolled out. Whatwas your read on it was? Do
you think did they say anything thatJim Curtain mentioned why he went with this.
Was it just to be defensive andto put more of a focus or
(32:14):
was there a little bit of hey, you know, our two guys at
the top, one's hurt and theother one's not playing well. You know,
let's just kind of throw something ina little bit different that could be
a little bit better tactically to stopmessy. Yeah, Jim was being uber
defensive with this strategy. Like Iguess my question was what was that born
(32:35):
out of? Was it born outof like trying to stop in particular messy
or just the form of play andinjuries at the top. I think it
was born out of form. Ithink it was born out of the best
eleven also born out of stubber stubbornness. I think the one one of the
flaws in Jim Curtain's lineup selection ishe sticks with his guys almost too much
(33:02):
or sticks with the formation too much, and the line you know is he
wants to get his best of livingon the field. And Ali Badoya's injury
on top of all that the absolutelyreasons why this this back three has been
utilized so much. And it worked. Don't get me wrong, it worked
(33:22):
the start of the season. Youknow it served its purpose. But when
you when you go to it toomuch and the spacing is radically off in
three straight games with it in knockoutsituations, at some point you kind of
just have to give it up andgo, Okay, let's do something different,
(33:46):
which I hope they do against Montereybecause if not, the same issues
will prevail. Low had a shockinggame on Tuesday. Jack Elliott hasn't played
great lately. He's had a badgame or two, and they leave glessness
(34:06):
out in out on the right ordrifting into the middle where he doesn't belong.
You want him in the center.You want him being that commanding physical
presence in the center in which hecan't be because Elliot's the folk room of
the the three man back line.So yeah, that was born defensively.
(34:30):
The pre match thought was stop busquetsstuff bus gets that way, you can
stop Messy. You kind of takethe one part of the snake out and
disjoints them. And and look theyin fairness to the Union, they stopped
(34:52):
Messy for the most part. Theydid probably the best job on Messi that
anyone's done so far. It's justthe thought of Messi, the psychological impact
of Messy. Kill them on thoseopening goals like these are mistakes. These
guys don't make like Damian Low justabsolutely whipping on a clearance, making it
(35:15):
more complicated for himself, and thenJack Elliott just one eye on the center
of the box, one eye onJoseph Martine joh. I think you're percent
right on this. By the way, that's like it's not a coincidence that
all this happened with Messy on onthe pitch, and as you just mentioned,
like it's it's they did a goodjob, but it's it's the psychological
thing. It's I think you know, it happens in every sport. It
(35:35):
happens when teams play Patrick Mahomes,it happens when teams play Lebron James.
This has probably happened to teams thatMessi's played in other leagues. It happens
everywhere where. That's just psychological aspectof I'm facing one of the greatest players
in the sport. I have tobe perfect, and perfect then leads you
to maybe take an extra step tomaybe think a little bit more. And
I think that's that's what we sawtimately play out on Tuesday. Look at
(35:58):
what these these big games in thepast that they've played against LAFC, against
Club America, against you know,Atlanta United in Champions League, like all
these all of these teams had reallyamazing players, but the Union never backed
down from those games. Especially wasright, like when they talk about big
games with Jim Kurtin in the Union, they were in that game and they
(36:22):
probably should have won that game.There were moments away and so obviously a
few seconds changes everything in terms ofperception. But the Union played well in
that game. They played well,and they've played well in other game,
big games that they've lost, butthis one is just it was completely different.
They were completely wrecked from the start, and I mean, Aliabadi said
(36:45):
after the game, like take thesecond goal, for example, we had
three center backs, they had onenumber nine and Joseph Martinez able to break
free and then play that that ballover to Messy. I mean, it's
just and then the third goal DamianLowe. Damian Lowe is keeping Jordi Abba
on side by ten yards, NathanHarryl's all the way up the field,
(37:06):
you know, ten yards past thecenter circle. It's just all discombobulated and
it leads to, you know,a wide open situation for them in a
play that normally someone would be offside for they're on side, and it
leads to you know, the daggerright before halftime, like if they keep
it two oh, and they makethe tactical change like they did into the
(37:28):
four and four two, it actuallymakes them somewhat dangerous. I mean I
kept thinking the entire second half,well what if this was to one now,
because then you can at least putthe pressure on and get it to
penalties or say like, hey,we made our changes, we fought till
the end. All of that nonsense. It seems like they and we've seen
(37:49):
that second halfs they come out strong. But I mean, once once that
that third goal happened, and Ithink you even mentioned this too, that
game was just way too wide openin the second half. Obviously they had
to be, but it was sowide open you were begging for Miami to
get that fourth one. In begging, they actually played, actually played a
decent second half. And that's whyI think that the Diamonds has to be
reinstated for the Monterey game, becauseyou need Bedoya out there, you need
(38:14):
his experience, his leadership, allthat. You need to be progressive from
the start. So you need toput Bizo out there. You just sacrifice
one of the center backs, justjust do it. Yeah, I think
you have to say. I thinkwe and it's very clear to me the
Diamonds Diamonds. It well, Ithink in this in this part of the
(38:38):
season, yes, there will bea time and a matchup where the three
five two serves its purpose. Absolutely, There's no doubt it will most likely
on the road, which is whyyou know, don't be surprised if you
see it when you go back inthe league, play with DC in Toronto.
But for a home match again youshould. You should go out and
(39:01):
win and not be not be sostand offish and intimidated in your own building.
That I think is where the issuelies. The three man back line.
You could make tweaks to it.You can make personnel tweaks to it.
In front of it. The understandingbetween Elliott Lowe and Glessness can still
(39:23):
be there and it can still serveas a successful second formation. But now
that you have your personnel, yourdiamond personnel in there, the only thing
you have to figure out if you'recurtain and this is this is what you
should do going into the Monterey game, is you bring your diamond back.
You put by Zoe in at rightback to be more aggressive. You have
(39:45):
the Doya in on the right side, start Godsdag at the ten and look,
if you're gonna you got you eitherhave to start Quinn Sullivan or Chris
Donovan and the other one has tocome on for thirty r forty five and
the second half next to that.That's just the way it's going to have
to be. And then you doyou bring McGlenn in his attack minded role,
(40:09):
you have either Martinez or Bueno thereand boom, all of a sudden,
your your bench looks incredibly deep becauseyou have a starting center back,
you have a and two starting midfielderscoming off the bench. But that can
help you close the game at homein in a fashion where you hope to
be up one to nothing over Monteree. And we'll get into the psychiatry behind
(40:32):
the third place game, because that'san interesting one in itself. But yeah,
I just I want the Union tobe more proactive with their formation.
The three five two still serves apurpose. It will reappear at some point,
but for Saturday, to get youinto the Conky Cap Champions Cup,
(40:54):
I think that's what we're calling itnow, the CCL as we know it.
To get in and to earn thatspot, you've got to be more
proactive at home against the team thatwho the heck knows what Montere is gonna
throw off there. Yeah, howdo you think that? Now, let's
get into that as we kind ofwrap things up. I feel like we've
we've gone over about as much aswe can with the messy madness. Yeah,
(41:17):
and at this point, look,I'm as much as cool as it
was that all eyes are on theUnion. They're getting all this attention from
every radio station, every TV station, everything in the city. I'm so
glad they got the attention. I'mso glad it's over with. I don't
know if that's how you feel,but I can just go back to talking
about the union and not like thebig because it's always the question. We'll
(41:40):
see that, you know, MESSIin the MLS. I mean, these
guys just aren't good. Like Idon't I Joe. I like MLS the
way it is. I like itlike to be I just don't like people
questioning, you know, the talentlevel. First of all, could you
imagine being these players and you've workedhard to get to this stage, which
is a pretty good stage, likepretty good league to be in. Like
(42:00):
this isn't the top of the top, but hey man, you're making a
good living. You know, you'reyou're you're playing in a professional soccer league,
and you know, you have allof these great things and to be
questioned like, oh you guys stink, come on, man, Like I
just nay, I just I alwaysI always hate how these discussions happen.
And I'm so glad that whenever itgoes away, I'm like, Okay,
(42:21):
now I can just talk about MLSand the union because I actually I like
this. This is what I likeand for me to have to like try
and I hate to say prove it, it's just you know, try and
be like, well, this iswhy I like meliss I just I like
it. Can I like the leaguefor what it is. Right, we've
had this, We've had this conversationwe have and I feel like I wanted
to bring it up because this ithappened. I really got frustrated with it.
(42:44):
This week I got right, andI think it's a good can continue,
like reinforce it, like we likesoccer, We like you know very
much compared to five years ago,very much into it. Covering the union
now because yea, I would imagine, but everybody who listens, everybody who
(43:07):
who attends these games and it hasbeen a union for a while. Yeah,
like they're not gonna stop. Thecoverage is gonna stop from yea that
these bigger outlets. But I thinkthe Union are what they are at this
point in the Philly sports defession,and I think there's more respect with the
(43:35):
Union because of how much success they'vehad. Jim Curtain's a very likable coach
and very open and bless his heart, every time you know, people show
up that uh for like one ortwo matches a year, He's willing to
have that discussion and be open aboutsoccer and where it stands in Philadelphia,
(43:57):
which I think is incredible to havean ambassador to the city and for the
game that represents the game of soccer, because there could be a you know,
the coach could just be like,oh, well, you guys aren't
here all the time. I'm notgonna open up to you guys. No,
Jims has always been incredible when inthat regard. So yeah, it
(44:22):
kind of just is what it is. Like there will still be people on
the internet and this will happen foreverwith every sport and every discussion that we'll
get under your skin, and I'mjust kind of ignored it at this point.
Like cool, like MESSI being anMLS is awesome. There's no other
(44:43):
way to describe it. Leon OnMESSI playing in our league, our dysfunctional,
crazy, stupid league that makes absolutelyno sense. He's here. That's
awesome, soak it in. Butit's kind of like demean the talent level
of every other player, Like,I mean, cool, but twenty twelve
also wants a Twitter argument back.Yeah, thank you, thank you.
(45:07):
Like we've been doing this since,like I've been covering the team for ten
years now, and like the sameargument's been had for ten years. It's
like, if you're gonna at leastdemean MLS and the talent level of these
players, at least come up withsomething original. Yeah, And you know
what, I want to make itclear that this is not a gate keeping
(45:30):
thing. I am not gate keepingthe MLS, and like, this is
my thing, this is our thing. I don't want people coming in and
just looking at it and going,you're watching this, Oh, this is
terror and no, don't. Idon't want those people. If that's what
they are, then I like theUnion the way that they're covered now because
it's people that actually want to watchthe Union be interested in the league,
(45:51):
and that's what I want. Idon't want people that look at it and
go, well, it's fun,but you know, it's not this,
it's not premierly. I don't wantthat. I want to watch MLS.
I want to watch and interact withpeople that actually like this league. So
it's not a gatekeeping thing, it'sI want to Yeah, I want to
filter out the people that just don'tcare about this league. And and to
me, I just I'm glad it'sover because now we get to have a
(46:14):
podcast for people that want to watchthe Union. We get to talk to
people that want to talk about theUnion, to talk about Monterey and you
know what's happening with the formation notjust hot Well did you see how bad
Andre Blake was against Messy. Imean, this league is so weazy.
I just that's that's that was alsofor me a very big thought of I'm
so glad that the Union are coveredthe way that they are, and when
(46:37):
it gets too massive like this,all it does is just bringing the people
that really don't care about it,and I don't. I don't like that.
Plus we saved the gatekeeping for thePhiladelphia inquiry and telling people how to
you know, use their messy ticketsbuy or sell, buy or sell.
Don't you know the gatekeep? Wemight as well change our Twitter handles to
(46:59):
add the gatekeeper. I'm just yeah, I know, because it feels like
it could be like gate Keeper attimes what I'm saying about this, but
I don't. I don't want itto be. I just wanted I want
to actually enjoy this thing without beingtold it's the same thing. Honestly,
it feels like to me, youdon't this is not a parallel that you
can relate to. But to me, it's like wrestling. I'm tired of
(47:20):
justifying the people that are never gonnalike wrestling why I watch it. I
watch it because I like it.There's no reason for me to justify it.
I love it. It's the samething with MLS. I can't watch
soccer in the Premier League because Iwork at these times. It's really hard
for me to watch. Obviously it'soverseas, you know, in the morning.
It's hard for me to watch someof these leagues. It's easy for
me to watch MLS. It's ata perfect time of the year where I
can watch it. It's at timesthat are easy for me to watch.
(47:45):
And there's a team here in Philadelphiathat I like rooting for. So this
is where my interest is. Ihave no need to justify my interest in
it, and I feel like everytime outsiders come in, it's just like
I have to justify it all overagain. I'm like, if that's what
you're gonna be, like, goaway, I don't. I don't want
you here. I don't want andnot to point out specific stations because I'm
not saying they're doing this, butI don't want NBC ten there, I
(48:05):
don't want Fox there, I don'twant the Inquirer there. If all it's
gonna do is bring in an audiencethat just wants to look at it from
an outside point of view and go, wow, you watch this, Like
okay, yeah I do. Ido. I think also to that point
is like, well, look atthe news coverage and look at the newspaper
coverage too, of this past threedays, four days, whatever it may
(48:30):
be, it was all centered aroundMessy and I understand that you have to
do that. It's doing a Messi'sten Greatest Moments for Barcelona and Argentina slide
show is a little over the top, but yeah, I get it if
Messi's come into town. But like, would we do this with Michael Jordan,
(48:53):
with Patrick Mahomes, with Tom Brady? That's that's to me, That's
what I was like going through thediscourse, and my my mind can be
thinking completely different from everybody else ishere. But like if if Jordan comes
in, if if if Lebron comesin, if when when Kobe was alive?
When when he comes in? Whenwhen Brady and Mahomes played the Eagles?
(49:16):
Are we dedicating an entire section tothem? Right? No? Like
I think there's there's got to bea a balance in that coverage, and
there wasn't. Heck, I'm thepress conference for the Monterey game. He
came to me and matth to Georgejust sitting there asking questions like we have
(49:36):
the entire tournament like it kind ofjust I accept it for what it is.
But when people try and make allthese comparisons and like the Union should
do this just because it's messy,Well, none of you wouldn't say a
single thing about like the Eagles movinga game to a stadium with higher capacity
because you know a certain player isn'tisn't like the aren't the Angels coming in
(50:00):
soon? Should the Phillies find thebiggest stadium in MLB and move their games
because Saotani is coming in. Likeyes, they they feel they just feel
like really lazy takes and like beable to just want to like hop in
on the bandmin because they have notthey have nothing else to add. So
we're gonna gonna make it this likegeneric hot taky type thing. And I
(50:22):
get it to an extent, butalso like you wouldn't cover any other team
in Philadelphia like this, And that'slike if Connor McDavid comes in and faces
Platt to make sure we cover everyeverybody's basis here. Yeah, you're not
moving the game from the Wells FargoCenter to a bigger arena. You're not
(50:43):
like in in competitive for competitive advantage'ssake. Like I get it, Messy
is at is on a higher echelonthan all of those athletes I just mentioned.
But if you kind of make thecomparison to the Big Four, like
think about how how ridiculous you takesounds. It's it's so funny that you
know, we could talk about Bradyand Mahomes and all that. I mean,
the closest thing we've had to aglobal superstar in America, Like MESSI
(51:06):
is Michael Jordan and right, that'sit, all right, we gotta wrap
things up here. Thank you.Joe Tanzy Union Soccer Pod. Check us
out wherever you find your podcast.Union Soccer Blog dot substack dot com.
You can subscribe, follow Joe atJay Tanzy nine. You can follow me
at Jay Jansen thirty four. Jointhe montor Ray game. We'll be back
with more Union coverage right here onthe Union Soccer Podcast
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