X's and The U: Episode 12 - We Got a Pulse in Chester

6 points in one week! The Union bounced back with a much needed 2 game sweep at home. Basement dwellers no more. The gang got together & spoke about wins, protests & the future with all things Union. -SB

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Welcome back everybody to X's on theYou. I'm joined with Sebastian Latou and
Adam Booth episode twelve, bringing youeverything covering the Union verse. Guys,
what a week already. What aweek, and we've got another week ahead
of us. We had a littlelittle happening said with Nashville, Adam,

(00:25):
do you want to take the firstcrack at the Nashville game? I,
in my infinite wisdom to be thebest podcaster I can possibly be, did
my two speed rewatch earlier today.And let me tell you something. This
is the best game they played allyear, most complete. Yeah, it
was. This was This was avery very good game. The score line

(00:47):
wasn't as inherently good as the gameagainst New England, but I would say
for the most part, the Uniondominated in a way that was very reminiscent
of a team that we saw let'ssee here, that was able to just
kind of allah a snake, kindof wrap themselves around a team and just
kind of choke the life out ofthem and from top to bottom. Even

(01:11):
from the start of the game.Seeing the first couple of minutes, I
thought, first, you have ayou have a good chance. In the
first couple of seconds, you know, just get the game going, the
ladder going. But you have ahard challenge by Damian Lowe and then you
have a hard challenge by Jose Martinez, and both of those were just like,
okay, this is how we're playingtoday. You know, that was
establishing a tone. And for therest of the game, the Union just

(01:34):
bullied Nashville and Daniel Gozdag. Didyou know Daniel Gozdag like activities. I
mean, he is, in myopinion, probably the next person who's going
to touch the Ring of Honor afterour good command. Sebastianly two, because
he is putting together just time aftertime, campaigns and seasons that you're just

(01:55):
quietly looking at a person who's inGolden Boot conversations a year after year after
year, and it's it's really impressiveto see this team when they're finally clicking,
getting back to you know, whatthey're used to doing. That comment's
gonna make var and I'll tell youabout that later, please. Yeah,
Sebastian, you did the radio.What did you think? By the way,
I got to see pre game anda little bit of post game.

(02:15):
Sebastianal too at Union Yards so thatwas a highlight for me. That's fun.
Yeah, Sebastian, you called thegame. What were your thoughts of
Nashville and gaz Dagg's hat truck?Uh mute? All right, let me
let me tell you. I wasvery happy first about the six points week.
It's been a long time, guys, being a six points at super

(02:36):
Park in one week, so thiswas my first highlight. I was like,
all right, we are back,you know, even if you know
New England and as well, wellnot maybe the best team, but the
team that you said play at theirfull level. What I like about it
is if you go back on theyou know, win against them in England,
lots of guy player at the highlevel. Like we didn't see a
lot, you know, during theyear. He was always maybe one guy,
two guys, but not you know, six or seven. We are

(02:59):
the full performance and then you arelike, okay against New England guys that
we don't see much about him.But what I love, you know,
is stepping into Nashville and he kindof carries a team on his own offensive
disk, calling the three goals andon that game it's kind of like him
Andre, you know, we thinkthe same against them, and didn't do
much in a game, but atamazing save in the second half, you

(03:19):
know, saving like two good shotsyou know from New England. We can
come back in again, but thenthey don't want to call the third one.
I think it was kind of abig government again from a lot of
players in a team to give likethe win to the Union. So for
Daniel Gazday, I mean amazing,like three goals and everybody's always criticizing him.
Oh he's scored a lot of goalfrom picks, but not in the

(03:39):
run of play on this one.You all three goal Alaba play all of
them, you know. The twofirst a little bit similar, you know,
with like the vertical pass he kindof get into the right spot.
We find him in a great passfrom flag on the first one. Second
with Ura and the third one Ilove just like keeping pressing things from the

(04:00):
keeper, you know, it's kindof a good horsehold. It reminds me
of how I look used to doit. And he got rewarded at the
end for all the effort during thegame. So yeah, great, great
performance from from the team. Ithink a lot of confidence is coming now
back with them. And what Ilove, you know, to see it's
more and more of like those thevertical paths, you know, trying to

(04:20):
find each other in the middle,because we didn't see that a lot during
like the times that we are likestruggling. He was kind of always going
side to sign. Nobody was trying, you know, to find the pass
on the ground to the gas diveto the barrier boat. And we're doing
site more and more and he reallylike shows that we can create a lot
of chances when we play that way, so hopefully they keep doing it.
And yeah, it was just agreat happy moment, you know, twice

(04:45):
at home to get six points ina week, back to back games with
hat tricks. Yeah, clean sheet, back to back game with two players
you know MLS Team of the Week, Yes, Value and gas dag.
Ye know that Martinez tackle on HoneyMonkco was soul stealing. Hanni was looking

(05:06):
over his shoulder. I felt likethe entire game after that, like just
knowing after he got his soul stolenfrom him by Martinez. I'm telling you,
tone setting is what and this isone of the things I want to
say, is the unsung hero oflike probably the last couple of games,
you know, one's talking about it. Leon Flock. Leon Flock has quietly
put together really solid performances defensively thathave helped this team in the midfield establish

(05:30):
themselves. And it's like so muchof the issues of this team was these
guys are hurt. These guys needto come back, and these guys need
to be healthy, and these guysneed to play with each other for just
a bit, because even with theremoval of Caranza and yeah, I don't
think a lot of us saw thiscoming out of Barribo. But even so,
for the most part, you stillhave the bones of a team that

(05:53):
has had a lot of success,and depending on how much you believe in
the regression of a couple of players, you still have a lot there.
Once everyone's on the field, andso far, so good. I mean,
say what you will about the levelof opponent, it's still two really
really strong performances that would probably getyou three points in most scenarios without a

(06:16):
doubt. I mean this, thishas been the most complete game that we've
seen having Andre back, Like Itold you, people forgot about Drey and
what a difference it makes back there, especially for Glasness Elliott Lowe. Those
guys you see confidence in the backline, and Maiso had a really nice
game, very nice game without usthinking about him that much, very nice,

(06:38):
you know, a very nice game. So it was a complete game
overall. The other person I wantto shout out Quinn Sullivan, yep,
had a quite He was in themix of every big play, in every
pass and connecting passes. And thequestion I'm going to ask both of you
right now, should he be inFrance right now? Did he get ripped
off by US Soccer so that youcan take that as the Frenchman, do

(07:00):
you think Quinn Sullivan should have madethe Olympic team the way he's been playing.
I mean, I feel like heshould have get his chance, you
know, because we didn't see himgetting cold in the gamp before that.
Everything. I don't know if likein the coach mine he had like already
his guys and everything. You know, sometimes if you are not in the
papers of whether he's coaching, youcannot really make it. So I think

(07:23):
from performance he did at the beginningof the year, I think he should
have, you know, been oneof the contenders because he was very good
less as the first ten game ofthe season with you you know, carrying
around the team offensively, but thenhe kind of like faded a little bit
and maybe not being called, youknow, like the camp before the last
call for the Olympics, maybe touchinga little bit in his confidence. But

(07:45):
I hope, you know, hedoesn't really care too much about that,
and he keeps playing hard like hehas been playing the last game against Naville.
I think he keeps playing the wayhe is. He's got US men's
national senior team call ups in hisfuture. Yeah, hopefully he just keeps
doing that. Look, you shouldbe in Paris in my opinion, I
mean, just because of his pedigreeand when he's done with the team prior

(08:09):
to these Olympics. I know hisform wasn't phenomenal during when the selection process
was going on, but I stillbelieve in the process, being like he
should at least got and looked atit a little bit stronger than he did.
Shout out to Jack and shout toNathan. They're going to do great.
I know that in Paxton they're goingto do great there. So you
know, maybe the union quoto hasalready hit and they couldn't do anymore,
but their loss is our game,because he definitely seems like a man who's

(08:33):
motivated. At the moment, weneed all the bodies that we can get,
so I'm glad he's with us.I'm sorry for him as an individual.
He can't play in the Olympics,but we need him more now than
anything, so we'll keep them.We'll get into US Soccer in a little
bit. I'll talk, because we'vegot a couple of things with US Soccer,
both as the organization and the men'steam coming up in the women's team

(08:54):
in the Olympics. A gentle teas, but one guy I do want to
mention samuel A dennerin I believe that'show Jay Leno said a dinnerin Look,
I'm happy that a man who hasa hard name to pronounce is now running
into hard names to pronounce exactly.And that's why I usually don't care about
pronouncing. My name has gotten butcheredall my life, so I never put

(09:16):
emphasis on it. But Sam hecame in and I go ooh, I
kind of like this shiny new toy. I mean, he was everything with
thought, and he had two chancesat goals that would have blown the roof
off of Super Ru Park. Buthe was every bit of six foot five.
Yeah, every bit of hard pressing, every bit of running. I

(09:37):
mean, Sebastian, I'm gonna throwit to you, what did you the
impressions you had with a little bitof time he had on the field,
What were your thoughts about Sam?I really like what I saw. I
really liked what I saw from him, you know, kind of coming in.
It's not always easy enough to comein the team that it's in the
middle of season and the team hasbeen struggling. But I think he really
impacted, you know, coming comingon, he was a strong in the

(09:58):
air, you know, winning someboards for us, not holding in then
I really like, you know,even if he's a six five, you
know, it's pretty like still saywith his left foot, you know,
he can he can hit a boat. He can you know, distribute on
the left and right and then hecan be in the box and finish.
Unfortunately, get like the one fromfrom we know, we know want to
cut back and Toyo's gonna be ait's felt good, but I really like

(10:18):
what I see. It can reallyimpact a lot, you know, when
we are going to off the benchand even in standing again, when we
need to give some rest to theguys, who are planning for all of
the game. Yeah, and we'regonna get into it right now. We've
got upcoming Leagues Cup, so abreak from the MLS regular season, but
not a break from playing. AndI guess we're gonna have to weigh in

(10:39):
and how we feel about Leagues Cupand how important it is. I mean,
right now we're gonna be facing Charlotte, Yeah, who is starting to
really get on that up swing.So this is not gonna be a gimmea
game now for the Union whatsoever.So I'm gonna ask you both, who
do you play? Are you givingthe Raphanello's and Sam's and resting people?

(11:01):
Are you going full in on youra gas dag or ebo? Are you
going full in? Let's win,Let's make noise in this tournament. Let's
do something. I mean, there'smoney on the line. Yeah, shot
at a Champions League. You know, it might be our only shot this
year to get there. So whatdo what? What are what are Ernst

(11:22):
and Jim Curtin thinking for this gameand for League's Cup? Is this like,
Hey, we're on an all timehigh, We're starting to play better.
Maybe this is our chance to strikeand we just hit it hard in
July and August. I mean,if I'm then I have to approach the
League's Cup like it's important. Ihave to play the guys, I have
to play exactly who we need toplay, because it's a scenario where you

(11:46):
don't have You're not going to havethat many opportunities to get another trophy this
year. Obviously, there's pretty muchonly two other opportunities. It's either the
League's Cup or MLS at this point. And yes, it was a good
chance I might still make MLS theplayoffs, you know, and you could
make or run through it, andanything can happen. But I'm saying,
in a situation where Champions League's onthe line, more opportunities are on the

(12:11):
line, more money's on the line, you know, you have to play
the games that matter, and evenif it's not necessarily something that you would
prioritize in other parts of the season, you know, But I just I
feel you have to approach all ofthese matches at one hundred percent moving forward.

(12:31):
You can't take off any of thesethings. And yes, then if
by taking off, I mean startingRafinello and starting a lot of our backup
players and Chris Donovan and all thoseguys in lieu of our starters outside of
just there's too much fatigue and theyneed rest. I wouldn't. I would
say, go gung ho, tryto win this thing. You know,
Look, no matter how you feelabout the League's Cup as a whole,

(12:54):
it's still an opportunity for you fora trophy, and it's still an opportunity
for antsmen of the club and notorietyof the club if you make Champions League.
So I say, like anything,you got to approach it like any
other game and try to win thehell out of it. All right,
Sebastian, as an analyst and asa player, how do you think the
Union should attack League Cup down?I mean, I think for the first

(13:18):
game, Charlotte put the best team, Put the best guys. You know,
it's kind of a week after theirgame, you know against Nagus is
a lot of rest. You wantto put your best team out there.
You know, you want to winthe first game because you know, in
the Mix Cup it's a group ofthree teams and the first two go to
the next round. So it's abit you know, Charlotte, then I
think Jim can figure it out,maybe a different plan for the game against

(13:41):
crust as well, if he wantsto rest some guys, if you want
to, you know, give alittle bit more time of playing to some
of the subs that you play usuallyyou know, ten fifteen minutes. But
I think, you know, everythingwill depend about the results agains Charlotte.
You still have one week to preparethe game against Crustal. It's not like
you play three days after. SoI thinks they have an advantage to be

(14:03):
at home, don't travel, youknow, still be healthy and if like
you know, Adam said, it'sa chance of getting an opportunity to get
a trophy. What matter is nowthis year, I don't think if we
go through you know, the nextkind of qualifying or whatever it is,
after the group stage, we mightplay at home, but we might not.

(14:24):
It will just depend about which patientwith finish the group and same time,
you know, do we have totravel, do we have to stay
home? It could be you know, something different then for drinkertting to figure
out, you know, which lineuphe wants to play. How many people
you know are still good healthy comingback? Does he want to give more
minutes? Does he want to restmaybe Andre, you know, we saw
andree in a little knock on agame against Nashville is stay in, but

(14:48):
just know to preserve him a littlebit. So I think everything happening in
Charlotte, I we love to seea win agains Charlotte and then maybe if
you know Charlotte and Crew as well, I don't know if they play before
the inn. I would have tocheck on this, but do yeah,
exactly, So then Jim Curtain cansee in a reserve between CRUSASO and Charlotte.

(15:09):
If we beat Charlotte, I don'tneed a win because I'm already in
the second. If we get atire ross, that's okay. We still
qualify and go to the next monthand I can still play the best team
and still a little bit. Sohe could be one of the plan.
But knowing Jim, knowing that hehas a full week to prepare for both
games, I think he probably willgo for sure the best team on Saturday

(15:30):
against Charlotte and then probably best teamagain against Cruis Ashul to kind of keep
the confidence going, you know,with the team, keeps the automatism and
not going between varible gaz dag addany coming in in the back line.
You know, maybe he will makea switch like he did between Glasness and
Load because we can't play the three. So it's gonna be a very same

(15:50):
type of assing core for the team, but we might see you one or
to change between the two games.Probably Yeah. And to lay up the
schedule for everyone, the Union playsCharlotte Saturday at SUPERB Park. Ye,
Cruise Azoel plays Charlotte in Charlotte onWednesday at eight o'clock at night game,
and then we have Cruise Azoel comingin on Sunday. So the Union have

(16:12):
the most favorable schedule out of everybodybecause they don't have that midweek game.
So I think what you guys areboth saying, I think Gym's probably on
the same page. It's just playthe Studs, go all out, get
a result against Charlotte, sit backon Wednesday, have the team over watching
it on the big screens, seeinghow Charlotte battles Cruise Azol, and then

(16:34):
you figure out what you need todo to advance in this and you just
kind of keep going from there.Yeah. I mean, look, you're
this team is working right now onvibes and strength alone, and I'm saying
as much confidence as you can getinto these guys, especially you're starting eleven.
You know, they need to stringtogether as many wins as possible.

(16:55):
I know they won't count as threewins in a row because they're for a
different competition. But if you canput three wins in a row with your
starting eleven, with these guys theway they feel, that can only help
what you're trying to do moving forward. You know. Again, after that,
and depending on how well you dothat, you can sit the guys.
You can start rotating individuals. Youcan give guys some help. You

(17:17):
can pull some guys out in laterparts of the game, or you can
insert guys in the seventieth minute thatmight usually be starters. You can start
playing that open cup shell game thatusually do against like the Rochester Rhinos.
But ultimately, you need to approachthis game with the alacrity of a team
that is seeing this as extremely importantbecause it is extremely important for your season

(17:40):
and for your opportunities to get silverware. All right, now, let's get
into it, Leagues Cup. Yeah, we're going to talk about why some
fans are so angry. Yeah,and try to put a little bit of
perspective on this and Sebastian. Idon't know if you've heard any of the
rumblings, but I'll get into itright now. The Suns have been are
one of the supporters groups in ISCthat is going to Protech League's Cup.

(18:00):
Yes, you heard it here first, another protest. We just can't get
enough of these things. So ittwenty ten and right after singing four leaf
Clover the sons of Ben, theCapos are going to walk out of the
stadium or encourage people to sit down, whatever, and then they're not going
to go to any more League Cupsgames. Now, ISC, which is

(18:23):
the Independent Supporters Council, which iskind of a not a governing body,
but a leading body that unites allthe supporters groups in North America. They
were, i want to say,the catalysts to being the most angry about
the US Open Cup not having MajorLeague Soccer teams really invested in it,
and they wanted to protest League's Cup, but in the end they're not really

(18:45):
doing anything. The president of theIndependent Supporters Council informed MLS that there is
no coordinated effort across MLS and onlya small number of groups are contemplating quote
unquote action or one of them.I haven't gotten a list of the other
ones. I'm sure it's the sameold, same old. I don't think

(19:06):
Dallas is protesting, but I haveto. I'll look into that and get
a list at a later date.But they're gonna protest this game because they
think Leagues Cup is keeping MLS fromgoing into the US Open Cup. Where
I know, Don Garber is hellbenal making Leagues Cup a big deal.

(19:26):
He really wants to prove that MLSis a superior league to League at MX,
and this is his way of doingit. But for the MLS teams
there's a lot more money and morefavorable travel where US Soccer with the US
Open Cup has not put the moneyinto it and the schedule gets very screwed
up for teams. So until USSoccer kind of fixes the internal things,

(19:48):
I think you're gonna have these issueswith that. Now, Adam, you're
a huge supporter of US Open Cup. Yes, so I mean how do
you feel about the conflict between thesetwo. I mean, look, and
you know, I'm sure Seba hasa personal relationship as well, but like,
look, those were the moments thatgave me. Those were the first
big real moments as a union fandfor me when we were playing for semi

(20:11):
finals, when we were Open Cupfinals, I remember being you know,
watching us play some or quarterfinals againstRed Bull and locking off Red Bull at
in Red Bull after like not winningagainst them for years exactly. You know.
I remember semi finals against Dallas andthe Black Kits winning you know,
penalty kick shootouts. You know,I remember even the finals that we played

(20:34):
in mean, even though that welost them, I just do remember the
atmosphere or the buzz and what itcreated Houston. I mean, but I
also remember a thing about it iswe never had sellouts for those games.
No, not until the finals.And and I will say this, we
didn't have a sellout for the KansasCity one. I think you're right,
we did not sell out the KansasCity Final. And well, that was

(20:56):
always disappointing to me because and look, the MLS was never the greatest at
advertising it for whatever reason. Playinghalf of these games on Tuesdays on seven
pm was also not helpful. Butit created some of my favorite moments as
a supporter. And I look,I don't know if the League's Cup is

(21:17):
going to necessarily create that. I'vedone a couple of League Cup games.
They were fun, but I alsorealized half of it was MESSI was there,
you know, and half of itwas Oh, it's new and fresh
and a new tool. Opposing teamsare interesting. We're taking over, yeah,
you know, buying tickets because itmight be the only time a fan
of Cruise as Old that lives inthe Delaware values is going to be So,

(21:38):
look, everything is a cash grab. Let's just start with that.
I don't I I don't really Idon't know how to break it to people
in a big enough way, like, yes, maybe the Open Cup might
have been the only pure thing thatwas left outside of that. Everything else's
cash grab. So if you wantto protest it, protest it. I
wasn't going for a multitude and spanicbecause I'm just tired because the Phoenix just

(22:02):
ended the season and I'm like,I'm exhausted. I'd rather just go to
the beach. But it's one ofthose things where I'm like, if you
want to process this, protest this. And I understand greedy capitalism, I
get it. These are also veryunique games, and it's cool to see
Club as a will play in Philadelphia, even though I know why they're playing
there, and if they're not peoplethere, then I'm happy for the families

(22:25):
they get to go now, andI'm happy for the people who don't get
to see their clubs or all thetime. I'm happy people who can't plan
out games enough and find this isan extra opportunity to go. You know.
It's it's one of those catch twentytwos where it's like, if you
want to go, go, ifyou don't want to go, don't go.
And I one hundred percent understand inboth directions. I personally wasn't going
to go for a multitude of reasons, but you know, it is what

(22:48):
it is. I hope we winit, to be honest with you,
you know, I hope we getthe spoils of it still, you know,
because it'd be cool. I willbe there on Saturday, Yeah,
but I already know August fourth,I'm trying for work, so I can't
be there, so I opted out. Yeah, but it doesn't mean they
advance. I'm not buying those damntickets again, you know. So that's
Sebastian. I don't know how muchyou caught of this in between Leagues Cup

(23:11):
versus US Open Cup, but Ijust wanted to get your thought on the
two tournaments. Yeah, I meanI was a bit surprised to see you
know, as many MNS team notplaying this year of the Open Cup.
And in the same time, Iunderstand it's you know, like you said,
I it's a it's a cash youknow thing for the league. You
know, it's a big thing theywant to install and make more money.
Is that out of the US OpenCup, which is not as much for

(23:33):
them, And it's you know,just more games for the team. So
when you have like a team likethe Union, you know, who plays
a Champions League Cup, you know, to start the season, and then
you have like the regular season andthen you have you know, the League's
Cup coming and open cabin at center, it's it's very hard, you know
to get your full roster and yourbest player to play every game because at
the end of the year, it'swhat like forty fifty games you know,

(23:56):
maybe to play if you play everycompetition. So I understand that the team,
some of the team, not allof them, because you can see,
you know, there's still lots ofMLEST team who played the Open Cup,
but most of them play their secondteam, and that's kind of what
it was when he was no LeagueCup when I played, and I really
love the Open Cup. You know, I'm still luckily nobody beat me yet

(24:18):
the leading scorer in the modern erato this competition, but I love to
play it. You know, fromthe USL time in Seattle to you know,
we were kind of like always theunderdog playing those MS team who you
know care but not really even atthat time, you know, they were
always playing like their second team.You know, we were able to do
a lot of upsets and it waskind of fun for the lower league to

(24:40):
kind of show that, Okay,you can beat MNST team as well.
So you can see that even ifemlest team played and even when I played,
maybe not with the gym will alwaysplay like maybe his best team.
But there was a lot of rotation. Is not always like the same starting
in events that plays the game beforein so I understand the fan, you

(25:02):
know, being not happy about itand not having the Open Cup. But
in the same time, it's likethe club and you know, understanding urgent
curtain, those people taking care ofthe team. They need to make a
decision is it healthy to do itor it is not because they have to
play the extend because it's a partof the league with MLS. So I

(25:22):
think he was you know, maybesmart this year, especially like we saw
how many injury we had the nameof not play it in the same time.
Yeah, I understand the disappointment fromthe fans, you know, once
you see teams know each other andhelping the team bring Yeah, and there
is some fault on US Soccer side, ye, not putting resources in,

(25:44):
not working with the MLS teams soccerand let's face it, we've all been
a US Open Cup. You saidit earlier. They don't sell out now,
So without that, why is theteam investing so much money in a
game where you know, I wantto see the Rochester Rhinos as much as
the next guy, but if noteverybody shows up, it doesn't make financial
sense and you're you're draining the players. And US Soccer is just as guilty

(26:07):
of not investing in this tournament,which everybody wants to blame MLS right away
because they're an evil empire. ButUS Soccer, as we know, is
a flawed or organization and we'll getinto that with the coaching search and everything
else. Yeah, so it's tough. I just hope people realize it's it's
not US Open Cup versus League's Cup. You know we could have both.

(26:30):
It just wasn't gonna happen this year, the way the two organizations were not
playing nice with each other. ButI'm, like you said, I'm hoping.
I'm going Saturday. I hope wekicked the crap out of Tommy Wilson's
team. And you know, I'llmake him buy me a beer after we
get the win, and I'll bewatching Cruise AZUL from Beautiful Orlando, Florida

(26:51):
on that Sunday and seeing how thatgoes. So and look, maybe maybe
this protest and maybe these walkouts andall that will cause some people to play
nice. Maybe. Look, I'mjust saying this. You're an optimistic.
Look I have to be. I'mfrom Philadelphia, otherwise I'd just be sad
all the time. Yeah, allright, let's get around around the news

(27:12):
and rumors. Remember everyone, thetransfer window is from this past July eighteenth
to August fourteenth. Yes, solet's just it. It's it's earnth season,
this is the Earth season. Solet's see what ERNs does. We
keep hearing rumors of one or twothings, and as soon as we hear
it. We'll let you know.And then do you know last week who

(27:33):
won goal of the match day Whowon goal of the match Day one?
Quinn Sullivan did? Wow, Idid vote for that? Yeah, Democracy
at large, Quinn one. Andspeaking of the Sullivans, young Cavin was
in the largest city in Ohio,Columbus for the All Star the MLS next

(27:53):
he was representing them. I don'tknow what that means. I don't know
if they're playing a game. Theyjust taking pictures for messy. I don't
know what that whole guarantee you pictures? Yeah, yeah, So the All
Star Game is Wednesday the twenty fourth, and again Ohios, the city,
Columbus, Columbus. Yeah, we'rejust here for facts, people, We're

(28:14):
just here for facts, for facts. And and I don't know, will
will either of you gentlemen watch theMLS All Star Game? No, Sabashian,
will you watch the MLS All StarGame? I'm not sure. It
just depends about my wife and theplans, but probably not. It just
depends what that means the game eight, I think. So all I know
is it's Wednesday, the twenty fourth, which is tomorrow. I don't know,

(28:37):
I don't know I guess it's onApple TV. Question I'm gonna sing,
but I will probably catch some notit, but I will see goalie
Wars. Yeah, this guy.I think the skills competitions tonight, so
I'll watch that. Why look,only one All Star game should be in

(28:57):
the middle of the week, andthat's Baseball is also game, and it's
only because it's in mill July ina way that people are excited about it.
You don't. You shouldn't be playingan All Star game on a Winnday.
You can interfere with Don's leagues cupthough you can't have them both.
Just see the dilemma, don't youhere? Just we need to cut some

(29:18):
fat here. We got to figureout how to have these guys play less
soccer matches is my philosophy on this. But whatever. Yeah, just the
last thing I'm going to touch onUS soccer for right now because I'm very
hopeful that tomorrow I'm going to seeUSA USA USA VERSUS. You know that
that that's tomorrow. I'm excited aboutthe Olympics. I'll touch on that.

(29:38):
But as everyone knows, we wantedto get into this a week or two
ago, but we had other things. US men's soccer. Greg is out.
Yes, Klopp said thanks, no, thanks, were not even going
to talk about this, and thenJesse Marsh asked if he would do this,
and this is the quote, Andto be fair, unless there's a
big shift in the organize, Idon't think that I'll ever have any interest

(30:02):
in that job in the future.I'm really happy here, meaning Canada.
I couldn't be happier in terms ofwhat it's like to work with the leaders
in this organization and what it's liketo work with this team. Yeah,
that's basically just Jesse Marsh saying USSoccer sucks as an organization. Yeah,
that's kind of what it is andthat's what we've been building on and alluding

(30:23):
to across the board. We've seenhow they treated the women for all those
years. Yeah, we've seen howunorganized the men are. Yeah, the
coaching is carousel has been embarrassment.They're not taking care of the Open Cup.
So let's make sure everybody if you'reif you want to protest US Soccer
might be a good target right aboutnow. We as a collector, shol

(30:45):
have been processing US Soccer since theylet Alexi Lawis and the team in ninety
four, like that should have beenYeah, we should have been protesting since
literally that, Look, US socceris not good. You hear conversations now
for players like Alex Morgan, playerslike Megan Rappino, they won despite US
soccer. Oh yeah, you know. They didn't win because of US soccer.

(31:07):
They won because of their pure talentwas greater collectively than US soccer.
Probably their anger at US soccer fieldfilled them to win those World Cups.
And like the as a fan ofUS soccer and as a fan of other
nations soccer teams as well, it'sreally frustrating right now to be a fan
of two particular nations, one beingthe United States and two being Italy,
because I don't know where the directionis in either one of those countries right

(31:30):
now. And it's really a shame, because both of those countries can and
should be great, and right nowthere is just a weird purgatory that exists
for US soccer that I don't knowabout. We discussed this a couple of
weeks ago when I said, twoyears from now, we're hosting a World
Cup. It'll be the most importantWorld Cup in the history of the United

(31:51):
States for a multitude or reasons,and mainly because this when we had the
World Cup in nineteen ninety four.Yes, soccer was an established thing in
our sport or in our country foryears upon years upon years, but in
terms of the mainstream popularity that itcraved, that was its first baby steps
into the lexicon. And because ofthat, we got Major League Soccer out

(32:15):
of the bargain. You know,we got a league that had some funding,
that had some fuel, that hadsome gravitas, that still had growing
pains, still had to develop,but eventually became a league that we are
in now and relatively proud of.Half the time. This one is now
the World Cup that can establish generationsof soccer fans from the root all the

(32:37):
way to adulthood, from the beginningof life, all the way through.
Because if you have a successful tournamentat home. Sebastian will tell you,
you win a World Cup in yourown country does really good for your country's
morale on the game for years,you party forever after that. You know,
you you now have legends of yoursport. You now have individuals who

(32:59):
have statues in their hometowns. Youknow, this is a pivotal point in
US soccer history, and I don'tbelieve the Soccer Federation of the United States
is taking this moment seriously enough.And that's and I'm happy the Copa happened
the way it did because any amountof success during the Copada America would have

(33:21):
spelled doom for the United States nationalteam because there have been no change.
Everything would have been status quo.We would had Greg Burholcher taken us in
to Los Angeles and Sofi Stadium withthis team, and we would have crapped
out in the group stage and wouldhave been the next South Africa and asks
ourselves how what went wrong? AndI'm happy this happened. I'm happy we

(33:44):
can have at least a little bitof a reset, but I don't think
we have enough time for it totruly matter in a significant way. I
mean, this next coach is soimportant. It's the most important coach in
the history of the federation. Yeah, and Sebastian just told he just signaled
to me that even you like theUS and Italy, you're welcome back on
the France bandwagon. Look I'm stillthere. Look my my Ziitians and down

(34:08):
Jersey. You know I'm I'm oh, yes, you know that that thing
was fierce. There wasn't good tosweating though, no, but yeah,
so that's the state of US soccer. But there is a shining hope for
us and that is the Olympic team, both the men and the women.

(34:28):
And tomorrow we take on France.Yea Sebastian, your thoughts on it.
I know you said last week you'dbe happy with the US winning, you'd
be happy with France winning. ButI mean, let's face it, France
is probably the favorite in the pooland in this match. What do you
think is going to happen tomorrow?I mean the first game of a tournament,
so anything can happen. You sawthe last World Cup study Argentina in

(34:52):
the field game and then the WorldCup, so anything happened doesn't mean it's
the end of it. But thethey think it's it's a group of three
teams, you know, in theOlympic it's not four teams. So they
have two games, so they needto try to do something, you know,
the US the friends, I thinkthat it's pressure, you know,
for the French player being at home, try to you know, have a

(35:14):
good first game, and they knowit's not going to be easy. Against
the US, especially like it's ArryUnreal with the coach of the French team,
so he knows already the talent happeningin the in the US. But
but you say it's it's tomorrow.Are you sure I thought it was today.
No, it's tomorrow, it's Wednesdayor three o'clock, three o'clock.
It will be. I'm either goingto be a brahs Schmidt or a local

(35:37):
putting establishment. Unless somebody that Iwork with is listening, then I will
be working from home diligently perfect.So yeah, yeah, it's gonna be
a game. There's a lot ofyou know so playing before the opening ceremony,
but yeah, it's a It's avery important game, I think for
both of the team. I stillsee Friends building the US just because of

(35:59):
I think there's stronger you know,physically, but I can see it,
yes, maybe like surprising the Friends. Maybe in the fist like twenty twenty
five minutes, and maybe it's aquick goal, you know, like cans
of Friends team being a bit slippy. But at the end, I still
feel Friends should win this game.But I can be running. I just
don't know, like how Terry andRides coaching his team, there's some good

(36:22):
players, but we'll see, youknow what happened. I will be watching
as THREEVM this. I will beinvolved my TV for sure. Well,
shoot Terry a text when you geta chance and see how he feels about
his team and let us know.And then this is important for both teams
because it really is in this poolbecause it's what New Zealand and getting.

(36:43):
That's it. So you you gotto figure that these are the two teams
that should come out of it.So you want to see good play out
of both coming out of the gamehealthy. You know, I'm selfishly going
to watch Jack Nay and paston tosee how they do. But yeah,
it's gonna be fun. So I'mgonna watch it. Adam, I'm hoping
you're gonna watch it. Are yougonna join me somewhere to watch it tomorrow?

(37:05):
And if I find some time,actually I think I might. You
know, I think that would bea fun experience. And look, all
my money is on the French.I don't know why I wouldn't be.
I mean, they're hosting tournament there. They're easily one of the top three
nations in the world at the gameright now, So yeah, I got
nothing to say other than I hopewe tie. That would be cool,

(37:28):
that would be awesome. And thenI hope if the gold differential's dad is
no more than two, and thenthat's that's really the hope. I'm just
always curious what these U twenty threeteams. I'm like, you can jail
because these guys don't spend a lotof time as a collective, like yeah,
yeah, three or four guys playtogether, or a couple of guys,
but then you're bringing an older guyswhere same thing with France. The
third U twenty three is how manyHow long has that U twenty three team

(37:52):
been together? It's not like sincethey were fourteen. They can't marching up
the ranks. It's a bunch ofguys in Walker Zimmerman, which I find
fascinating. It's a bunch of justlike literally just doing daycare. But no,
I mean, look, you're you'rein. Look. We we do
moan and we do chastise US SoccerFederation as a whole, but the youth

(38:15):
program has been producing talent, Likeour young soccer teams have been going into
other nations and shocking the world aboutwhat the state of young American soccer is
So, you know, I whatSebastian said is true. Anything is possible.
Maybe the pressure of hosting gets tothe French. My money is still

(38:35):
on them. But you know,look this the I would put the youth
of the output similar to the Union. The academy looks a lot better than
the first team does right now.So it's you know, it's one of
those situations. A lot of MLSAcademy alumni in this that're already playing in
Europe. Yep. So this thisis this is a testing point for the
MLS Academy system. Yeah, withouta doubt. Oh so was that signing

(39:00):
the other day? Did you seeit was a signing from Atlanta? I
believe it was a Chelsea Yeah.Yeah, so I'll pull it up in
a half a second. This iswhen I'll fill a buster from mets On
he because he brought the laptop today. So but yeah, no, this
is another signing that I mean,look, it's not as much money as

(39:21):
you see for a lot of theseother players going for sixty seventy eighty million
coming out of nowhere, but it'sa good moment for the league as a
whole and for what we're trying tobuild here in soccer. Society is getting
a lot more of these eyes ofthese young players getting to these higher clubs.
So I mean it's this, Thisis another showcase. The thing about

(39:43):
the it's like the COPA, it'slike the Euros, it's like the Caleb
Wiley. Yeah, so Caleb Wileyis going to Chelsea from Atlanta and that
means probably I'll get loaned out toWatford or something and they'll just go through
this system. But it just italso means that a couple of years ago,
Italy wasn't picking up Stabash and Javinkofor the national team beach solely because

(40:05):
he was playing for MLS teams.I don't think they're going to do that
again. I think that the pedigreeof this league is improving, and moments
like this, whether it's happening tothe Union or not, these are examples.
Yeah, Okay, a couple thingsand then we can put a bow
on it. We can get letSebastian get back to his beach vacation.
Well, he's working, but he'sat the beach. He's working hard.

(40:28):
Yeah. So one thing I'll announcethe sons of Ben and the ownership are
going to do a town hall.I forget the date it's coming up.
It's in August. Once we getmore details, we will let you know
what's happening. I think I'm probablytraveling for work, but if not,
I'm going to be there with mypopcorn ready. So there will be a
town hall with union ownership Ernest,Tim McDermott and sons of Ben members.

(40:52):
Not sure if they're opening up tothe general public or season ticket holders.
Once I find out more, i'lltalk to everybody. But I know they
did agree to in principle a townhall meeting somewhere on the campus in Chester.
That's good. Yeah, so youknow, let's see if we can
all play nice. Now I wasspeaking of playing. Yes, I had

(41:12):
this idea for a game. Please, and I'm thinking, you know,
I'll have both you and Sebastian answerthis. I'll give my answer afterwards.
But it's based on the classic,the children's classic f Mary kill Ah.
We're all familiar with that, right, please. Yes, I'm just gonna
call this bench loan or play.Okay, Now, it's not on their
skills. It's how you value themat their job, not as a player,

(41:37):
got it? So what I'm goingto do is I'm going to give
you the three coaches of the PhiladelphiaUnion. Yes, Peter Novak, Yes,
John Hackworth, Yes, Jim Curtin. Yes. Who do you bench?
Who do you loan out? Andwho do you play? Slash start
player and bench Hackworth loan out NovakNovak? Okay, Sebastian, did you

(41:57):
get the gist of the game?But I got it. I got it,
not just thinking. And you knowall three of these really well,
I know. I mean I II played for the three of them.
So he said play, he saidplay, bench and loan. Yep,
I will. I will play Jim, I will bench Peter, and I

(42:22):
will loan. I'm on the samething because I'm gonna okay, I'm gonna
play Jim just for the success he'shad as a coach. I'm gonna loan
out Hackworth. You know, SaintLouis has a market for him. And
I'm keeping crazy Peter Novak around justbecause you know, we if we need
money, he can go to Trinidadand Tobago all stuff out of like some

(42:45):
crazy account that he created. Likeyou need some craziness on your team,
you know, it's something to wakeup the guys when they need, you
know, a little kick ins andbets, and he's a guy to do
that exactly. He's got a repute. I can't argue against that. I
figured maybe all alone Hackworth down tothe academy and he can keep them going.

(43:06):
But no. Yeah, look that'sfair first edition of bench Loaner play,
and we'll keep that coming up toeverybody. We'll have some things.
Now. You have a special bleeda birthday you want to get out there.
Jeffrey Mitchell, you son of agun. Yeah, he's forty five.
He was two days ago. Becausewe're terrible people, we forgot I
forgot to wish I am happy birthday, just in person, but happy birthday.

(43:28):
My guy look god like. Alljokes aside. He's one of the
main reasons I'm in the Sun's beento begin with, when I just showed
up as a eager young college kidjust trying to be a part of some
soccer culture. After going to Europea couple of times he was there.
He was the nicest person in theuniverse. You would think he was the

(43:50):
head of everything, like you wouldthink he was in charge of all things,
just the way that he commanded aroom and just made everyone feel welcome.
And he's the most arcanic castic literalsob out there. But look,
you can't help love them. Happybirthday, job Mitchell, Happy birthday.
Happy birthday. Served you for avery long time and watched you literally harass

(44:15):
every member of the Philadelphia Union communitywith pictures of your son. So,
Basha, how many pictures have youhad with Benjamin Franklin Mitchell in your lifetime?
I mean, the only one Iremember is always the one I did
my first appearance at the base buyeven before our first game. He was
here, you know, with hislithen then Franklin, and I always think

(44:36):
about it because I was very surprised. It was my first baby reading for
a picture the literal here before theclub exactly exactly. So happy birthday to
you, my guy. Everybody else, Oh, I am going to substitute
since Brace had a step out.There was one var that I caught early
in the show. It was againstyou. Yeah you told me, but

(44:59):
I didn't know. I ply itwas a delayed penalty. Daniel Gazdaig is
going to be the next person onthe Wall of Fame. Oh, it
is the Ring of Honor. Well, no, yeah, it's got to
be Andre Blake. It's gonna becalled the Brick Andre Brick Wall of Fame
with SEBASTIALA two and Andre Blake andthen maybe the Captain. And here's the

(45:20):
thing I'm saying, we're gonna doBenchlin to play on this one. So
here. Yeah, No, here'sthe thing I'm saying. I think Bedoya
gets it before because Bedoya retires andthen and then it gets it does that
way. I think I think Danielleaves us before Blake does. So I
think you don't put Blake in theRing of Honor when he's stile, when
he's active life. I don't putanybody in until it's his turn. Everybody
has to wait. Okay, that'sfine. That's my principle. With Ryan

(45:44):
Howard in the Hall and the Wallof Fame for the Stillies, I was
like, everyone else has to waituntil he gets in. But no,
okay, that's fair, that's fair. That's that's the only va I have.
Gentle, Oh Sebastian, do youwant to plug the campus? It
sold out completely? Is it timefor people? Could they still get there?
Or no? No? No,we already in days here in beautiful
wood being fun. You know,it's sorry, it's it's not heyre just

(46:09):
lose. I can, I can. I can plug some Frisbee camps if
we will, we will plug Sebastiansfuture camps. Don't worry, and we'll
make sure people know ahead of time, and you know, maybe we'll even
have a special pod discount. Youknow. There he goes, there's always
next year. Guys, what wasnext year? So can do a really
quick Adam Pedia. Yeah, AdamPedia, not actual pedia, but shout
out to the Philadelphia Phoenix beating thePittsburgh Thunderbirds in the Commonwealth Cup and winning

(46:34):
a trophy for the city of Philadelphiain front of a sold out crowd of
three hundred and seventy five people.I counted all of them. We did
a great I was very happy,uh to see the guys get some recognition,
get a trophy, finish the season. Well, it wasn't the greatest
season, but it's tough when youplay in the greatest division in the history
of the sport. Uh. Butlook shout out to them, way to
go and unsolicited support. I wasin attendance. He was my girlfriend,

(47:00):
and I'll tell you we had avery good time. Who was entertaining.
The dogs on the sideline were verybehaved because they didn't go after the frisbee
once. No, they were reallygood. Yeah, they were really good
boys. We had a blast.Actually, we had a good time.
Lots of action the whole time.So I tell you what, next year,
I'll be there also, well we'llall get there. So everyone,
this was episode number twelve of XIs in the U. I want to

(47:22):
thank Sebastian, Adam Race, everybodywe are on iHeartRadio empowered by Fox Sports
The Gambler. Thanks a lot.Everyone will see you next week. Thanks
guys, thank you appreciation. MaybeI see you Saturday. Would you be
at the stadium. I will bethere. I might be all to